ISRAELI WAR CABINET DISSOLVES & EGYPT’S ROLE

By Jake

18 June 2024

Benny Gantz, a member of the Israel's wartime cabinet, departs after announcing his resignation during a press conference on June 9, 2024. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Since October 7, the Israeli government under PM Netanyahu has been headed by a wartime coalition. This past week, that coalition fractured over the nation’s long-term plans in Gaza, with high-profile and former IDF chief of staff Gantz being the first to quit. During a press conference, he claimed that Israeli strategy was “preventing [...] real victory” against Hamas and his repeated proposals for the future of Gaza were ignored. Other ministers followed Gantz, and when new ministers jostled to replace their spots on the cabinet, Netanyahu sidestepped the issue by dissolving the entire board and moving decision-making power to a pre-existing larger security cabinet. The new cabinet includes National Security Minister Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who have both advocated Israeli settlements in Gaza after further forced resettlement. This contradicts Netanyahu’s own statements and bodes poorly for preventing a forever war. We need to cut through the contradiction.

Gantz’s plan involved replacing Hamas with an “international civilian governance mechanism” that includes some Palestinian elements while maintaining overall Israeli security control.” We at ONE realize how imperfect and far-fetched this looks right now. But it addresses the reality that the war cannot continue and international security presence must ensure that Hamas cannot regain power and repeat the October 7th attacks. The status quo is unworkable, as irresponsible and aggressive IDF soldiers play whack-a-mole in refugee camps, killing thousands of innocent civilians. There’s a missing piece in Gantz’s puzzle, and it’s an Arab partner that can aid security in Gaza while providing oversight to murderous IDF impulses. 

Egypt is the obvious candidate, but nobody near Netanyahu is using this strained alliance besides ignorant hopes that Egyptian border troops will stay out of the way. There have been minor incidents - exchanging fire, killing one Egyptian guard, IDF tank fire “accidentally” injuring seven Egyptians on the Rafah border, and statements from President El-Sisi that Israel was collectively punishing Gazans. All of these should have been larger diplomatic incidents, but the desire by both states to return to the pre-war status quo means that justice for that “accident” and an investigation into the exchange of fire last month will likely be swept under the rug. This is cowardly and unrealistic - there is no returning to the status quo after this war. Israel and Egypt already collude on the blockage - why not collaborate further? El-Sisi can pressure against resettlement, perhaps even get some of his nation’s debt forgiven in a deal. Surely Egyptian soldiers would be better suited to deal with civilians than the IDF after these past six months. Every crisis is an opportunity, and Israel cannot get out of this mess and set up a peaceful future alone with its current strategy. How many more will need to die before sanity prevails?

Want to have conversations like these? Consider joining our community discord server to join in the discussion.

Did you enjoy this piece? Please leave a like and a comment to help support this website so more can access it.