Likud on Yoav Gallant: "no longer relevant," "best of luck on the left"

The Likud party responded today (Thursday) to former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's allegations regarding Prime Minister Netanyahu's conduct and behavior during the war, to be published as part of a wide-ranging interview on Ynet.

The Likud stated that "Gallant is no longer relevant since Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected his demand to stop the war before entering Rafah, before capturing Philadelphi, before eliminating Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah, and before the beepers - steps that changed the Middle East and led to additional release of our hostages. Wishing Gallant success in the left-wing bloc."

This statement comes in response to allegations by Gallant that Netanyahu was very pessimistic about Israel's chances in the war in its early days, discounting the chances of an IDF ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and prophesying that a war against Hezbollah would be so destructive that Tel Aviv's skyscrapers would be knocked down by their missiles.

This is not the first time Netanyahu and his former allies have clashed over who was responsible for what during the war. Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot, who served in the national emergency government, for a number of months until they felt they no longer had sufficient influence, also accused Netanyahu of hesitation in decision making.

Netanyahu and the Likud party hit back, noting how the IDF became far more aggressive in conducting strikes and operations after Gantz's and Eizenkot's State Camp party left the government.

In his interview, Gallant also accused Netanyahu of stalling efforts to reach a hostage deal, which he said was effectively ready by April 2024. According to Gallant, Netanyahu allowed Itamar Ben Gvir and Smotrich to dissuade him from doing so for months, leading to a number of hostages dying and being killed in the meantime.

The full interview will be published tomorrow by Yediot Acharonot and Ynet.