LOS ANGELES.–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 74, dissolved his war Cabinet, something he created after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas massacre when he invited his political rival Gen. Beni Gantz to join his team to make military decisions on the Hamas War. Gantz quit Netanyahu’s War Cabinet June 10, prompting Netanyahu to disband the War Cabinet, no longer needed to maintain party unity in dealing with the eight-month-old Hamas war. Gantz leads the moderate Israeli Resilience Party, something more appealing to the White House because he’s more willing to compromise with Hamas on a ceasefire. President Joe Biden, 81, has pushed for a three-stage plan to initiate a ceasefire, return Israeli hostages and swap Palestinian prisoners, then deal with reconstructing the Gaza Strip. Biden’s plan doesn’t assure Hamas power after implementing the plan but doesn’t call for its elimination.
Billionaire Hamas leader in exile 62-year-old Ismail Haniyeh said yesterday that Hamas had only minor problems with Biden’s plan, especially the uncertainty of what happens to Hamas leadership after the plan’s implementation. Before Gantz quit the War Cabinet, he would have tolerated a continuation of Hamas rule in any new ceasefire arrangement. Netanyahu’s conservative parties that joined his Likud Party giving him a governing majority all oppose keeping Hamas in power, demanding that Netanayahu continue the fight until Hamas is disbanded and a new government formed. Netanyahu knows that no Gaza reconstruction can resume with a corrupt Hamas leadership fleecing donor cash for its own personal wealth. Hamas’s Doha, Qatar-based leaders in exile are worth billions from piracy and grand larceny over the last 18 years.
When it comes to the war in Gaza, Biden has pressured Netanyahu based on Hamas’s fake publicity campaign against Israel, making false claims about mass civilian casualties and deplorable conditions in Gaza. Hama’s 61-year-old Gaza Leader Yaha Sinwar, mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre, has said that Gaza civilian deaths are part of the resistance against the Jewish State. Sinwar has only two goals, staying in power and continuing his war against Israel. Whatever happens to Gaza civilians is part of Sinwar’s master plan to get his hands on more donor cash to enrich himself and his power junta. Dissolving his War Cabinet, Netanyahu doesn’t need to hear dissenting voices that would compromise with Hamas—or the U.S.—to end the war before the job of dismantling Hamas is complete. Netanyahu knows you can’t placate an Nazi-ISIS-Al-Qaeda-like terror group.
Dissolving the War Cabinet has little practical effect on the ongoing conflict, other than giving Netanyahu more unity with a group of advisers on the same page what to do with Hamas. Biden has his own pressures during an Election Year, pandering to leftists groups that want the war to end but actually have more sympathy with Palestinians. Netanyahu faces his own pressure from his National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who wanted to replace Gantz in the War Cabinet after his resignation. Netanyahu wants less resistance in completing the military operation in Gaza requiring dismantling remaining Hamas battalions and eliminating what’s left of Hamas leadership. Netanyahu has more public support to continue the war until he eliminates Hamas for good. Disbanding the War Cabinet allows Netanyahu to proceed with his war plan in Gaza without interference.
Biden’s three-stage ceasefire plant ran afoul with Hamas when it realized that there was no guarantee of Hamas retaining power in Gaza. Haniyeh tries to placate Biden saying Hamas agrees to his plan with very minor changes involving assurances that Hamas can stay in power. No world leader today can trust Hamas with what will be billions in donor cash once the reconstruction phase of Biden’s plan begins. Watching the billionaire Haniyeh call the shots for Hamas reminds everyone about the egregious corruption that exists in Hamas leadership, using oil-rich Gulf States’ donor cash as a way for Hamas leadership to get rich. Sinwar and his leadership junta has no doubt already fleeced Gaza for whatever they could take, looking forward to billions in new donor cash. No Gulf State or any other Gaza donor can trust Hamas with any reconstruction money.
Dissolving the War Cabinet was Netanyahu’s way of ending the interference in what must be done to finish the job in Gaza, so Hamas cannot steal more cash from the Gaza Strip. How any world leader can tolerate listening to billionaire pirate Ismail Haniyeh is anyone’s guess. It’s so obvious Haniyeh looted Gaza of billions to live his lavish lifestyle in Doha, Qatar. Netanyahu faces enough protests on the streets to Tel Aviv to have the same elements show up in his War Cabinet. Disbanding the War Cabinet allows Netanyahu to continue to prosecute the war in Gaza over all the foreign and domestic objections to the Hamas War. No donor state can allow Hamas to stay in power knowing its track record of waging war against Israel and repeatedly destroying the Gaza Strip. World powers have finally woken up to doing business with a terror group.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
