Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted this Wednesday that he should also be held responsible for the security failures that allowed the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to attack Israel on October 7, but only after the war.
“We will examine in detail until the end what happened, the failures will be examined and everyone will be held accountable, including me. But all this will happen after the war,” Netanyahu said in an address to the nation Wednesday night.
Israeli citizens’ trust in their government is at its lowest level in the last 20 years, according to a survey published Monday.
After the start of the war with Hamas, triggered after the surprise attack perpetrated on October 7 by the Islamist group in Israeli territory, only 20.5% of Israelis surveyed say they continue to trust the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu to manage the current crisis.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported this Monday that three members of the Executive, whose names were not indicated, are considering resigning, given the inability of the Government and the security system to prevent attacks such as the one that occurred on October 7 and to deal with its consequences.
In his speech this Wednesday, the Israeli Prime Minister also referred to the ground offensive being prepared in the Gaza Strip.
“We have set ourselves two objectives: eliminate Hamas and do everything possible to return the abductees to their homes. We are preparing for an entry by land. I will not specify when or the reasons that will be taken into account,” he said. .
This statement comes after several American newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, reported that Israel agreed to postpone the attack so that the United States could deploy new air defense systems to protect its troops deployed in the Middle East.
According to sources cited by the WSJ, the Pentagon wants to deploy almost a dozen air defense systems in the region, including to protect US military personnel deployed in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
US authorities hope to be able to install these defenses on the ground by the end of this week.
U.S. officials find the threats against their troops extremely concerning, believing they will be targeted by multiple militant groups when the incursion begins.
So far in Iraq and Syria there have been at least 13 such attacks, using drones and missiles, resulting in the death of a U.S. contractor and the destruction of a U.S. drone, U.S. officials said.
However, another Pentagon source denied this version to the Al-Jazeera television network and stressed that not only was he not aware of any request related to these operations, but that Washington does not determine the timing or form of Israeli operations.
The Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7 with the launch of thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen, taking two hundred hostages.
In response, Israel declared war on Hamas, a movement that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is classified as terrorist by the European Union and the United States, bombing several of the group’s infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and imposing a total siege. to the territory with a cut in the supply of water, fuel and electricity.
The conflict has already caused thousands of deaths and injuries, between soldiers and civilians, in both territories.
Source: TSF
