Israel can destroy Hezbollah’s military in days

The IDF can destroy Hezbollah’s military capabilities in a matter of days, National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the 21st Herzliya Conference at Reichman University, Gantz said a major challenge for Israel is to return the southern and northern residents back to their homes, even at the price of escalation.

He said he heard the reports about the Hezbollah threat to bring down Israel’s electrical grid, and responded, “We can bring Lebanon completely into the dark, and take apart Hezbollah’s power in days.”

The former defense minister and IDF chief of staff said the price to “Israel will be heavy. We need to back up our institutions. We need to be ready for major incidents of harm to the public. We should try to avoid it, but if we need to do it, we cannot be deterred from it.

“We cannot let Hezbollah keep threats close to the northern border,” he added, “We need to get the northern residents back by September 01.”

Another challenge for Israel that Gantz discussed was building a regional and global alliance against Iran.

“We still have the opportunity of normalization with the Saudis and other states, to build what we started to build, the Middle East air defense, to form a stranglehold on the Iranian axis,” he said.

He emphasized that Israel must work hard with the US to build up Israel’s defenses and to be ready for ‘the Judgment Day’ of stopping Iranian nuclear weapons.

A third challenge he noted was the long-term conflict with Hamas, including the need for a political plan to replace the terror group’s management of Gaza.

He pushed hard for a hostage deal, even at the cost of ending the war for now.

Gantz noted that the US only killed Osama Bin Laden of al-Qaeda in 2011, 10 years after 9/11, meaning that even a long ceasefire would in no way mean that Israel would allow Gaza Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar to live out his days without killing him.

Rather, he said, it was clear that Hamas would continue to promote terror and their actions would give Israel the later excuse to eliminate him and other top Hamas leaders.

In any event, he said it would take years to replace Hamas at a governance level, but credited the IDF with destroying Hamas’s existing military capacities.

Earlier at the conference, Reichman University President Boaz Ganor said, “Hamas is a tactical threat, Hezbollah is a strategic threat, and Iran is an existential threat.”

He warned that Israel had fallen into Iran’s trap, spending nine months fighting a player of minimal importance and wasting large amounts of goodwill globally, while Tehran has mostly gotten to sit back and watch.

Further, he said Iran is playing long-term chess, with Israel playing short-term poker. Ganor even argued that Iran knew more than Israeli intelligence has said, meaning that it really did plan the entire October 07 invasion.

In addition, he argued that Iran and Hezbollah’s denials of knowing Hamas’s plans were also pre-coordinated.

He did not specifically say that Tehran knew the date of the invasion, but Ganor has argued that Hamas was not sophisticated enough to pull off the coordinated massive rocket attack land invasion simultaneously on its own, nor was it capable of the extreme information security it undertook to avoid the IDF detecting the moment of the invasion.

Netanyahu dissolves war cabinet

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the six-member war cabinet, an Israeli official said on Monday, in a widely expected move following the departure from government of centrist former general Benny Gantz.

Netanyahu is now expected to hold consultations about the Gaza war with a small group of ministers, including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer who had been in the war cabinet.

The move was announced as US special envoy Amos Hochstein visited Jerusalem, seeking to calm the situation on the disputed border with Lebanon, where Israel said tensions were bringing the region close to a wider conflict.

The Israeli military said on Monday it had killed a senior operative in one of Hezbollah's rocket and missile sections in the area of Selaa in southern Lebanon.

The military also said its operations were continuing in the southern parts of the Gaza Strip, where its forces have been battling Hamas fighters in the Tel Sultan area of western Rafah, as well as in central areas of the enclave.

Hochstein's visit follows weeks of increasing exchanges of fire across the line between Israel and Lebanon, where Israeli forces have for months been engaged in a simmering conflict with Hezbollah that has continued alongside the war in Gaza.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes on both sides of the Blue Line that divides the two countries, leaving eerily deserted areas of abandoned villages and farms hit by near-daily bombardment.

"The current state of affairs is not a sustainable reality," government spokesperson David Mencer told a briefing.

Netanyahu had faced demands from the nationalist-religious partners in his coalition, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, to be included in the war cabinet. Such a move would have intensified strains with international partners including the United States.

The forum was formed after Gantz joined Netanyahu in a national unity government at the start of the Gaza war in October. It also included Gantz's political partner Gadi Eisenkot and Aryeh Deri, head of the religious party Shas, as observers.

Gantz and Eisenkot both left the government last week, over what they said was Netanyahu's failure to form a strategy for the Gaza war.

An agreement to halt the fighting in Gaza still appears distant, more than eight months since the October 07, 2023 attack on Israel led by Hamas fighters that triggered Israel's military offensive in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health ministry figures, and destroyed much of Gaza.

Although opinion polls suggest most Israelis support the government's aim of destroying Hamas, there have been widespread protests attacking the government for not doing more to bring home around 120 hostages still being held in Gaza and against Netanyahu's handling of the war.

Protesters calling for new elections clashed with police in Jerusalem on Monday. By sundown, a crowd of thousands had gathered outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament, before marching to Netanyahu's private home.

Some protesters tried to break through barriers set up by the police, who pushed them back. At one point a bonfire was lit in the street, and police used water cannon to disperse the demonstration.

The northern border was relatively quiet on Monday, the second day of the Muslim Eid celebration, compared with previous days, when rocket fire set off widespread brush fires in heatwave conditions.

A survey for the Jewish People Policy Institute, a Jerusalem-based think tank, found 36% of respondents favouring an immediate strike against Hezbollah, up from 26% a month earlier.

Israeli aircraft and artillery have pounded southern Lebanon and last week killed a senior Hezbollah commander in a strike against a command and control centre that drew a further intensification of attacks.

In addition to attacks by missiles and anti-tank rockets, there has been a marked increase in drone attacks that have underlined the strength of the arsenal Hezbollah has built up since the last major conflict between the two sides in 2006.

 

Netanyahu and Gantz two sides of same coin

The resignation of Benny Gantz from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet has laid bare widening cracks within the Israeli establishment as the regime’s global isolation deepens over its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

"Unfortunately, Netanyahu is preventing us from approaching true victory, which is the justification for the painful ongoing crisis," Gantz said in a televised statement on Sunday evening as he announced his resignation. 

Undoubtedly, it is a fallacy that Gantz would have acted any differently than Netanyahu if he had been in Bibi’s shoes following the October 07 Hamas attack. Gantz is playing the blame game when he accuses Netanyahu, known as Bibi, of denying Israel “true victory” because both of them want to see the elimination of Hamas from Gaza.

Gantz is Netanyahu’s chief political rival. Polls suggest if snap elections were held today, he would be the winner. 
Hence, making such critical remarks is not surprising. 

Both Netanyahu and Gantz are criminals who have the blood of a large number of Palestinians on their hands.   

The slaughter of more than 37,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 07, 2023 is just the tip of the iceberg.  

Gantz had already threatened to step down if Netanyahu did not lay out how Israel would achieve its “six strategic goals” in Gaza which include the end of Hamas rule in Gaza.

More than eight months have passed since Israel declared war on Gaza following Hamas’ surprise military operation in southern Israel on October 07. Israel has not only failed to bring Hamas to its knees but the regime has suffered major defeats at the hands of resistance fighters on the battlefield. 

Laying out plans for defeating Hamas is just wishful thinking because the resistance movement has become stronger and support for it has grown in the Palestinian territories over the past months. 

True victory for them means defeating Hamas, but this dream will remain elusive even if Gantz or others succeed Netanyahu. 

Netanyahu and his coalition partners still have 64 of the Israeli parliament’s 120 seats. His cabinet will not collapse following the resignation of Gantz if far-right ministers, namely National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich do not make good on their threats to leave the cabinet. 

Netanyahu could safely stay in office till elections are due in October 2026. But he will become more heavily reliant on far-right ministers who now want a spot in the war cabinet to replace Gantz.  

Gantz’s decision to quit the war cabinet could be a clever ploy because he wants to shirk responsibility for Israel’s failure to achieve its military goals in Gaza. He wants to appear as a savior and woo voters in a future election. 

Netanyahu, criticized his move, saying in a post on X, “Benny, this is not the time to quit the campaign, this is the time to join forces."

Far-right ministers made a blistering attack on Gantz too.

 “There is no act less stately than withdrawing from the government during a war,” Smotrich said.

He accused Gantz of fulfilling the demands of Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Iran by his decision to leave the war cabinet. 

Netanyahu regime has vowed to continue the Gaza war in defiance of growing international calls to reach a deal with Hamas.  

The United States and its allies blame Netanyahu for the continuation of the Gaza war. They have depicted Gantz as a centrist politician who can end the onslaught. 

A question arises, is Gantz different from Netanyahu?

Undoubtedly, it is a fallacy that Gantz would have acted any differently than Netanyahu if he had been in Bibi’s shoes following the October 07 Hamas attack.

Gantz is a former chief of staff of the Israeli military and also a former war minister. 

He was the army chief when the regime launched war on Gaza in 2012. The Israeli rights group B’Tselem said the Israeli army under Gantz’s leadership killed nearly 170 Palestinians during the war. 

In another war against Gaza in 2014, more than 2,000 Palestinians including over 500 children were butchered by Israeli forces while Gantz was still the army chief. 

The Israeli army also killed hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza in May 2021 and August 2023 when Gantz was the regime’s war minister. 

In his 2019 campaign for the Israeli Keneseth, Gantz put out a video of destruction in Gaza in the 2014 war. In that video, he bragged about sending parts of Gaza “back to the Stone Age”. 

This is in addition to the killings of Palestinians in the West Bank at the hands of Israeli forces during the era that Gantz held top military posts. 

The comments made by Gantz and the Israeli military’s brutalities when he was the chief of staff and war minister clearly show how he thinks about Palestinians. 

Now it seems Netanyahu is playing the role of the bad cop and Gantz is the role of the good cop.

But, in essence, they are members of the bogus apartheid regime. 

As long as the US and its Western allies continue to support Israel, the regime will not end acts of genocide in the Palestinian territories. The regime seeks to make the Palestinian territories uninhabitable for Palestinians and force them to leave their homes, which amounts to ethnic cleansing. 

 Courtesy: Tehran Times

Israel: Gantz quits Netanyahu government

According to Reuters, Israeli minister Benny Gantz announced his resignation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency government on Sunday, withdrawing the only centrist power in the embattled leader's far-right coalition amid a months-long war in Gaza.

The departure of Gantz's centrist party will not pose an immediate threat to the government. But it could have a serious impact nonetheless, leaving Netanyahu reliant on hardliners, with no end in sight to the Gaza war and a possible escalation in fighting with Lebanese Hezbollah.

Last month, Gantz presented Netanyahu with a June 8 deadline to come up with a clear day-after strategy for Gaza, where Israel has been pressing a devastating military offensive against the ruling Palestinian militant group Hamas. Netanyahu brushed off the ultimatum soon after it was given.

On Sunday, Gantz said politics was clouding fateful strategic decisions in Netanyahu's cabinet. Quitting while hostages were still in Gaza and soldiers fighting there was an excruciating decision, he said.

"Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing toward true victory," Gantz said in a televised news conference. "That is why we are leaving the emergency government today, with a heavy heart but with full confidence."

Netanyahu responded in a social media post, telling Gantz it was no time to abandon the battlefront.

With Gantz gone, Netanyahu would lose the backing of a centrist bloc that has helped broaden support for the government in Israel and abroad, at a time of increasing diplomatic and domestic pressure eight months into the Gaza war.

While his coalition remains in control of 64 of parliament's 120 seats, Netanyahu will now have to rely more heavily on the political backing of ultra-nationalist parties, whose leaders angered Washington even before the war and who have since called for a complete Israeli occupation of Gaza.

This would likely increase strains already apparent in relations with the United States and intensify public pressure at home, with the months-long military campaign still not achieving its stated goals - the destruction of Hamas and the return of more than 100 remaining hostages held in Gaza.

Polls have shown Gantz, a former army commander and defence minister, to be the most formidable political rival to Netanyahu, whose image as a security hawk was shattered by the October 07, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel.

Warning that the conflict in Gaza could take years, he urged Netanyahu to agree on an election date in the autumn, to avoid further political infighting at a time of national emergency.

Gantz joined a unity government soon after October 07 as part of Netanyahu's inner war cabinet where he, Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant alone had votes.

On Sunday, Gantz described Gallant, who has sparred with Netanyahu and some ultra-nationalists ministers, as a brave leader and called on him 'to do the right thing,' though he did not elaborate on what that meant.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded Gantz's now vacant seat at the war cabinet soon after the resignation was announced.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement Gantz was giving Israel's enemies what they want.

Asked whether he was worried about his departure impacting Israel's standing abroad, Gantz said Gallant and Netanyahu both know "what should be done."

"Hopefully they will stick to what should be done and then it will be okay," he said.

 

Kamala-Gantz meeting

According to the Associated Press, the US Vice President Kamala Harris, on Monday is hosting a member of Israel’s wartime Cabinet who is visiting Washington in defiance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Benny Gantz, a centrist political rival of Netanyahu, is scheduled to meet several senior Biden administration officials including Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser. President Joe Biden is at Camp David, the presidential retreat just outside Washington, until Tuesday.

An official from Netanyahu’s far-right Likud party said Gantz did not have approval from the prime minister for his meetings in Washington and that Netanyahu gave the Cabinet official a “tough talk” — underscoring the widening crack within Israel’s wartime leadership nearly six months into the Israel-Hamas war.

In her meeting with Gantz, Harris plans to press for a temporary cease-fire deal that would allow for the release of several categories of hostages being held by Hamas. Israel has essentially agreed to the deal, according to a senior Biden administration official, and the White House has emphasized that the onus is on Hamas to come on board.

“Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” Harris said during an appearance in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday. “This will get the hostages out and get a significant amount of aid in.”

Harris continued, “This would allow us to build something more enduring to ensure Israel is secure and to respect the right of the Palestinian people to dignity, freedom and self-determination.”

For his part, Gantz intends to strengthen ties with the US, bolster support for Israel’s war and push for the release of Israeli hostages, according to a second Israeli official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t allowed to publicly discuss the disputes within the Israeli government.

The meetings also come as the US begins a series of airdrops of aid into Gaza, just days after dozens of Palestinians were killed as they were trying to get food from an Israel-organized convoy.

The first drop on Saturday included about 38,000 meals into southwest Gaza, and White House officials have said those airdrops will continue to supplement truck deliveries, while they also work on sending aid via sea.

In Selma on Sunday, Harris called on Israel to “do more to significantly increase the flow of aid.”

“No excuses,” she said. “They must open new border crossings. They must not impose any unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid.”

Harris previously met Gantz at the Munich Security Conference in 2022.

 

 

IDF to run security of Gaza, says Benny Gantz

National Unity party leader and Minister without portfolio Benny Gantz on Wednesday said that the government has not decided who will run Gaza after the IDF topples Hamas, but that whoever it is, the IDF will need to maintain an extended security presence.

“Once the Gaza area is safe, and the northern area will be safe, and the Judea & Samaria region will calm down – we will go down and review an alternative mechanism for Gaza. I do not know what it will be. But I do know what cannot be there – An active presence of Hamas with governance and military capabilities," Gantz told a closed press conference.

The war minister stated, "They cannot be here. We can come up with any mechanism we think is appropriate, but Hamas will not be part of it. So in terms of future strategy – in the Southern Area, we need to replace the Hamas regime and ensure security superiority for us.”

Next, he said, "On the question of the operation's length - there are no limitations. One can see it as a whole month that has passed and another can see it as merely a month passing."

"The war here is for our existence and for Zionism, and so I can’t provide an estimate of the length of each stage in the war and the fighting that will ensue after. We can’t retreat from our strategic objective," he explained.

Gantz said, “The State of Israel didn’t just face a cruel brutal attack, but this was an attack on any human value one can think of, an attack on the Zionist and Democratic concepts. Israel cannot accept such an active threat on its borders. The whole idea of people living side by side in the Middle East was jeopardized by Hamas." 

In addition, he stated, "It was an attack on the democratic way of life here – Israel is the only outpost in the Middle East. We believe therefore, that we are struggling and fighting not only to defend ourselves, but also fighting for something bigger than ourselves.”

Moreover, he said, “Hamas started this war, but Israel is going to win it. Have no doubt about it. Yes, it will take some time and there will be casualties. Though we are trying as much as possible to move Gazan people south and people are dying, we are doing what we can, and we will win this war.”

Next, the National Unity party leader said, "I have always said you can conduct special operations if there’s an opportunity, but you must go to war only when necessary. This time it’s a national necessity. This is why I joined the emergency government – this is not a political partnership. It’s a partnership in destiny.”

Moving to the conflict with Hezbollah, he said, "Lebanon must bear State responsibility, and we must demand it. I believe this is part of Nasrallah’s considerations as well. Though Hezbollah is an Iranian branch, it’s a Lebanese organization. If he (Nasrallah) decides to protect Gaza at the expense of Beirut – so be it. I highly recommend him to do the right calculus.”

 

 

Jerusalem belongs to all, not Jews alone

Jerusalem is the united capital of Israel, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Monday morning as he pushed back at former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who attacked him on social media over his previously announced stance.

“Jerusalem is the united capital of the State of Israel – so it has been, and so it will be,” Gantz told Radio 103 FM.

Netanyahu on Sunday tweeted the headline of an interview Gantz gave to a Saudi paper in 2020 in which he said there was room for a Palestinian capital in a united Jerusalem.

 “The answer is no,” Netanyahu tweeted. The issue of a united Jerusalem is one he often campaigns on and has in the past warned that his opposition would give it away to the Palestinians. He famously did so when he campaigned against former Labor Party leader Shimon Peres.

Gantz clarified in his radio interview that he had made those comments around the time former US President Donald Trump had unveiled his peace plan, which called for a Palestinian capital in Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem that were on the opposite side of the security barrier. Netanyahu also supported that plan.

Trump’s plan also called for a two-state resolution to the conflict. Gantz in his public comments since then has spoken of a resolution that involves two entities.

Gantz told the radio station he did not believe it was possible “to get to a permanent agreement with the Palestinians in the coming years.”

What needs to happen instead is to reduce the points of conflict and strengthen Palestinian self-governance over their own affairs, particularly their internal security, Gantz said.

It’s important to prevent the creation of a bi-national state, “which no one wants,” he said.

With respect to a Palestinian foothold in Jerusalem, Gantz said there are people who say there are “civilian villages that Palestinians call Jerusalem, which is not in the metropolitan envelope of Jerusalem, and they can be defined as their capital.”

Gantz also clarified that he would not sit in a government in which Netanyahu was a Prime Minister or a Minister.

 

Benjamin Gantz was born in Kfar Ahim, Israel, in 1959. His mother Malka was a Holocaust survivor, originally from Hungary. His father Nahum came from Romania, and was arrested by the British authorities for trying to enter Palestine illegally, before reaching Israel. His parents were among the founders of Moshav Kfar Ahim, a cooperative agricultural community in south-central Israel. In his youth, he attended the Shafir High School in Merkaz Shapira and boarding school at the HaKfar HaYarok youth village in Ramat HaSharon.

Gantz is a graduate of the IDF Command and Staff College and the National Security College. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from Tel Aviv University, a master's degree in political science from the University of Haifa, and an additional master's degree in National Resources Management from the National Defense University in the United States. Gantz is married to Revital, with whom he has four children. He lives in Rosh HaAyin

In February 2011, following the government decision to promote Gantz to Chief of the General Staff, Attorney Avi'ad Vissuli of the Forum for the Land of Israel unsuccessfully petitioned to revoke the appointment.

In February 2019, an Israeli-American woman accused Gantz of exposing himself to her 40 years earlier, causing her traumatic disorders. Gantz denied all allegations, claiming that such an incident never took place, and that the allegations were politically motivated. Gantz has since sued the woman for defamation.

 

Can Naftali Bennett survive as Prime Minister of Israel?

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated that MK Idit Silman had been threatened by supporters of opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Religious Zionist head Betzalel Smotrich until she broke and left the coalition on Wednesday.

"Idit was persecuted for months, verbally abused by supporters of Bibi and Smotrich at the most horrific level," said Bennett on Wednesday evening. "She described to me the threats against her husband Shmulik's workplace and her children in Bnei Akiva. She broke in the end."

Bennett stressed that the main thing we need to deal with at the moment is stabilizing the faction and the coalition. He added that all the leaders in the coalition are interested in continuing the current government.

With the resignation of MK Idit Silman from the coalition, here are four possible scenarios of what will come next:

1. Domino effect

Another member of the Knesset quits the coalition and helps the opposition – led by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu – to pass a bill dispersing the Knesset and taking Israel to a new election.

In this event, immediately after the dispersion of the Knesset, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid would become prime minister until the formation of a new government.

For Silman, the ideal situation would be for another member of Yamina to break away from the party so that she can then – together with earlier Yamina rebel MK Amichai Chikli – form a new faction that would be able to merge with an existing party and run in a new election.

2. Gantz jumps ship

Before the Knesset dissolves, Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz decides to join the opposition and become Israel’s prime minister. This scenario is possible for a few reasons. The first is that Gantz, who currently serves as Defense Minister, has been unhappy with the current government since its inception. He was particularly bothered by Bennett – with six seats and now five – becoming Prime Minister while he, Gantz, had eight seats.

In addition, Gantz might prefer this option over the dispersion of the Knesset, which would see Lapid become Prime Minister. Remember that the two politicians split – with Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party leaving the Blue and White alliance – in 2020 when Gantz decided to join Netanyahu’s last government, which ultimately fell apart.

While Gantz has said that he learned the lesson from sitting with Netanyahu and that he would not make the same mistake again, he could argue that by joining Netanyahu he would not only be serving as Prime Minister but would also be preventing another election and further political instability.

3. A comeback for Netanyahu

Netanyahu somehow manages to form a government in the current Knesset or steps aside as Chairman of the Likud – highly unlikely – and allows a different Likud MK to do so. It is more likely that he would prefer crowning Gantz than someone from his own party, something he could have done before Bennett became prime minister last June.

4. Limping to the finish line

The government – now a lame duck and unable to pass legislation – manages to survive until the beginning of 2023, when it needs to pass a new budget. Although, it would not be able to pass any laws, this might be the best scenario right now for Bennett.

 

Cyber attack on Israeli Defense Ministry

Reportedly, a hacker group called Moses Staff claimed that it has successfully conducted a cyber attack on the Israeli Defense Ministry, releasing files and photos obtained from the ministry's servers.

Moses Staff's website claims that the group has hacked over 165 servers and 254 websites and compiled over 11 terabytes of data, including Israel Post, the Defense Ministry, files related to Defense Minister Benny Gantz, the Electron Csillag Company and Epsilor Company.

"We've kept an eye on you for many years, at every moment and on each step," wrote the group in the announcement of the attack on their Telegram channel. "All your decisions and statements have been under our surveillance. Eventually, we will strike you while you never would have imagined."

Moses Staff claimed in the announcement to have access to confidential documents, including reports, operational maps, information about soldiers and units, and letters and correspondence. "We are going to publish this information to aware [sic] all the world about the Israeli authorities’ crimes," warned the group.

The files leaked included photos of Gantz and IDF soldiers and a 2010 letter from Gantz to the Deputy Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Chief of Intelligence in the Jordian Armed Forces. The leaked files also included Excel files allegedly containing the names, ID numbers, emails, addresses, phone numbers and even socioeconomic status of soldiers, mechina pre-military students and individuals connected to the Defense Ministry.

The group stated on its website that it is targeting the same people who "didn't tolerate" the legitimacy of Moses, seemingly the reason for the name Moses Staff.

The group's description states that it will not forget "the soldiers whose blood is shed due to wrong policies and fruitless wars, the mothers mourning for their children, and all the cruelty and injustice were [were] done to the people of this nation." The group did not clarify in its description which soldiers it was referring to.

It is as of yet unclear if the group is acting independently or is backed by a state.

Moses Staff leaked identifying information, addresses and information about packages from an attack it says it conducted on the Israel Post. The group also leaked pictures of identity cards from a number of companies it claims it attacked.

The group's website also has a contact form for those interested in joining the group.

The National Cyber Directorate stated in response to the leaks that it has repeatedly warned that hackers are exploiting vulnerability on the Exchange email service in order to attack organizations.

The Directorate once again calls on organizations to implement in their systems the latest critical updates that Microsoft has released for this vulnerability – a simple and free update that can reduce the chance of this attack.

"Over the past few years we have heard a great deal about exposure of soldiers' details and military information at various levels of classification as a result of information security failures on various websites and applications," said cyber security consultant Einat Meyron, adding that while most of the exposures were seemingly innocent, this incident shows that there are anonymous hacker groups systematically collecting such information.

Meyron stressed that attackers aiming to impact the image of Israel, a country that sees itself as a defense and cyber security power, are patient and don't reveal all their cards at once. The cyber security consultant urged companies to take information security seriously, adding that many companies can often protect themselves with tools they already have as long as they have a correct understanding of the risks and their consequences.

The attack is the latest in a long series of cyber attacks on Israel in recent years. Earlier this month, the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera was targeted by a ransomware attack that affected its computer systems.

Cybereason also revealed earlier this month that MalKamak, an Iranian state-supported hacker group, was running a highly targeted cyber-espionage operation against global aerospace and telecommunications companies, stealing sensitive information from targets around Israel and the Middle East, as well as in the United States, Russia and Europe. The threat posed by MalKamak is still active.

Last month, a hacker group called Deus leaked data it claims it obtained in a cyber attack on the Israeli call center service company Voicenter from the company’s customers, including 10bis, CMTrading, Mobileye, eToro, Gett and My Heritage. The data leaked so far include security camera and webcam footage, ID cards, photos, WhatsApp messages and emails, as well as recordings of phone calls.

A series of cyber attacks has plagued Israeli businesses and institutions in the past two years, including Israel Aerospace Industries, the Shirbit insurance company and the Amital software company.

The National Cyber Directorate reported that it handled more than 11,000 inquiries on its 119 hotline in 2020, some 30% more than it handled in 2019. The directorate made about 5,000 requests to entities to handle vulnerabilities exposing them to attacks and was in contact with about 1,400 entities concerning attempted or successful attacks.

Amateurish act of Israeli Defense Minister

US State Department spokesman Ned Price gave credence to American criticism of Israel’s decision to designate six Palestinian NGOs as terror organizations, saying Washington did not get a heads-up about the move.

According to a report, United States was not alone. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who signed the order, did not give Prime Minister Naftali Bennett or Foreign Minister Yair Lapid any advance warning either.

If the State Department was upset at being blindsided (defense officials were later cited as saying the US was in fact informed), diplomats at Foggy Bottom can only imagine how Bennett and Lapid must feel.

That Gantz took this decision without informing Bennett or Lapid – two men who now have to deal with diplomatic fallout from the move – bespeaks of a government not working as it should.

That is a serious problem, considering it’s the government’s calling card, “Even though we are ideologically diverse, the component parts work well together for the benefit of the country.”

Gantz’s failure to let others in on his NGO decision came just three weeks after Bennett dropped a bombshell announcement during his speech to the opening of the Knesset’s winter session that the Mossad recently carried out a daring operation to recover information about missing Airman Ron Arad.

Though, Bennett briefed Lapid beforehand on what he would say, he only informed Gantz moments before he began his speech, giving the defense minister no time to object. Gantz was miffed, as evident in the briefings defense officials gave reporters, saying that the mission was a failure.

Could it be that Gantz did not brief Bennett or Lapid in advance of the NGO announcement as a tit-for-tat? One shudders at the very thought.

But something is obviously amiss. This is not the way to run a government, or to instill confidence in a politically shell-shocked nation. That the prime minister and the foreign minister did not know of this move in advance is evidence of amateurism seeping into critical government decisions.

What message does it send that the prime minister does not know what the defense minister is up to, and vice versa?

This came up at a meeting of coalition heads before Sunday’s cabinet meeting, where Meretz head Nitzan Horowitz and Labor leader Meirav Michaeli reportedly demanded of Bennett that he stop being surprised by key decisions begin made by his ministers.

At the cabinet meeting itself, Bennett – in an apparent effort to lighten the mood – told how in the middle of his meeting on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Construction and Housing Minister Ze’ev Elkin – who was acting as a translator between the leaders, turning Bennett’s Hebrew into Russian – dozed off, eliciting a wake-up elbow from the prime minister.

The Russian president, Bennett said, laughed and cracked a joke, as did – it is safe to assume – those around the cabinet table hearing the story for the first time.

But this is not very amusing. The Russian president is probably one of the canniest, shrewdest and cunningest leaders in the world, who thinks numerous steps ahead on the chessboard. Israelis officials meeting him on life-and-death issues like Syria and Iran need to be keenly alert, not drowsy.

To get tired is human, but to fall asleep while translating a key diplomatic meeting – one that could have serious ramifications for Israel’s security – is inexcusable. If Elkin was sleep-deprived going in and didn’t feel he could serve as a translator, someone else should have been sent to do the job.

This scene makes Israel look not like a world power but a shtetl, where tired senior officials fall asleep after a long journey to appeal to the czar.

The lack of coordination between Gantz, Bennett and Lapid also smacks of amateurism, something one might expect, say, when residents of an apartment building – some of whom are miffed and not talking to their neighbors – do not inform one another of key decisions affecting the whole building.

None of this makes the government look serious – and not the image it wants to project domestically or overseas.

No need to blame Bennett, whatever he got is Irony of fate

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett failed to stand up to pressure from US President Joe Biden on the Iranian issue, opposition representative Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) said Tuesday in a special session of the Knesset during its summer recess.

Hanegbi, who is one of the longest-serving MKs, recounted the history of Israeli prime ministers resisting pressure from US presidents, from Menachem Begin to Benjamin Netanyahu. He said Bennett had failed to follow in their footsteps, but he should have learned from Netanyahu’s controversial 2015 speech to Congress on the Iran deal, which Hanegbi attended.

“It wasn’t easy or comfortable for them, but our prime ministers are not elected to receive compliments in the White House,” Hanegbi said. “Bennett collapsed when he should have said, “Mr. President, I respect your view that the Iran deal should be resumed, but we will not be obligated by the agreement, and we will not let Iran gain the power to wipe us off the map. We don’t need permission to defend ourselves.” That is what was not said in the White House, and because it

Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana (Yamina), a close confidant of Bennett, responded on his behalf that the government had inherited the situation with Iran from Netanyahu and was not party to the Iran deal.

“Israel reserves the right to decide for itself on the Iran issue,” he said. “On the Iranian issue, the opposition should give its support and not make it a tool for politics.”

Defense Minister Benny Gantz had asked on Monday to speak on the government’s behalf but was turned down by Bennett’s associates, who were angry at him for meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Opposition MKs mocked Bennett for sending the religious services minister to speak on Iran instead of the defense minister.

“I guess on the Iran issue, like other security matters, all we can do is pray, so they sent us the religious services minister to deal with that,” Religious Zionist Party MK Simcha Rothman said.

Bennett’s associates and right-wing ministers in the government continued to criticize Gantz on Tuesday for the meeting with Abbas. Gantz’s No. 2 in his Blue and White Party, Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, defended him.

“The cowards criticizing Defense Minister Gantz are narrow-minded politicians who are jealous of his leadership,” she told Army Radio. “They are jealous because he has earned the public’s trust on security issues and the fight against coronavirus.”

Is Israel heading towards fifth election?

In Israeli politics, there is no formal draft for future stars, but there are definitely parties that look ahead rather than at the present. That has never been truer than with Tuesday election. Strategists in parties across the political spectrum admit behind the scenes that with all due respect to the current race, they are actually focusing on yet another election.

Initial exit polls on Tuesday night indicated that Netanyahu’s bloc had won 61 seats together with Naftali Bennett’s Yamina Party, and thus would be able to form a government, but the final results could end up being different.

It does not matter if the fifth election will take place in October 2021 or in 2025. What does matter to the parties is that the three-decade political career of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will eventually end and that will change everything.

They start with Bennett. While it initially looked like he would remain independent in the race, he instead chose to be careful not to leave the Right, even though it could have helped him win more seats in this election. 

Sources close to Bennett said he had in mind building himself up for the next election in the post-Netanyahu era. For that, he could not be the one who prevents the formation of a right-wing government.

The Center-Left similarly looked to the future. Rather than wasting a potentially stronger candidate in a potentially unwinnable fight against Netanyahu, leading figures in the camp said the time had come to run Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and finish him off with a loss.

Labor leader Merav Michaeli has spoken openly about using this election to build her up and rebuild Labor, in order to be ready for the next one.

The best example was the ultimate potential game-changer for this election, Gadi Eizenkot. He saw what Netanyahu did to his fellow former IDF chief of staff, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, and preferred to sit this race out and wait for post-Netanyahu era.

The Likud’s future leadership candidates, like Nir Barkat for instance, have also purposely been keeping a low profile.

Watching New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar collapse from 21 seats when the campaign began to five or six after challenging Netanyahu’s political powerhouse in this election, proved parties taking this election not too seriously were better off.

Israel designates PFLP international branch as a terrorist organization,

As part of the campaign against the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and its global organizational infrastructure, Defense Minister of Israel, Benny Gantz has signed an order designating the Samidoun organization, which acts abroad on the group’s behalf, as a terrorist organization.

According to a Defense Ministry press release, representatives of the organization are active in many countries in Europe and North America.

The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity organization, also known as Samidoun (Arabic for holding ground), was designated as a terrorist organization because it is part of the PFLP. It was founded by members of the front in 2012.

The designation was made following the recommendation of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, the Defense Ministry said in a press release.

Representatives of the organization are active in many countries in Europe and North America, led by Khaled Barakat, who is part of the leadership of the PFLP abroad, press release stated.

Barakat is involved with establishing terrorist cells in the West Bank and abroad, the Defense Ministry said. The formal goal of Samidoun is to help Palestinian prisoners secure their release from prison, it said, adding that in practice, it serves as a front for the PFLP abroad.

Samidoun also plays a leading and significant role in the PFLP’s anti-Israel propaganda efforts, fundraising and recruiting of activists, the Defense Ministry said. These activities complement PFLP terrorist attacks against Israel, it said.

Gantz and the defense establishment will continue to take measures to foil terrorist activity and enforce the law against the attempts of the PFLP terrorist organization and its associated bodies to harm the security of Israel, the Defense Ministry said.

Israel heading to fresh polls

The Knesset dissolved automatically at midnight Tuesday, setting a 23^rd March 2021 date for elections amid mutual recriminations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz.

Netanyahu and Gantz blamed each other for not finding a way to keep their government going. Likud and Blue and White had reached an agreement to extend the deadline for passing the state budget and preventing early elections. But Gantz issued new demands, and then rebels in both parties prevented the bill from passing in dramatic fashion.

 “It is no secret that the Likud and I did not want to go to elections,” Netanyahu said in a Knesset press conference. “Israel is going to elections due to internal fights in Blue and White.”

Netanyahu said he had agreed to the rotation in the Prime Minister’s Office before Blue and White reneged on their deal.

Blue and White responded by shifting the blame to Netanyahu, saying: “A man under three indictments is dragging Israel to elections for a fourth time. If there was no trial, there would be a budget and no elections.”

Polls broadcast on Tuesday night found that the election will be devastating for Blue and White. A Kantar Institute poll broadcast on KAN News predicted six mandates for the party. A Midgam poll on Channel 12 predicted five seats, and if Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai forms a party, only four.

Both polls gave the Likud a significant majority over the New Hope Party of former Likud minister Gideon Sa’ar, Yamina and Yesh Atid. Sa’ar has risen in polls that ask who is most fit to be prime minister. In the KAN poll, 39% said Netanyahu was most fit for the job, and 36% said Sa’ar.

The Likud took action on Tuesday to deprive Sa’ar’s party of key state funding. Sa’ar called the Likud’s steps brutal and expressed confidence that the move would boomerang against Netanyahu’s party.

Sa’ar played an active role in preventing the deadline for passing the budget from being extended and the time until another election from being prolonged. His confidante Likud MK Michal Shir joined Blue and White MKs Ram Shefa, Miki Haimovich and Asaf Zamir in voting against the early election prevention bill.

Shir and Shefa waited in the Knesset parking lot before surprising their colleagues by voting against the bill and ensuring its defeat in a 49-47 vote.

Shir submitted her resignation letter to Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin on Tuesday. She said she was proud to vote to end a dysfunctional government and that she would be joining New Hope.

When her resignation takes effect on Thursday, Shir will be replaced by the next candidate on the Likud list, Shevah Stern, who was chosen for a slot on the list reserved for a candidate from Judea and Samaria.

Likud MK Sharren Haskel, who refused to come to the vote, has not said when and if she will quit, but she is also expected to join the new party. If Haskel quits, she will be replaced in the Knesset by former minister Ayoub Kara.

Meanwhile, the state budgets, which were the technical reasons for the election, were advanced in the cabinet and Knesset but not passed into law.

“Out of a sense of responsibility to the Israeli people, I have decided that we will approve legislation that will enable a rolling budget for 2021 so that the country can minimally function during election season,” Gantz said. “The prime minister and finance minister have been wildly irresponsible, denying the country a budget for six months in flagrant violation of their commitment and all out of narrow, self-serving personal considerations.”