Former Prime Minister Says PM Netanyahu's Strategy To Leave Israel In Gaza And Destroy US Support

JAKARTA - Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak called for a new general election to restore confidence in the country's leadership, warning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strategy is currently at risk of insulating the United States, leaving Israel "foamed in a Gaza swamp."

Barak called Netanyahu's refusal to publicly discuss plans "the day after" the end of fighting in Gaza "absurd to make sense."

Barak further said the lack of planning would undermine the country's future war efforts and diplomatic relations.

"The IDF cannot optimize the possibility of victory if there is no clear political goal. If there is no realistic goal, we will fall into a Gaza swamp, fight simultaneously in Lebanon and the West Bank, erode America's support and jeopardize the Abrahamic Agreement and peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan," Barak wrote in an opinion published in Haaretz., reported CNN January 19.

Barak added that a proposal from President Biden's Administration in November that would make the Palestinian Authority take control of Gaza after the war, offering "the only practical blueprint" to move forward, requiring Israel to take part in future talks "to a two-state solution."

Prime Minister Netanyahu on Thursday said the idea of forming a Palestinian state would clash with Israel's security, a statement that contradicts the attitude of many countries, including the United States.

Meanwhile, United States President Joe Biden has long advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. US officials said on Thursday they would not allow PM Netanyahu's apparent rejection of the idea of the Palestinian state to stop them from suppressing this issue with his Israeli counterparts.