Report: IDF spokesman says Netanyahu asked him to stress Gaza aid efforts in English

According to a report in Ynet from a closed-door meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari tells lawmakers that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked him to stress Israel’s humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza in English-language statements and briefings.

The report says Hagari tells the committee that the prime minister made the request of him “several times.”

In response to criticism from some right-wing lawmakers who accuse him of leading a campaign to end the ongoing war, Hagari says the most important part of his job is building trust and “credibility” in the Israeli military, which was broken on October 7.

Hagari also repeats his earlier apology for speaking out during a press conference earlier this month against proposed Knesset legislation that would prevent members of the defense establishment from being prosecuted for giving classified intelligence, without authorization, to the prime minister or defense minister.

“I made a mistake, I exceeded my authority,” he says, noting that the IDF should voice its positions on legislation relevant to the military only in closed-door proceedings.