Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved his war cabinet that was created after the Hamas attack on October 7. The three-person war cabinet was dissolved a week after Benny Gantz, a popular opposition lawmaker and former military chief quit. The cabinet, which included Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, was formed as a way to block right-wing lawmakers in Netanyahu’s cabinet, AP reported.
On Monday, writer and journalist Dan Lazare, known for The Weekly Worker.co.uk, joined Sputnik’s Political Misfits to discuss how the dissolvement of Netanyahu’s war cabinet may impact Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the Middle East.
“It's very hard to judge. It's a very minor adjustment,” Lazare said. “I presume that the general trend is that [Finance Minister Bazalel] Smotrich and [Minister of National Security Itamar] Ben-Gvir, the two ultra-right fascists, in fact, members of the Netanyahu government are creeping closer and closer to power.”
“I think that Netanyahu will wind up reaching some kind of accommodation with them. The accommodation could take many forms,” the writer and journalist added. “It could be a little more than a wink and a nod, in which he will take their views into account as he prosecutes the war. But I think that the bottom line is that the Israeli government is continuing its drift to the far-right.”
The Israeli prime minister’s opponents believe he “never had a strategy for Gaza beyond” destroying Hamas, Sputnik’s John Kiriakou suggested. Kiriakou added that there have been more than 37,000 deaths in Gaza and more than 100,000 injuries with “no end in sight.”
“I think there could be an end at some point. I think that essentially the Israeli steamroller is moving forward. The Israeli military officials are talking about carrying the war out through the end of the year, which is six months from now,” Lazare responded.
“I think that the Israelis have no [postwar] plan. The Israeli government has no plans other than the complete destruction of Hamas or the 80% or 90% destruction of Hamas. It doesn't really care what happens to the Palestinian people themselves in Gaza,” Lazare added. “And I think that the Palestinian Authority is so profoundly unpopular in Gaza, that there's just little chance of them establishing any kind of viable government after Gaza has been reduced to complete and total rubble.”
“Therefore, I think it's conceivable that in that period, the war might end after thousands more deaths, including thousands more civilians. I mean, this is a dreadful, horrible situation,” he said. “But it will continue for months and months until Hamas is pretty much crushed. And I think that is not a totally unrealistic military goal.”
Officials who spoke with AP on the condition of anonymity said that Netanyahu will now be holding smaller forums with some of his government members for “sensitive issues”. Meanwhile, critics of Netanyhau have lambasted him for allowing his decisions to be swayed by ultranationalists in his government who oppose a ceasefire deal with Hamas and who have voiced support for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians out of Gaza as well as military occupation of the area.
“I think this is a war of destruction and I think that Netanyahu is determined to prosecute it, I think it can be prosecuted ultimately. But the choices will be harrowing for the Palestinian population,” Lazare said. “They will be facing unspeakable conditions inside Gaza, where they will be living in utter destitution, and ruled by Palestinian turncoats for whom they have no respect. And they will be facing the fiercest repression for as long as possible. I think that's one option the Israelis have in mind.”
“The other option is some kind of mass ethnic cleansing, which will in some ways even make things worse, because if you have refugee camps in Egypt or Jordan, they will be rapidly taken over by Hamas, and Hamas will simply shift operations to just over the border, which means the war and the fighting will continue indefinitely,” Lazare suggested. “It is truly a dreadful, horrible, unspeakable situation.”
Last month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers agreed to invite Netanyahu - whose arrest is being sought after by the International Criminal Court (ICC) - to speak before Congress which is slated for July 24. The speech is a redundant exercise to express the US’s continued and unwavering support for Israel as they continue their war in Gaza. Multipe countries, human rights groups and international agencies have accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians.
“I will not attend. I said that if he wants to come to speak to members of Congress about how to end the war and release hostages, I would be fine doing that,” said California Representative Ro Khanna, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, on Sunday. “But I’m not going to sit in a one-way lecture.”
“The US regards Israel as an absolutely invaluable ally in a crucial part of the world, which has been a focus of US foreign policy for 40 years at least,” said Lazare. “So the US is not going to abandon this strategic alliance. Therefore, I think that after all the huffing and puffing and moaning on the part of Biden is finished, the US will continue to supply Israel, continue to back Israel, and will enable the war to keep grinding onward with just dreadful consequences.”
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the war against Hamas has killed more than 37,100 people. The death toll does not distinguish between soldiers and civilians. The war has been a catalyst for widespread famine and a lack of access to medicine and other aid in the region. On Monday, tens of thousands of Israelis reportedly protested against Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday and called for immediate elections as well as an end to the war in Gaza.