Not ‘Mr Security. He’s Mr Bulls**t’: Former Israeli PM slams Netanyahu’s plans for post-war Gaza

In a recent interview, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was slammed by the country’s former leader Ehud Olmert who said the incumbent PM has been “destroyed emotionally” due to the massive failure of national security and is now miscalculating his plans for post-war Gaza.

This comes after Netanyahu sought to take overall control of Gaza’s security for an “indefinite period” once Hamas is crushed, a move which has been discouraged even by Israel’s biggest supporter in the West, the United States.

What did the former Israeli PM say?

During an interview with Politico published on Wednesday (Nov 8), Olmert argued Netanyahu was in a state of “nervous breakdown,” and looking for ways to not get thrown out of office for failing to safeguard the country from Hamas’ deadly October 7 attack on southern Israel.

ALSO READ |Netanyahu strikes defiant note in speech marking one month of Israel-Hamas war

“(Netanyahu) has shrunk. He’s destroyed emotionally, that’s for sure. I mean, something terrible happened to him. Bibi has been working all his life on the false pretense that he is Mr. Security. He’s Mr. Bullshit,” the former Israeli PM told Politico.

He added, “Every minute he is prime minister he is a danger to Israel. I seriously mean it. I am certain the Americans understand he is in bad shape.” Olmert served as the Israeli PM from 2006 to 2009 as a leader of the liberal Kadima party.

Speaking about the incumbent Israeli PM, Olmert also said that Israel is steering off course strategically, insisting that the priority should be negotiating with the international community about an endgame which includes talks on the formation of a Palestinian state, rather than a full military oversight over Gaza.

In an interview with ABC News, on Monday (Nov 6), Netanyahu said, “Israel will for an indefinite period have the overall security responsibly,” adding, “because we have seen what happens when we do not have it.”

ALSO READ |Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu blames security chiefs over Hamas attack, deletes post after uproar

Olmert warned Netanyahu’s plan for keeping control over post-war Gaza sounded similar to going back to 2005 when Israel exercised military rule over the Palestinian enclave and how it is not in Israel’s “interests to oversee the security of Gaza”.

“It is in our interests to be able to defend ourselves in a different way than we did before the October 7 attack. But to control Gaza again? No,” Olmert told Politico.

US against Israel’s possibly ‘reoccupying’ Gaza

Following Netanyahu’s comments on ABC News, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Israel should not “reoccupy” Gaza while speaking to reporters after G7 foreign ministers held talks in Japan, on Wednesday.

ALSO READ |Explained | How Netanyahu helped turn Hamas into his Frankenstein's monster

“Israel cannot reassume control and responsibility for Gaza,” Blinken had also said last week, adding it was his understanding that “Israel has made clear it has no intention or desire to do that”.

(With inputs from agencies)