Gantz urges Netanyahu to stop boasting about army activities

Israel Resilience leader Benny Gantz is calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to desist from breaking Israel’s ambiguity policy regarding attacks in Syria, accusing him of putting Israel at risk to gain points among voters.

“I ask and I demand — there is one thing that needs to be absolutely forbidden — harming the code of defense secrecy and boasting about secret IDF operations, which could endanger the lives of soldiers. The use of the holy of holies of our defense for campaign purposes crosses a red line and needs to stop immediately,” he says in a speech to party activists.

Netanyahu on Tuesday told reporters that Israel had attacked Iran in Syria a day earlier, appearing to confirm a Syrian report of an Israeli shelling near Quneitra.

Israel generally maintains a policy of ambiguity regarding its strikes in Syria in the hopes of giving Iran and Syria an excuse not to respond, but Netanyahu has in recent weeks began to open up about Israel’s activities over the northern border.

In response, Likud says “the last one who should be preaching about morals is Gantz, who himself admitted that he endangered the lives of Golani soldiers on behalf of Palestinians.”

The comment is a reference to a 2015 speech Gantz gave in which he said the army took extra cautions during an operation in Gaza to not harm civilians, even though it meant placing soldiers in more danger.