The government has opened the “gates of hell” on the Israeli hostages held by Hamas by deciding to return to war last week, former Mossad director Tamir Pardo said Thursday.
“The gates of hell might have opened on the Gazans, but for sure they have opened on the 59 hostages, and there is no savior [for them],” he said during the Meir Dagan Conference at Netanya Academic College.
The current government has a negative impact on the balance of democracy and the separation of powers, Pardo said. Regarding “this government of strife… only protests can bring back liberal democracy,” he added.
The threat to Israeli democracy and the Zionist enterprise was far greater from the government’s judicial overhaul than from the combined military threats posed by Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Yemen’s Houthis combined, Pardo said.
Speaking at the same conference, former defense minister Yoav Gallant said he was concerned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might put his political priorities and continuing the war to destroy Hamas ahead of cutting a deal to return the remaining 59 hostages, including 22 to 24 of whom are still alive.
There was no question that returning the hostages needed to take priority over destroying Hamas, especially given that the terrorist group had already been heavily reduced in terms of the threat level it presents, he said.
Netanyahu had failed to cut a deal last summer to return the hostages when a potential deal was achievable, he added.
Nevertheless, Gallant said he supported the current renewed invasion of Gaza, adding that Hamas would only make a reasonable deal under heavy military pressure.
Gallant said he opposed an extended military occupation of Gaza.
Palestinian groups resisting Hamas, along with moderate Sunni Arab support, were the only way to replace Hamas political rule in Gaza, he said.
While he did not say “Palestinian Authority” or “Arab peacekeeping forces,” Gallant has made it clear for at least several months that this is the direction he believes Gaza must go in.
Former IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Herzi Halevi said he agreed with Gallant.
Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir’s opinion on that issue is unknown, and he may be content to develop military plans and wait for the political class to decide the question of how to manage Gaza going forward.
Haredi draft
Also at the conference, former IAF commander and head of the commission for integrating haredim into the military Eliezer Shkedy said the process of drafting haredim into the IDF would be irreversibly transformed by 2030.
He said he had worked for the government on trying to integrate haredim from December 2023 until mid-2024, and that the IDF was ready to draft all of those eligible for military service by 2026.
Moreover, Shkedy said the haredi leaders he was speaking with were not opposed at the time to the drafting of their followers who were not spending most of their time in yeshiva, as long as their yeshiva students who were engaged in Jewish religious studies full-time would be exempt.
In another significant point in the conference, former Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai said he was worried about the general direction of the police when asked about concerns of a “Kahanist” takeover by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his top police appointees.
Shabtai’s successor, Daniel Levi, has been accused of being unqualified and of only receiving the position as part of a deal with Ben-Gvir that would allow the minister to wield greater influence over police policy than ministers typically have.