MK Gadi Eisenkot, along with various members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee from the opposition, released a statement demanding a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday.
The meeting would focus on the “failure to achieve the war's objectives and the damage to national security interests.”
In their letter, Eisenkot stated that Hamas currently has over 25,000 armed terrorists, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad has over 5,000, adding that the government has not advanced the war’s objectives – returning the hostages and destroying Hamas – in the past month.
Additionally, the letter stated that Netanyahu and Katz have neglected to enforce the haredi draft bill, which also “harms the security and national interests of the State of Israel.”
Haredi draft bill
Eisenkot has previously spoken out for the haredi draft bill, saying that an exemption of haredi men from IDF service will produce a “fault line” in Israeli society and therefore needs to be prevented by “broad public activity” and “extreme parliamentary measures,” during an interview on Army Radio.
Such a bill “undermines” Israel’s national security by harming necessary solidarity and national consensus, Eisenkot added. It also undermines Israel’s stated war goals since they include “strengthening social resilience,” and unequal service does the opposite, Eisenkot said.