Political analysts say that the recent leaks published by an Israeli newspaper published from Britain about a plan to smuggle the remaining Israeli prisoners to Egypt and from there to Iran are nothing more than a Hollywood narrative that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to promote, confirming his plan to continue the war and occupy the Philadelphia axis and also to control the fully official Israeli narrative.
Analysts believe the leaks are part of Netanyahu’s attempts to tighten his grip on the military establishment and subordinate it to him by cementing its image as a weak army that is failing to achieve its goals.
During his participation in the program “Gaza… What’s next?”, political analyst Dr. Ahmed Al-Heila said that the plan mentioned in the leaked document is fully in line with Netanyahu’s narrative, through which he wants to silence all voices. demanding an end to the war and an exit from the Philadelphia axis if one wants to survive. The price is the loss of prisoners.
A Hollywood novel that serves the plans of the right
Al-Haila called the latest leak a “Hollywood novel” that cannot even be implemented from a technical point of view, but he said it supports the plans of the far right, which the army fears will leave it trapped in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and possibly Lebanon, prompting him to announce an investigation into the matter to block Netanyahu’s path.
Israeli affairs researcher Ihab Jabarin shared the same view, saying that Netanyahu was trying to charge the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which has limited capabilities, with supporting a nuclear dismantlement project for Israel, whose institutions have limited capabilities and are nearly 80 years old.
Jabareen said that the state of leaks that Israel is experiencing during this war as part of the conflict between Netanyahu and the army leads analysts to support the newspaper that published the information, the journalist who reported it and the source who said it, so that we know who is behind it all, especially in light of the severe military censorship of everything related to the war.
From this point of view, Jabareen believes that Netanyahu is behind this story, which, according to him, is quite similar to what the Western media published about the strikes in Syria “that Israel allegedly carried out”, without confirming that it had carried them out.
Al-Haila agrees with Jabareen’s statement, saying that the purpose of publishing the document is to publish its contents, noting that the contents serve the plans of Netanyahu, whom Egypt recently publicly accused of obstructing the negotiations, even though it did not do so throughout its period as mediator.
Moreover, this method is consistent with Netanyahu’s behavior, which relies on leaking information that could disrupt any potential deal, which he did to justify the destruction of Gaza when he promoted allegations of child burnings, rapes, and a Hanukkah celebration, which Israeli police investigations later confirmed had been targeted by an Israeli plane.
Controlling the Israeli Narrative
Regarding what the military can do regarding this document, Jabareen said that the military would only issue special findings without announcing the main person responsible, and he pointed out that the military sometimes resorts to holding one of its middle and unimportant leaders responsible for certain matters if it senses a danger to its leaders.
On the other hand, the army cannot escalate the issue of this document because it is involved in spreading false information to justify conducting military operations, as happened in Al-Shifa Hospital, and therefore fears that the government will hold it responsible for providing inaccurate information that pushed political leaders to make military decisions, Jabareen explains.
Therefore, this narrative ultimately fits into the context of Netanyahu’s attempts to bring the military institution under his control, as he does with the judiciary, and it is also part of his plans to completely control the Israeli narrative, according to Jabareen, who said: “One of the strange things about this war is that Netanyahu has completely neutralized the Foreign Ministry.” He abolished the Ministry of Hasbara (the novel), whose sole function was to promote the Israeli novel, when he suspended it two weeks after the end of this war under pretexts related to financial practices.
In line with this hypothesis, Al-Haila claims that what is happening now is the result of Netanyahu’s divergence of opinions with the army and security institutions regarding the future of Gaza and the West Bank, and perhaps regarding Lebanon, as the prime minister wants to continue the war while the military and security authorities do the opposite.
This disagreement – according to Al-Hila – is what prompted the army to demand that the prime minister publicly commit to not occupying Gaza permanently in order to avoid the security, military and economic costs.
Therefore, the conflict is likely to escalate because Netanyahu has previously stated that Israel is a state with an army, not an army with a state, and this is the essence of a major conflict between the far right and the army, according to Al-Hila.