Warning about the war with Lebanon in the Israeli media
Officials say Netanyahu govt illegitimate, cannot wage war in north
Israeli officials say Benjamin Netanyahu's government is illegitimate and thus cannot wage war against Lebanon.
Senior Israeli officials have expressed serious concerns about the ongoing combat developments on the northern front and questioned the Israeli occupation's ability to effectively counter Hezbollah's strength and missile capabilities.
Reserve Major General Yitzhak Brik highlighted the interconnected nature of the wars on Gaza and Lebanon. He stated, "Hezbollah launches dozens of missiles and drones at us daily, and we are failing to stop it."
Brik further criticized the Israeli occupation's lack of success in achieving its objectives in Gaza while also failing to halt Hezbollah's missile attacks through either aerial measures or the Iron Dome defense system, and being unprepared for drone threats.
Former Security Minister Moshe Yaalon conveyed a grim perspective to Israeli Channel 12, stating, "Israel has never been in such a crisis since its establishment and is essentially without leadership."
He criticized claims of absolute victory as populist rhetoric, asking, "What does this mean? It's a nice slogan for populism, but it is not practical."
Labor Party leader Yair Golan suggested that the only way to achieve a ceasefire in the north was to stop the fighting in the south, i.e., in Gaza. He emphasized that under the current government, waging yet another war in the north was not justifiable.
"This government lost its legitimacy on October 7 and is incapable of making decisions in Israel's best interest, as all polls indicate," Golan stated.
Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo also voiced strong criticism of the Israeli premier, telling Channel 12, "Netanyahu neither listens nor sees; he thinks only of himself and is leading Israel to disaster." Pardo accused Netanyahu of lacking strategy and vision on all matters, adding, "To some extent, I trust Nasrallah more than Netanyahu."
At war with everyone
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is engaged in many battles, pointed out Ishaan Tharoor in an analysis piece published in The Washington Post on Friday titled "Israel’s Netanyahu is at war with almost everyone."
Tharoor says that "Israel" remains involved in the war on Gaza, in parallel with escalating tensions with Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon.
But according to the writer, Netanyahu "is also picking fights closer to home and much further away," recalling that the Israeli premier has recently dissolved the War Cabinet, which had been composed of a small group of officials, including more moderate political rivals, formed as a unity to manage the aggression on Gaza following the Palestinian Resistance's Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023.
Disagreements over Netanyahu's handling of the war and his appeasement of "Israel's" far-right have rendered the war cabinet's purpose void, the writer indicated, adding that the prime minister has clashed with Israeli generals, with a growing number of public disputes emerging among senior leaders.
Tharoor moves on to Netanyahu's clash with US President Joe Biden, whom he attacked earlier this week for reportedly withholding weapons from "Israel" and thwarting its goal of completely defeating Hamas. The writer considered that Netanyahu's criticisms of the White House, which ignored the substantial support the Biden administration has provided to "Israel", "seemed calculated to curry favor with his right-wing base and boost Biden’s own Republican opponents."
He cites former US envoy to "Israel", Martin Indyk, as saying that "Israel" is at war on four fronts: Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iran. "What does Netanyahu do? Attack the United States based on a lie that he made up!"
"Netanyahu, a wily politician and Israel’s longest-serving prime minister is pulling what levers he can in an increasingly desperate quest to cling to power," the writer argues in his analysis, adding that internal anger over his apparent unwillingness to commit to a ceasefire agreement that would lead to the release of the remaining Israeli captives has fueled new protests this week and calls for his resignation and new elections.
Tharoor cites a new poll by the Pew Research Center, which found that Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant's approval ratings among Israelis are "far higher" than Netanyahu's.
Hezbollah can make Israel ‘uninhabitable in 72 hours,’ expert warns
Hezbollah possesses over 100,000 rockets and missiles that can devastate Israel's electricity and other infrastructure should Israel decide to invade Lebanon
Israel’s power grid is vulnerable to a Hezbollah attack that could render it “uninhabitable” 72 hours later, Haaretz reported on 21 June.
According to the CEO of a company that manages and oversees Israel’s electrical systems on behalf of the government, Israel is entirely unprepared for a war with Hezbollah that would likely target the country’s power infrastructure.
“We are not ready for a real war. We live in a fantasy world, in my eyes,” said Shaul Goldstein, head of Noga – the Israel Independent System Operator.
Goldstein made the comments while speaking at a conference organized by The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in the southern city of Sderot. He said that Israel would be “uninhabitable” after 72 hours without power. “You look at all of our infrastructure, the optical fibers, the ports – and I won’t go into the sensitive things – we are not in a good place.”
“If Nasrallah decides to paralyze Israel’s power grid, he only needs to pick up the phone and call the head of Beirut’s power grid, which is [technically] identical to Israel’s.” Goldstein added, “the upside is that we have invested a lot in protection, working together with Israel Electric Company.”
On Thursday, Reuters noted that Hezbollah likely possesses upwards of 150,000 missiles and rockets of various types and ranges.
Hezbollah says it has rockets that can hit all areas of Israel, including precision missiles, drones, and anti-tank, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging increasingly hostile threats in recent days. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned an invasion of the Galilee is “still on the table” in the event of war.
Israeli-born Amos Hochstein, adviser to US President Joe Biden, traveled to Israel and Lebanon this week amid the heightened tensions.
In Israel, Hochstein met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Knesset opposition leader Yair Lapid, and former war cabinet member Benny Gantz.
Haaretz writes that Hochstein warned of the possibility that war with Hezbollah could lead to a wide-scale Iranian attack on Israel, of a kind that would be difficult for Israel’s defense systems to repel in concert with possible wide-scale fire by Hezbollah from Lebanon.
Israeli leaders have for months threatened to “copy-paste” the destruction of Gaza onto Lebanon if Hezbollah did not halt its attacks from the north, which forced the evacuation of some 200,000 settlers.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army announced its Northern Command had approved operational plans for war with Lebanon.
Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese MP and spokesman Ibrahim Moussawi stated earlier this week that if Israel wants a full-scale war, the Islamic resistance is ready.
“If they want to come to Lebanon, they are welcome. We are waiting for them. Ahlan wa Sahlan, as they say in Arabic,” he stated.
Moussawi noted that Israel is having difficulty managing the war in Gaza and asked where Israel would get the troops to launch a much more difficult invasion of Lebanon.
“They can’t manage themselves in Gaza, and they want to come here? In Gaza, they are not fighting. They are just bombarding and sending drones. But if they do come, we are anxiously waiting for them. We have made preparations that they can never imagine,” he added.