A short time ago today (Sunday), Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu admitted Israel's responsibility for the mass explosion of Hezbollah pagers, hinting that he launched the operation over the objections of former Defense Minister Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, according to N12 reporter Almog Boker.
At a government meeting held today, the Prime Minister said that "the beeper operation and the elimination of Nasrallah were launched despite the opposition of senior members in the defense establishment and the political echelon in charge of them," in a clear reference to Gallant.
Netanyahu fired Gallant as Defense Minister last week, citing increasing differences over the policy of conducting the war, as well as accusations that Gallant refused to carry out government and cabinet decisions. He has now been replaced by Israel Katz as defense minister.
The beeper operation, a covert operation to booby-trap thousands of Hezbollah pagers, used instead of trackable cell-phones, killed a number of Hezbollah operatives, including commanders and similarly ranked personnel, and wounded thousands more, according to Hezbollah's own admission.
