A KEY member of Israel’s war cabinet has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not telling the truth about the military goals in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu has publicly rejected the US push for a future Palestinian state and insisted the offensive would continue “until complete victory”.
But Gadi Eisenkot said those advocating “absolute defeat” of Hamas were not “speaking the truth”.
The retired general’s son was killed fighting in Gaza.
He also said Mr Netanyahu shared “sharp and clear responsibility” for failing to protect his country on 7 October and urged fresh elections, saying there was “no trust” in Israel’s current leadership.
Tensions among the cabinet, with reports that the prime minister and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are barely on speaking terms, come as the chasm between Israel and its Western allies widens.
After Mr Netanyahu’s comments on Palestinian statehood, the White House national security adviser John Kirby said the United States and Israel “clearly see things differently”.
A State Department spokesman said that there was no way to solve Israel’s security challenges without a Palestinian state.
The White House said President Joe Biden discussed a two-state solution with Mr Netanyahu during a call on Friday – the first in nearly a month.
Later Mr Biden spoke to reporters in Washington and when asked by one if a two-state solution was impossible with Mr Netanyahu in office, he replied: “No, it’s not”.
“There are a number of types of two-state solutions. There’s a number of countries that are members of the UN that… don’t have their own militaries,” Mr Biden said.
But Mr Netanyahu has spent his career resisting a Palestinian state and just last month boasted that he was proud to have prevented it.
The timing of yet another rebuttal of the Biden Administration will heighten a sense of his growing international isolation, as deaths in Gaza near 25,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
