Military Expert Maj. Gen. Fayez Al-Dweiri has critiqued Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements on continuing the war on the Gaza Strip as stubbornness and an evasion tactic, doubting his ability to secure the release of prisoners held by Palestinian resistance. During an analysis for Al Jazeera, Al-Dweiri expressed his view that Netanyahu is unlikely to win the current war and foresees imprisonment as his eventual downfall, taking into account the legal challenges he faces domestically. He noted that Netanyahu is currently shielded by immunity due to his role as head of the Israeli government, which prevents him from being tried; hence, he will likely stall for as long as possible.
Furthermore, Al-Dweiri mentioned that Netanyahu is trying to prove to Israeli society that he is the leader capable of achieving victory and perpetuating the existence and continuation of Zionism. His comments were in response to Netanyahu’s statements during his visit to an armored corps camp in the southern region, where he declared Tel Aviv’s determination to continue the war “regardless of international pressures.”
Regarding the military situation, the military expert described the Israeli army as chronically failing at leadership, battle management, and all levels of command, also mentioning a lack of innovative thinking and general sluggishness. He referenced a report from “The Wall Street Journal” which quoted Israeli military personnel criticizing their battle strategy in Gaza as suboptimal and not progressing well, with suggestions to employ safer combat methods using tanks and aircraft.
In context, Al-Dweiri underlined that the “Merkava” tanks are among the world’s top protected combat vehicles and that Israeli aircraft destroyed approximately 80% of the buildings in Gaza. He opined that if the fire support had been available, the Al-Qassam Brigades and other Palestinian resistance factions could have liberated territory from sea to river.
Speaking about the Gaza Strip, he pointed out that the Israeli military suffers from intelligence failure as it entered the conflict in a conventional warfare approach instead of asymmetric warfare. As evidence, he cited a successful ambush by the Al-Qassam Brigades on the Golani Brigade in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood of East Gaza, which resulted in significant casualties, predominantly officers.
Highlighting an ongoing feud with the Shuja’iyya neighborhood since the heavy losses and capture of Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin in 2014, Al-Dweiri noted that the Golani Brigade has failed to learn from past mistakes and continues to repeat them.
Al-Dweiri also touched upon American advice to Israel not to repeat Washington’s post-9/11 errors, yet Tel Aviv ignored the advice and continued with its land plans in Gaza. He stressed that the increasing losses in Gaza are likely to demoralize Israeli soldiers, citing the instance of two soldiers killed in an attempt to recover the bodies of two Israeli prisoners and an earlier instance of another casualty during a rescue operation.
In his final remarks, he concluded that the Israeli army would not be able to change its combat tactics in Gaza due to dealing with an unpredictable enemy.
