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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Yoav Gallant of embracing an “anti-Israel narrative” in a disagreement over how to prosecute the war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed his defense minister on Monday, exposing deep rifts within the Israeli government as the Middle East entered a high-wire week, suspended between the prospect of a wider regional conflict and intensive diplomatic efforts to prevent one.
Mr. Netanyahu criticized the defense minister, Yoav Gallant, after Israeli news media reported that Mr. Gallant had disparaged his goal of achieving a “total victory” over Hamas in the Gaza Strip by telling lawmakers in a private security briefing on Monday that it was “nonsense.”
“When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he harms the chances of reaching a hostage-release deal,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement. Victory over Hamas and the release of hostages, the statement said, is the “clear directive of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the cabinet, and it obligates everyone — including Gallant.”
The public scolding came as the Middle East braced for a possible escalation in violence and the United States continued its military buildup in the region, dispatching the guided-missile submarine Georgia there.
Iran and its most powerful regional proxy, Hezbollah in Lebanon, have vowed to retaliate for the killings nearly two weeks ago of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in an explosion in Tehran and of a senior Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, in an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Iran has blamed Israel for the death of Mr. Haniyeh, who was in Iran to attend the inauguration of its new president. Israel has not confirmed or denied if it was behind the attack, although U.S. officials have privately assessed that it was.
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