IDF chief said to tell PM that army fighting again in parts of Gaza due to lack of strategy

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi tore into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during security consultations this weekend for the failure to develop and declare a so-called “day after” strategy for who will rule Gaza after the war, according to Channel 13 news.

“We are now operating again in Jabaliya. As long as there isn’t a diplomatic move to develop a governing body in the Strip that isn’t Hamas, we’ll have to act again and again in other places to dismantle Hamas’s infrastructure,” Halevi is quoted as saying by the network. “It will be a Sisyphean task.”

The report says other senior IDF officials urged political leaders to make decisions and formulate a strategy, without naming them. Additionally, cabinet members reportedly warned Netanyahu that Israel’s conduct and lack of decision-making in the past few weeks was “just risking lives.”

Separately, Channel 12 news reports that Netanyahu also recently tussled with Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar over the issue of strategic planning, after the latter told him that he met with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for talks “that took into account all the fronts and considerations.”

“What?! You are holding strategic deliberations with the defense minister?” Netanyahu reportedly responded while interrupting Bar.

“What kind of a question [is that]? Of course,” Bar was said to answer.

The report says Netanyahu then noted that both the Shin Bet and Mossad are subordinate to him, not Gallant, who in turn hit back at the premier.

“You are preventing the defense minister from holding strategic deliberations? Who else will hold them if not us?” Gallant is reported to have said.

According the report, Netanyahu said strategic deliberations “are only held here,” prompting another heated response from Gallant.

“Every time you hold strategic deliberations we come prepared. It’s my duty to hold meetings in order to come here prepared. The problem is that you don’t hold these deliberations.”