{"id":5953,"date":"2024-07-28T04:35:28","date_gmt":"2024-07-28T04:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=5953"},"modified":"2024-07-28T04:35:46","modified_gmt":"2024-07-28T04:35:46","slug":"how-deep-is-the-divide-between-israels-military-and-its-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=5953","title":{"rendered":"How deep is the divide between Israel\u2019s military and its government?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Both agreed on the need to attack Gaza, leaving 40,000 Palestinians dead, but is the difference just in the details?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a>In Gaza, the Israeli military continues on the offensive, and in the United States, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spent the past week courting more support for Israel\u2019s assault on the Palestinian enclave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that shared purpose does not reflect the reality: a growing divide between the generals and the government. Analysts say it means that the initial Israeli unity when it came to the war on Gaza is a thing of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The differences emerge in the open on occasion. Most recently, they have centered on the conscription of Israel\u2019s ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students \u2013 the military generals, and many secular Israelis, want them to be drafted like other Jews, but ultra-Orthodox parties opposed to conscription are a vital part of Netanyahu\u2019s cabinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of perhaps more consequence to Gaza, however, are differences over the conduct of the war, and how to end it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, the Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said, \u201cWhoever thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong.\u201d The problem is that one of those people is Netanyahu himself, who has made the destruction of Hamas one of his conditions for ending a war that has now killed almost 40,000 Palestinians. That criticism is part of a wider dissent among some leading Israelis \u2013 and even Netanyahu\u2019s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, has questioned whether there are any plans for ending the war, which began in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netanyahu has reserved his criticism for the army, sharply criticizing plans the military had announced, also back in June, for daily \u201ctactical pauses in fighting\u201d to facilitate aid delivery. An Israeli official at the time was quoted as saying that Netanyahu had made clear to the military that it was \u201cunacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The differences between the military and Israel\u2019s right-wing political establishment are hardly new and are particularly rife at the moment because of the presence of the far right within the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last 20 years or so, far-right settler movements have moved from an outlier on the fringes of Israeli politics to the forefront of Israeli political and institutional life<\/a>. Former supporters of Jewish movements that are banned as \u201cterrorist\u201d groups now sit in senior ministerial positions<\/a>, with no attempt to repudiate their former affiliations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to an energized and often aggressive base, the far right\u2019s representatives dominate many of Israel\u2019s institutions, including the police and education system, with their influence over Israel\u2019s traditionally secular army growing more and more apparent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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