Eisenkot: There has been a lack of leadership, PM must make decisions
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Former chief of staff and war cabinet observer Gadi Eisenkot says Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is the reason a deal for releasing hostages has not been reached. But, he argues, there has been “a lack of leadership, of strength” in Israel.
Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, the opposition lawmaker acknowledges that the cabinet he was part of until earlier this month failed to bring the hostages back.
“I expect [Netanyahu] to make decisions. And that’s one of the reasons we left the government.”
He says that there were decisions that contradicted Israel’s strategy, and that “we are five months behind, which explains the lack of achievements right now.”
“Whoever sees the goal as the conquest of Gaza and the return of settlements to Gaza is mistaken, and there is no shortage of ministers who are aiming for this,” Eisenkot adds.
Eisenkot calls for a hostage deal and a change in Israel’s strategy, based on striking in Lebanon at a time of Israel’s choosing and preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon.
Israel will destroy Hamas, he promises, “but it will take years.”
“It’s not a secret that Itamar [Ben Gvir] and Betzalel [Smotrich] have a lot of influence, including in the affairs of Judea and Samaria, even though that this is against the government’s policy,” he continues. “It happens because of the weakness of the government and its leader and the exploitation of the political reality in order to promote such an agenda.”
Eisenkot blasts Netanyahu’s decision to critique the Biden administration in a video last week: “If they want to send a message, it is certainly not through a television clip. That clip caused damage vis-à-vis the most serious threat, that same strategic union that it is crucial that we strike,” he says, referring to the Iranian axis. “And that harms our national security.”