Israel's war cabinet, unable to decide on the future of its operations in the Gaza Strip, has begun to publicly show its internal divisions. In his first interview on Israeli television, one of the members of this reduced-member council, former Chief of the General Staff Gadi Eisenkot, called on Thursday, January 18, for legislative elections "within months" due to a "leadership which has failed so completely."

The general acknowledged an inability to collectively define the short-term objectives of the war. Eisenkot, a member of the centrist opposition, refused to say whether he trusts Benjamin Netanyahu and "hoped" that the prime minister would not seek to prolong the conflict indefinitely to ensure his political survival.

Since joining the cabinet on October 11, Eisenkot has already let his entourage know that he considers Netanyahu a danger to national security and that he intends to act as a buffer. On Thursday, he said that he had already done so in October by helping to prevent the opening of a front in Lebanon which would have offered Hamas the regional war it may have sought to ignite.

The focal point of their profound disagreement today centers on the future of the 130 or so hostages captured by the Islamic movement on October 7 and who are still being held captive. Since the end of October, the Israeli government has been claiming that they can only be freed by exerting immense military pressure on the enemy. While operations have been scaled back in the destroyed, partly depopulated and cut-off metropolis of Gaza, they are continuing intensively on the southern outskirts of the enclave, in Khan Yunis. But their operations have not, so far at least, led to the release of any hostages or the capture or assassination of the highest-ranking Hamas officials.

Eisenkot and his cabinet ally Benny Gantz fear that the operation could stall without producing more results due to a lack of clear objectives. "We did not bring down Hamas," Eisenkot told Channel 12 on Thursday. "We haven't yet reached a strategic achievement, or rather only partially." Defeating Hamas militarily would still take many months and the hostages don't have that kind of time, according to the general, who lost a son in Gaza in December. Every week, Israel announces the death of mistreated captives. "I think it is necessary to say boldly that it is impossible to bring the hostages back alive in the near future without a deal," he said.

He recommended stopping the fighting for a "significant" period, without publicly mentioning a clear end to the war, a possibility signaled by leaks from the war cabinet to the press. This would involve exchanging the hostages for the Palestinian detainees in Israel, giving Hamas a victory for the time being.

You have 50% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.