Netanyahu’s strategy will leave Israel in "Gaza quagmire," ex-prime minister warns
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has called for fresh elections to restore confidence in the country’s leadership and warned that Benjamin Netanyahu’s current strategy risks alienating the United States and leaving Israel “mired in the Gaza quagmire.”
Calling Netanyahu’s refusal to publicly discuss plans for “the day after” period following the end of combat in Gaza “unconscionable,” Barak said a lack of planning was damaging the war effort and the country’s future diplomatic relations.
“The IDF cannot optimize the probability of winning when there is no defined political goal. In the absence of a realistic goal, we will end up mired in the Gaza quagmire, fighting simultaneously in Lebanon and in the West Bank, eroding the American backing and endangering the Abraham Accords and the peace agreements with Egypt and with Jordan,” Barak wrote in an op-ed published in Haaretz Thursday.
Barak added that a proposal from the Biden administration in November that would see a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority take control of Gaza after the war offered the “only practical blueprint” to move forward and would require Israel to take part in future talks “toward a two-state solution.”
Netanyahu on Thursday appeared to reject the idea of creating a Palestinian state, a statement that could contribute to growing tensions between Washington and Jerusalem.
The apparent rejection of a Palestinian state is at odds with the stated position of one of Netanyahu’s staunchest allies, US President Joe Biden, who has long advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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