–DM Gallant Claims 4 Former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Health, Minister of Interior, Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, and Minister of Justice 23 May 2024
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At a Likud faction meeting held this week, the Defense Minister presented a nightmare scenario, suggesting that if a military administration is established in Gaza, it would be the end of the State of Israel or close to it. Since Gallant does not have substantive reasons to explain his
opposition to military administration, which has already become irrational, he presented baseless arguments.
The first argument was that “the implication (of an Israeli military administration in the Gaza Strip) is that the IDF needs to maintain
approximately four divisions permanently.” The destruction of Hamas’ military capability and the collapse of its civilian rule require a full
occupation of the strip and the establishment of a temporary military administration. U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles Brown, said this week: “Not only do you really need to go in and eliminate the adversary you’re facing, but you need to hold the territory – and then you need to stabilize it.” General David Petraeus said similar things even before the war. But who are they compared to Gallant and the Chief of Staff?
COGAT, the body specializing in this issue, presented an opinion that one division is sufficient to maintain a military administration in the strip, but Gallant conceals this opinion so that he can continue telling the public made-up stories.
Gallant estimated that “thousands of soldiers would pay with their lives over the years.” However, it should be noted that in the 56 years between the Six-Day War and October 7, approximately 500 soldiers were killed in Judea and Samaria and Gaza, including during the First and Second Intifadas and extensive operations like Defensive Shield and Protective Edge.
The establishment of a military administration throughout the entire strip is possible only after the destruction of the majority of Hamas’ military capability, which clearly would lead to a drastic reduction in the number of soldiers killed. Moreover, the military administration should only be temporary, and since Gallant agrees that the IDF needs to maintain security control in the strip for many years, there is no substantial reason for his opposition to establishing a temporary military administration until the collapse of Hamas’ rule.
Another argument by the Defense Minister was: “We will also have to extend service to approximately four years.” After his lies about “four divisions” and “thousands of soldiers” killed, it is surprising that Gallant did not speak about extending service to 40 years. Between 1968 and 2015, Israel managed four major wars, and during most of these years also maintained a military administration in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip, yet the length of military service for men remained three years, and in 2015 it was even shortened to 32 months.
Finally, Gallant said: “The only approach that can work here is that when you leave, someone local comes in to replace you.” Gallant, who opposes a temporary military administration, has come up with a slew of bizarre plans for an alternative government to Hamas, all of which have failed. But let’s assume there is substance to his delusions about local entities that would rule in our place even before Hamas is defeated. Where are they? He has been looking for them for seven months, and if he hasn’t found them by now, what makes him think he will find them soon? Meanwhile, Hamas continues to seize most of the humanitarian aid, including the aid that is now entering through the American pier (and Hamas even fires at the pier).
Gallant vehemently opposes the viable solution of a temporary military administration and supports bizarre plans that will never materialize. I believe that the damage caused by his opposition to a military administration has driven Gallant out of his mind, which is why he presents
more and more absurd arguments on the subject. Ultimately, there are only two options for civilian control in the strip at the present time – a
temporary military administration or the continuation of Hamas’ rule. By opposing a temporary military administration, the Defense Minister has strengthened Hamas’ rule.
Gallant, who bears responsibility for the mega-failure of October 7 (alongside the Prime Minister) and who bears responsibility for the
strategic failure in the war (as a member of the war cabinet), demonstrated in his remarks this week that he is extremely unfit to continue serving as Defense Minister.
It is hard to find examples in history of incompetent generals of countries other than Israel to compare with Gallant and some of his equally incompetent colleagues. Maybe Crassus, the Roman general who led his soldiers to an utterer wipeout, in which he and they perished in what is now eastern Turkey? The Russian generals, many of them courtiers with little real military experience, who led the Russian army down to defeat in World War I? Some British and French generals in the same war? Aethelred “the unready” in Anglo-Saxon England: It is hard to find in history military and political leaders who were equally or less qualified to be leaders of men as those in Israel’s current defense and inteloligence establishments.