From the Liveblog of
Sunday, August 10, 2025
PM stands by choice to approve Gaza City takeover despite opposition from military officials
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he approved last week’s security cabinet decision to take over Gaza City in an expanded military operation against Hamas despite opposition from military officials.
Throughout the war and in the case of this plan, he says, “the basic decisions — the fundamental decisions — were made at the political level, and made by me,” addressing disagreements between the premier and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir over the plan’s approval.
Netanyahu declines to answer whether the plan would see the IDF enter underground tunnels operated by Hamas, possibly leading to the harm of hostages, saying, “I do not intend to go into the tactics that have been discussed. I think that would be a mistake, as it would give Hamas information it does not need to receive.”
“We will surprise them in various ways. I have no doubt that we will defeat them, because we have demonstrated this remarkable capability — and the IDF has demonstrated this remarkable capability,” he continues.
“I have great respect for the IDF and its commanders, for our soldiers, both in regular service and in the reserves,” he adds, before adding that ultimately, “the decisions were mine, and at times I made them against the opinion of the IDF’s top command and even against the opinion of senior defense officials.”
He cites several examples of key operational decisions he says he made in opposition to military officials, including ordering a full mobilization of reserves on the first day of the war; rejecting advice to open a second front in Lebanon; refusing calls to notify the United States in advance of the Hezbollah “Beeper” operation last September; intervening to protect Druze minorities in Syria; and deciding to carry out the operation against Iranian nuclear facilities “with or without” a “green light” from the US.
The premier nevertheless offers backing to Zamir despite their disagreements, saying he supports him “in carrying out the actions decided upon by the cabinet. And I want to make that clear: the body that determines the major moves is the cabinet. I do not decide where exactly this company will go, or this brigade, or even this division. I set the mission, and then I give the army full backing to carry it out, and I expect it to do so.”
“That is the correct way in a democracy. This has been said a thousand times, and I will say it once more: we are a state with an army, not an army with a state,” he concludes.
The Times of Israel Community.