Defense Minister Gallant: Netanyahu's 'total victory' is nonsense

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s talk of “total victory” over Hamas is “nonsense,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a classified meeting with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in Tel Aviv on Monday, according to Likud MK Tally Gotliv, who was present at the meeting.

Gotliv said she was “shocked” by Gallant’s statement and called on the prime minister to fire him.

Gallant’s comment came as part of his argument in favor of a hostage deal. According to a defense ministry statement, he told the committee members that recent military successes had opened the window for a hostage deal, whose price the defense system could live with.

The defense minister reportedly said that Israel was “at a crossroads” between a deal to return the hostages, a ceasefire in Gaza, and lowering the flames on the northern front, versus continuing to pound Hamas but without receiving the hostages, and then full-out war against Hezbollah and possibly Iran.

Gallant said he supported the first option. Israel’s security system also widely holds this view. According to Gallant, the prime minister’s “total victory” slogan was a “beating of war drums” not backed up by actions, indicating his criticism of Netanyahu as well as of far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, both of whom have called for all-out war, including an invasion of Lebanon.

A policy perspective

From a policy perspective, many analysts believe that the choice is indeed binary: On one hand, the choice to completely destroy Hamas is unlikely to leave many hostages alive, and on the other, the only way to return the hostages is by a comprehensive deal that could lead to a prolonged ceasefire. Some critics have argued that the prime minister has de facto chosen the first option while claiming that he intends to free the hostages to avoid criticism.

The relationship between Gallant and Netanyahu soured during the government’s judicial reforms in 2023, and the two have publicly criticized each other. The defense minister accused the prime minister of entertaining political considerations in his wartime decision-making.

The Prime Minister’s Office responded in a statement, “When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he damages the chances to reach a deal to release the hostages. It would have been worthy of him to attack [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, who refuses to send a delegation to the negotiations, and who was and remains the only barrier to a hostage deal.

“Israel has only one option: to achieve total victory, which means wiping out Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and releasing our hostages – and this victory will be achieved. This is the clear directive of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the cabinet, and it is binding for everyone – including Gallant,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.