IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari appeared on Channel 14th Erel Segal and Shimon Riklin’s show on Wednesday, and said “The IDF can dismantle Hamas militarily, but in order to destroy, collapse, and make them disappear, something else needs to be grown instead.”
As to a question regarding the ban on Brigadier General Ofer Winter to speak at a reserves soldiers conference to be held in Tel Aviv, Hagari explained: “Brigadier General Ofer Winter is a retired officer – all kinds of procedures and orders apply to retired officers.”
THERE’S A COUP D’ÉTAT BREWING
Political commentator Avishai Matia who has recently switched from the left to the right, wrote on Wednesday, “In a proper country, Daniel Hagari would have been fired this evening. And immediately after him the Chief of Staff, too. Just this morning I wrote that we should all stand behind the IDF. But if the chief of staff meddles in politics, and if both strive to unseat a legally elected government, their place is not in the army. After all the denials and lies, I have no doubt: the high command is rebelling against the government. And the prime minister should clear the army of all those responsible for the October 7 failure. I don’t understand how [chief of staff] Halevi, [military intelligence chief] Haliva, and [shin bet chief] Ronen Bar are still here.”
In an interview on Channel 13, Hagari suggested again there was no real possibility of destroying Hamas. “The matter of destroying Hamas or making it disappear is simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public,” he said. According to Hagari, the way to weaken the terrorist organization is to establish a new government in the Strip, something the Israeli government can do. “Hamas is an idea, it is a party, and it is rooted in the hearts of the people. Anyone who thinks we can make it disappear is wrong,” he added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Hagari’s statement, saying: “The political-security cabinet headed by me has defined as one of the goals of the war the destruction of Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities, and the IDF is of course committed to this.”
Senior Likud officials and right-leaning journalists overnight Wednesday fiercely attacked the IDF spokesman following his interviews on 14 and the other three channels, in which he reiterated that Israel was unable to totally destroy Hamas, and justified banning Winter from speaking.
IT’S ABOUT GANTZ’S QUITTING, STUPID
Channel 14’s military correspondent Hillel Biton Rosen hinted that there may be a connection between Gantz’s resignation from the government and Hagari’s statements: “IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari was formerly the assistant and chief of staff to Eisenkot and Gantz, and since they resigned from the government, Hagari has issued a statement to the media about a temporary truce in Rafah without cabinet approval; released a message to the media against News 14 commentator Yaakov Bardugo, who is considered a prominent critic of the IDF; and disapproved of the goals of the war as defined by the Prime Minister.”
“The opposition spokesman, oops, sorry, the IDF spokesman is allowed everything!! Everything!!” Likud MK Tali Gottlieb tweeted Wednesday night and added the following litany of gripes: “He can brief that there are no armaments only because the IDF brass wants to end the war. To brief that Palestinian workers must be allowed into Israel otherwise, there will be terrorism. To brief that humanitarian aid is required even though it goes to Hamas. To inform you that our soldiers harmed the late female soldier Noam Marciano when they attacked Shifa Hospital to justify not attacking hospitals even though they serve as terrorist headquarters. To announce that certain events are ‘unfamiliar,’ meaning that the IDF spokesman doesn’t want you to know about them. To wait with false denials about the transfer of forces from the south to Huwara (in Samaria – DI) only because it serves leftist worldviews. To brief on a ceasefire without updating the cabinet, and then change his mind. To be interviewed on every television channel and to go against the goals of the war and blacken the government’s face. This is the IDF Spokesman.”
“What more needs to be done to understand that IDF brass holds a radical leftist political agenda which in the type of war we are in is a defeatist agenda? Don’t say I didn’t tell you. Long ago,” MK Gottlieb concluded.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi (Likud) tweeted Wednesday night: “The words of the IDF spokesman this evening are only a reflection of the lax commanding spirit of the Chief of Staff and the Minister of Defense.
“We have superhero warriors and a security leadership that doesn’t deserve them.
“Instead of thinking that he is still Gantz’s and Eisenkot’s chief of staff and letting them speak from his throat, the IDF spokesman should concentrate on strengthening our fighters and have his commanders Herzi and Gallant strive for victory! Unable to win? Let them go. Don’t make us lose.”
