Netanyahu seeks to “cleanse” the army of his opponents to tighten his grip on him | policy

Occupied Jerusalem- Amid the heated debate over the responsibility for the failures in the events of October 7, 2023, and the accusations leveled by the political echelon of the military establishment of failing to prevent the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a series of measures aimed at bringing about fundamental changes in the Israeli army.

Netanyahu’s intentions were revealed through the criticism he directed at Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, accusing the army of withholding files from the political level, and leaking secret information regarding the conduct of the war on Gaza and the exchange deal negotiations.

In another indication of his actions, the new Minister of Defense, Yisrael Katz, challenged the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, and confirmed his refusal to sign administrative detention orders and cancel such orders issued against a number of settlers in the West Bank, which were signed by his predecessor, Yoav Galant.

Purge the army

These criticisms and accusations were accompanied by articles and recommendations by Israeli research centers affiliated with the right-wing camp, which explicitly called for Halevy and Bar to step down and resign. Commenting on this, Haaretz newspaper headlined its editorial on Wednesday, “The government is purging the Israeli army of opponents of Benjamin Netanyahu.”

The newspaper strengthened its position with the instructions issued by Katz, in which he demanded that the Chief of Staff cancel Eyal Naveh’s summoning to reserve service in the army, which confirms the adoption of the same policy with the reserve soldiers and officers who oppose the Netanyahu government.

To justify his instructions, Katz said, “Whoever called for abstention from military service and collective rejection of reserve service does not deserve to train the next generation of IDF soldiers.”

According to the newspaper, Naveh is considered one of the founders of the “Brothers in Arms” movement, and he is one of the figures most associated with organizing protests against the Netanyahu government and demanding the conclusion of an exchange deal to return Israeli detainees held by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip. The Military Intelligence Division (Aman) had previously suspended the service of reserve officer Ron Scherf, one of the leaders of the protests against the government.

According to the newspaper, in the first days after the events of last October 7, Netanyahu’s entourage began targeting and persecuting activists, members of the “Brothers in Arms” who led the line of struggle by refusing military service in the reserve, due to what they considered an attempt to “coup against democracy and the judicial system,” which Led by the Netanyahu government.

Negative repercussions

The newspaper estimated that the orders issued against Sharf and Naveh were part of a broad process of political cleansing in the army, as the Israeli channel 14, the government’s mouthpiece, described this movement as an army patrol and a rebel body that must be suppressed. She denounced leftist supporters of the protest as “traitors” who were expelled from the army.

It is noteworthy that in recent months, dozens of reserve soldiers were suspended from work after they signed a petition in which they announced that they would stop military service if the government did not move to implement the exchange deal. The channel praised the cancellation of weapons licenses for the demonstration supporters.

For his part, the writer and political analyst in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Nadav Eyal, warned of the attack launched by Netanyahu and his group on the army and the security establishment with the aim of eliminating his political and military opponents, concealing the failures of October 7, 2023, and disavowing responsibility for the security and political failure. .

Eyal believes that the current attacks led by Netanyahu and his supporters are part of a widespread campaign to eliminate opponents and “on democracy in Israel, which is moving toward dictatorship.”

In his opinion, Netanyahu’s actions will have negative repercussions on the internal reality by deepening the societal rift, increasing political polarization, and bringing about a fundamental change in the organizational structure of the Israeli army, which will transform from the “people’s army” to “Netanyahu’s army.”

Critical events

On the other hand, a position assessment prepared by Reserve Colonel Hanan Shai, a strategic researcher at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, concluded that the army and the current Chief of Staff bear responsibility for the failure and failures on October 7, and must step down and resign.

According to the reading of the researcher close to Netanyahu, the Israeli army, under its current leadership, has failed to achieve the goals of the war, and has lost the ability to control and control the course of the fighting.

It is believed that the main reason for the army’s failures in the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle was its transformation in 2004 from an army designed to quickly defeat armed organizations, to one designed to deliver severe blows to the enemy until it understands and is deterred, but without being defeated or defeated, saying, “And as was previously expected.” “As has been proven in the past, the enemy does not volunteer to surrender.”

For his part, the president of Tel Aviv University, Ariel Porat, believes that Israel is facing huge and critical internal events that would expose the country to danger, explaining that “in the midst of the war, an unprecedented coup is taking place to change the government system in Israel, which includes moves to tighten control over the army, the police, media, academia, education, and public services.”

Porat says that the threat of dismissal of the government’s judicial advisor, Gali Beharav Meara, and the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, and the failure to comply with the decisions issued by the Supreme Court and the request for the chief of staff to resign, are all huge events that will have serious repercussions on Israel “as a Jewish, democratic state.”

In an article in the newspaper “Haaretz”, he called on the Israeli public and various political forces, parties, movements and civil society organizations to confront the policies and measures of the Netanyahu government aimed at eliminating everyone who opposes the “extreme right,” stressing that “this is the appropriate time to work to save… “Israel.”