Israel’s war in Gaza is ‘strategic failure,’ says Lapid, offering ‘roadmap’ to end fighting

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has “failed in the war in Gaza,” asserts Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, stating that his assessment is based on “intelligence and operational information” shared with him by virtue of his position.

“It’s a total disaster. This is a strategic failure which is leading to an operational and political failure,” Lapid tells reporters at a press conference in Tel Aviv, adding that “the Israeli government no longer knows why soldiers continue to die in Gaza.”

If the war is not ended immediately, the hostages will not return home, Israeli soldiers will continue to be killed, and the “humanitarian disaster” in Gaza will get even worse, he warns.

Lapid insists that there is an alternative, however, calling for comprehensive hostage deal, after which Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza and continue the “work of eliminating Hamas” from the perimeter of the Palestinian enclave. Civil governance will be taken over by “a coalition of moderate Arab countries led by Egypt,” he adds.

“I have laid out a well-organized political plan, a road map that will lead us to the end of the war. I have held discussions on it with the American administration, with the Gulf states, with the Egyptians. There are gaps, but there is willingness — there is something to talk about,” Lapid continues.

“Only the Netanyahu government refuses to discuss the question of how the war will end. It has not presented any plan, any political vision. A government that is not even willing to mobilize the ultra-Orthodox is a government that does not really want to win and cannot really win.”

Turning to the humanitarian situation, Lapid insists that “the management of humanitarian aid in Gaza has collapsed” and that Israel “needs to make sure that there is no hunger in Gaza,” both out of pragmatic considerations and because such a policy is in line with Jewish values.

Lapid also warns that “economic and legal sanctions” against Israel could be implemented, while anybody who fought “will have to hope that they are not arrested the moment they leave Israel’s borders.”