In implied rebuke of Gallant, PM argues leaving Philadelphi would ‘encourage more murders,’ slams ministers who say different

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laments “voices in the cabinet, ministers in the government” who urged leaving the Philadelphi Corridor “even though we had already decided not to leave” — a thinly veiled allusion to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

For that reason, he says, “I had to formally bring it to the cabinet” for a vote, in order “to entrench” that Israel would not leave the border even in the context of a deal, “to make clear there are things on which we do not compromise.”

“I am flexible in the places where I can be flexible,” he says.

However, on the Gaza-Egypt border, “we all must insist,” Netanyahu argues.

The premier says he was then “stunned, simply stunned” when he heard some “among us” again arguing that Israel can abandon Philadelphi after the cold-blooded murder of the six hostages in Gaza last week — another reference to Gallant. “What message does that send to Hamas? Murder hostages, receive concessions?”

Netanyahu angrily emphasizes that while ministers can express their position, the moment a decision is made in the cabinet, “it is binding for everyone.”

“The message that we would change a vital strategic decision… under pressure of the slaughter of our hostages,” he says, again alluding to Gallant without naming him, “encourages terror, encourages more murders. Therefore it won’t happen. It simply won’t happen.”

Hamas thinks Israel will leave the Philadephi Corridor “as long as they see the division within us,” says Netanyahu, as he presents a document found by the IDF in a Hamas tunnel — a document that references Gallant.

Reading from the document, he notes that, in it, Hamas urges “stepped-up distribution of pictures and clips of the hostages, because of the psychological pressure.” The document also calls to “turn up the psychological pressure on Gallant,” he reads without further comment. And it calls to “keep up the line that Netanyahu is responsible for what happened [on October 7]” and to “undermine the Israeli narrative that the ground operation serves the cause of returning hostages.”

That’s the Hamas message in summary, he notes. Hamas “wants to divide us. It is counting on an internal fissure. It thinks that most of the country will follow this. It is mistaken.”

Hamas was wrong to think that threats of refusal to serve by Israeli reservists, during the tumult over his government’s planned judicial overhaul, would divide Israel, he says. And it is wrong to think that Israel “will cave on issues that are crucial to our future,” like retaining the Philadelphi Corridor. “I say to [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, forget it.”

The minute Hamas understands that Israel won’t bend on vital issues, he says at the end of his prepared remarks, “there will be a deal … and we’ll ensure our existence and our future.”