Tempers fray in cabinet as Smotrich accuses IDF chief of ‘going to sleep’ on Oct. 6
Ben Gvir criticizes defense minister’s willingness to make deal with Hezbollah ‘Nazis,’ urges all-out war; Netanyahu to convene coalition heads’ forum for first time in 2 months
Tempers frayed in a stormy cabinet meeting overnight Thursday as far-right leaders clashed with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and accused military chief Herzi Halevi of “going to sleep” on October 6 — with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being called on several times to intervene, Hebrew media reported.
Multiple reports quoted the leaked arguments from the closed-door top-level meeting that also saw National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reject Gallant’s support for a diplomatic solution in Lebanon and push for a full-scale war.
As the fallout spread, Netanyahu on Friday decided to convene a forum of coalition heads for the first time in two months as mounting tensions threatened the stability of the hard-right, religious 64-member coalition.
Netanyahu reportedly intervened, at Gallant’s behest, after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Justice Minister Yariv Levin criticized Halevi in what began as a discussion on the army’s conduct in the West Bank, where the military plays an outsized role in enforcing the law and troops are often forced to separate between Palestinians and settlers, who are a key constituent of the right-wing parties.
Halevi was said to be indignant after Levin said that the army was showing preferential treatment toward Palestinians.
“Put in the resolution that [they should] enforce [Palestinian crimes] like they do the Jews,” Levin was quoted as saying.
“There are soldiers there who are risking their lives and doing no harm,” Halevi reportedly answered, adding, “They are fighting terrorism.”
Smotrich came in on Levin’s side. “I recommend you lower your voice. We are committed to security no less than you are.”
Smotrich reportedly continued: “I let slide what you said two weeks ago,” referring to Halevi’s comment that responsibility was a foreign concept to the cabinet ministers.
“We are not the ones who went to sleep on October 6,” Smotrich added — infuriating the military chief, who was said to stand up and yell at the finance minister to “take it back.”
Gallant also reportedly got up and told Netanyahu to rein in his ministers.
“You can’t let cabinet ministers regularly lash out at the IDF and the Shin Bet [security agency],” Gallant said, adding that such behavior was dangerous and unprecedented in Israel’s history.
In response, Netanyahu reportedly condemned both Halevi’s two-week-old “responsibility” remark and Smotrich’s jab at the general.
Smotrich was said to apologize later in the meeting, though his office later issued a statement criticizing Halevi’s “contempt toward the political echelon,” which the finance minister’s office said subverted the normative democratic relations between the army and the government.
Gallant then found himself sparring with Ben Gvir, who rejected outright the defense minister’s support for a diplomatic resolution to escalating violence with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Israel and allies have been warning of an all-out war with Hezbollah as tensions have been mounting with the Iran-backed terror group for months.
“I told the Americans that we are not the ones who want a war in the north, and if we reach a deal that removes [Hezbollah] from a border, that would be acceptable,” said Gallant, who recently returned from a four-day visit to Washington.
“How can we not have a war?” Ben Gvir was said to interject. “Have we learned nothing from 20 years of deal-making? We’ll make a deal, and then within a year or two they’ll rape our women and murder our children.”
The far-right firebrand was referring to sexual violence that occurred on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take over 250 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Soon afterward, Israel evacuated northern communities, fearing Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack from Lebanon.
Some 60,000 people remain displaced, as diplomatic efforts have so far failed to make Hezbollah retreat behind the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Israel’s northern border — in accord with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
Growing impatience to let the displaced residents return home is said to be a center point of the government’s deliberations over whether or not to launch a preemptive strike against Hezbollah.
“But even if we win the war, we’ll make a deal. Don’t you think so, Minister Ben Gvir?” asked Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, according to the Hebrew media reports.
“[If] we win there will be nobody to make a deal with, and a good thing that,” Ben Gvir reportedly answered.
Netanyahu was said to offer his cautious support for a diplomatic resolution.
“If we reach an arrangement that allows the return of residents to the north, then we can make a deal,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying, “but that’s the crux of it — returning the residents up north. Only with the conditions that allow that [will Israel make a deal].”
Ben Gvir was said to repeat that “a deal with Hezbollah will bring a repeat of October 7.
“You don’t make deals with Nazis,” he said.
