Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud) has been summoned by the Americans to Washington this week as tensions between Israel and Iran continue to rise.
News of Gallant’s trip comes a week after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Israel last Tuesday, marking a significant escalation in hostilities between Tehran and Jerusalem.
Following the attack, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) stated: “Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it. The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies. Sinwar and Deif did not understand this, Nasrallah and Mohsen did not understand this, and there are probably those in Tehran who do not understand this. They will understand.”
“We will stand by the rule that we have established: Whoever attacks us – we will attack him. This is true wherever we fight the axis of evil. This is true for Judea and Samaria, it is true for Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria – and it is also true for Iran. We fight the axis of evil everywhere, including our heroic soldiers who are now operating in southern Lebanon and Gaza.”
According to reports, the Americans are desperately seeking a role in shaping Israel’s response, given its broader geo-political ramifications. US officials are frantically trying to contain the situation and plan to make clear to Gallant what they consider acceptable boundaries for Israel’s expected retaliatory strike against Iran.
While Prime Minister Netanyahu has been careful to avoid US interference in Israel’s wartime strategy, the Americans have opted to break protocol and liaison directly with Gallant for much of the current war.
Gallant reportedly angered US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden by keeping the administration uninformed about the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah until the strike was underway. But the Biden administration knows that without Gallant, they lose what little control they still have over Jerusalem’s war strategy.
It was revealed by Kan 11 on Sunday that Washington has offered Jerusalem extensive diplomatic support and military aid in exchange for not striking certain Iranian targets. Foremost among these targets are Iran’s vast oil fields.
President Biden said during a White House press briefing on Friday that if he were in Israel’s position, he would weigh “alternatives” to striking Iran’s oil fields, fearing that such an attack could disrupt global markets.
“The Israelis have not concluded what they are going to do in terms of a strike,” said Biden.
“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oilfields.”
According to the IranOilGas Network’s database, Iran has a total of 70 oil fields.
“Prisoner of Zion” Jonathan Pollard, who spent 30 years in prison for what could be understood as thwarting US plots against Israel, responded to the news of Washington ordering Gallant to Washington by suggesting that Netanyahu threaten to fire Gallant if he makes the trip.
“Galant should never have been allowed to go to the US under any circumstances,” he said. “If necessary, Bibi should have threatened to fire him if he decided to go.”
“How dare the Americans order him to Washington like an obedient dog! As for the arrival of the US General [Michael Kurilla] in charge of CENTCOM, here again we see an example of American arm twisting. Their objective is clearly obvious. it’s to reduce our retaliatory strike to a meaningless ‘gesture’ – just like the pathetic counter strike we performed after the last Iranian rocket barrage in April.”
“When is this abject weakness going to end?” Pollard asked. “Are we an independent state or not?”
Pollard is obviously correct but we should also appreciate that Prime Minister Netanyahu is navigating a diplomatic minefield while fighting a multi-front war. Unless the prime minister is ready for a direct confrontation with the United States, he must continue to be strategic in his resistance. And this would demand Gallant’s firing at a time that is less overtly connected to throwing off US imperial control.
Vision Magazine has already put forward the suggestion that Netanyahu offer the defense ministry to Naftali Bennett. Due to Bennett’s current popularity in the polls, he’s a replacement that would allow many of the Israelis who would normally protest Gallant’s dismissal to accept the move.
Despite his complete ignorance of geo-political realities and the true nature of the US-Israel relationship, Bennett has been arguing for Israel to focus its military power directly against Iran.
If Bennett were to be successful in the defense ministry, the credit would be shared with Netanyahu. If not, Bennett would be tainted with the same stain of failure as the coalition and would be neutralized as a political threat to the prime minister. In any case, Bennett would no longer be able to criticize the government from outside while remaining “pure” on the sidelines.
Even if Bennett were to possess the political intelligence to smell the trap, he wouldn’t be able to refuse the defense ministry. Especially not in the midst of what most Israelis consider to be an existential war. Refusing such an offer would taint him as prioritizing politics over the national interest. And for all his many flaws, Bennett does not appear to be in the pocket of the Americans. At least not yet.
