Israelis deserve better than the in-fighting of PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant - opinion

It’s as if Israel wasn’t in the throes of a war, as if the looming threat of an Iranian assault was a distant memory. It’s as if the massive American military buildup in the Middle East were mere rumor, and as if Israelis don’t go to sleep each night with the dread that they may be jolted awake by the wail of air raid sirens, having to race to the nearest bomb shelter.

How else can we explain the spectacle that unfolded on Monday? 

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, allowing their personal animosity to spill into the public sphere, not only undermined the public’s confidence in the government but also handed Israel’s enemies a propaganda victory. The message was clear: Israel is once again on the verge of tearing itself apart from within, a gift to those who wish to see the nation falter.

The spat began Monday morning when Gallant, during a closed-door meeting with the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, derided Netanyahu’s promises of “complete victory” in the ongoing conflict as “gibberish.” He went further, casting doubt on the prime minister’s resolve to make the tough decisions necessary to secure a decisive victory over Hamas. Unsurprisingly, such incendiary remarks didn’t remain behind closed doors for long.

Netanyahu swiftly retaliated, branding Gallant’s comments as “anti-Israel” and accusing him of jeopardizing delicate hostage negotiations. The term “anti-Israel” is not used lightly – it implies that the prime minister views his defense minister as acting against the very interests of the state.

It is known that Netanyahu and Gallant do not get along. In March 2023, Netanyahu fired Gallant after the defense minister warned that the judicial overhaul the prime minister was pushing through the Knesset was dangerous for the country. When news of Gallant’s dismissal came out, protests erupted across the country and Netanyahu decided to walk back the decision.

It is also no secret that Netanyahu is once again considering firing Gallant. Rumors over the past several suggest that the prime minister is attempting to entice Gideon Sa’ar, the former Likud MK who has jumped between several different parties, to reenter his coalition by offering him the defense portfolio. But, even if that were true, this is no way for Netanyahu and Gallant to behave (the two most senior people in the government overseeing the war), when they should be instilling hope and resilience into the people of a country that has spent over 10 months in a state of conflict.

Creating a sense of unity

Do they not know that one of the ways nations overcome challenges is by standing together and creating a sense of unity despite external threats? 

If Gallant thinks that Netanyahu’s plan is “gibberish” and Netanyahu thinks that Gallant is “anti-Israel” then what are we – the people – supposed to think? Are these leaders so out of touch that they fail to see the further damage they inflict on an already battered and scarred nation?

If this is how they speak publicly about one another, what do they say when they sit around the same cabinet table and make decisions of life and death for this country? It’s no wonder the war has been dragging on, and some of the government’s decisions appear disconnected from reality; it would be surprising if they weren’t.

Can anyone imagine, even for a moment, that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would call a plan proposed by President Joe Biden “gibberish,” that Biden would respond by calling his defense chief “anti-American,” and that everything would continue as it was? Of course not.

In Israel though, everything goes. Our expectations from our political leaders are so low that if they didn’t fight, and didn’t call each other names, we would be surprised. When they do what Netanyahu and Gallant did, we are not surprised. That is what we call just another Monday here in Israel.

The problem is that this is not happening in a vacuum. 

Israel is on the precipice of a possible regional conflagration, the like of which has never been seen before and could include a massive missile bombardment of the home front from multiple directions. There was another round of negotiations on Thursday in Doha with the hope that a deal can be reached to bring back the hostages and de-escalate the region.

Whatever happens and whichever way this goes, Israel will need to be strong and resilient. A wider war will exact a toll on the nation in ways we have not yet seen, and a hostage deal will require political courage as well as sensitivity for people who come back after more than 10 months in a dark hole. 

What will the hostages think when they, hopefully, return and see how Gallant and Netanyahu speak to each another? Meanwhile, the hostages have spent these last 10 months in hell and their top government officials are talking to each other as if they were slinging mud in a kindergarten sandbox.

In a normal world, Netanyahu would fire Gallant or Gallant would quit. Whatever they decide to do, they need to realize one simple fact. What they did this week weakens the country and makes Israel more vulnerable in the eyes of its adversaries.

Israelis deserve better.

The writer is a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) and a former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post.