TEL AVIV—Seven lawmakers from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition say the government and military lack a serious plan to defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to a private letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
The two-page letter, sent May 5 and not previously reported, alleges that the military’s latest operational plan for the Gaza war is conceptually flawed and strategically insufficient. Four of the signatories are members of Netanyahu’s own Likud Party, underscoring deep internal dissent as Israel faces mounting pressure to end the nearly 20-month war—either through a negotiated deal or a decisive military victory.
The lawmakers called for “a basic change in the military’s operational plan,” warning that the current strategy is “flawed in conception, disconnected from the real capabilities of the enemy, and based on assumptions that will cost many lives before achieving questionable results.”
They added, “Only through total defeat of Hamas can we restore deterrence and win the war.”
The lawmakers—Likud’s Amit Halevi, Ariel Kallner, and Hanoch Milwidsky; Religious Zionism’s Ohad Tal and Michael Woldiger; and Otzma Yehudit’s Limor Son Har-Melech—sent the letter just hours before the security cabinet approved Operation Gideon’s Chariots, the latest phase of Israel’s Gaza campaign.
In an interview, Halevi, a member of the influential Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee until his recent ouster, said that the current war strategy falls far short of Israel’s stated goals.
“Just as you can’t be half pregnant, there is no such thing as half control or half victory,” Halevi said. “In order to achieve total victory, as the prime minister defines it, we must surround or kill Hamas. And in order to do that, we need to take full control of Hamas’s resources.”
The lawmakers warned that Hamas “continues to rule in large parts of the strip,” maintains its “civilian control infrastructure and military capacity in key strongholds,” and still controls food distribution in parts of Gaza—”under the army’s nose.” They called the military’s “incomprehensible” refusal to destroy Hamas’s tunnel system in Rafah a strategic failure that is allowing thousands of terrorists to remain underground.
Their criticism directly contradicts recent statements by Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, who said last week that “at the end of this process, all of the Gaza Strip will be under Israeli security control, and Hamas will be completely defeated.”
In a press conference, Netanyahu defended the measured pace of the war, saying it was necessary to protect both hostages held in Gaza and Israeli soldiers. “It won’t take a year or a year and a half,” he said of the war. “I promise you that.”
Yet Israeli military officials this week acknowledged that only about 25 percent of Hamas’s tunnel network has been destroyed and that Israel controls just 40 percent of Gaza. They said they plan to expand control to 75 percent of Gaza within two months.
According to Israeli intelligence assessments, more than 20,000 Hamas operatives have been killed during the war—including all but three of the senior leaders behind the October 7 massacre. But Hamas has replenished its ranks with 10,000 to 15,000 new recruits and replaced many of its commanders.
At least 10 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 13 wounded in southern Gaza so far this month, including in Rafah, where the military’s push has stalled amid international scrutiny and concerns about civilian casualties.
The lawmakers’ letter—addressed to Zamir and copied to Netanyahu, defense minister Israel Katz, and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Yuli Edelstein—has yet to receive an official response. Six of the signatories declined public comment, but several, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed frustration that the letter had leaked.
Halevi said the letter reflects a growing realization among right-wing lawmakers that the government’s war plan lacks coherence. Last week, he was removed from the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee after voting against an extension of wartime conscription powers. He said he could not support prolonging the war under a plan that is “unworthy of the sacrifice being asked of our soldiers.”
Katz later attacked Halevi in an internal Likud chat, comparing him to leftist firebrand Yair Golan, who recently claimed Israeli soldiers were “killing babies as a hobby”—a comment he later walked back. Katz accused Halevi of spreading a “blood libel” against military commanders.
The intra-coalition tensions have escalated since Netanyahu agreed, under U.S. and international pressure, to resume humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza earlier this month. Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who leads Otzma Yehudit, called the decision “insanity.” “This is not how you defeat Hamas,” he said.
Netanyahu’s political opponents have also intensified their criticism of the war—but from the opposite direction—accusing him of prolonging the conflict for political survival and demanding, with increasingly harsh rhetoric, that he agree to a ceasefire and bring the hostages home.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich defended the aid as a necessary concession to maintain international support. But the letter revealed divisions within his Religious Zionism party.
Israel’s new U.S.-coordinated aid distribution plan launched Monday but immediately ran into trouble. One of the new food distribution centers in Rafah was overrun by Gazans, forcing a temporary suspension of operations. Meanwhile, aid continued to flow into Hamas-controlled areas of Gaza, raising doubts about Israel’s ability to sever ties between Hamas and the civilian population.
Amir Avivi, a former Israeli brigadier general who has advised the government and military during the war, said that Israel is in the second phase of a three-stage war plan: systematically conquering and destroying 75 percent of Gaza while relocating the population to a humanitarian zone in Rafah.
He said the last 25 percent—where Hamas’s leadership is believed to be concentrated—will be approached gradually and only if necessary. “You might see Hamas collapse before you need to conquer the last meter,” Avivi said. “Once you kill the leadership, move the population, and impose a siege—then it’s game over.”
Avivi said Netanyahu is committed to the Trump-backed “day after” plan, which envisions Gaza residents voluntarily leaving the territory. But other observers are skeptical that Netanyahu intends to go all the way.
Ran Baratz, a former senior Netanyahu adviser and teacher at the military’s war colleges, said that Israel missed its window to destroy Hamas early in the war. Now, he said, the government appears to be fighting as a means to pressure Hamas into a tolerable U.S-brokered diplomatic agreement.
“I think [Netanyahu] is looking for a compensation prize, and he stalls until he gets something that he can show the public,” Baratz said. “Best scenario from his perspective: [an agreement that covers] Iran’s nuclear program, Saudi normalization, the return of the hostages, and America runs Gaza.”
According to Baratz, Israel’s threats to reoccupy Gaza are “something between a bluff and a signal.”
“You escalate your announcements, and then you do something—not the whole thing, but something,” he said. “It’s a negotiation.”
Despite his concerns, Halevi said he remains hopeful that Israel can still win the war—if its leaders are willing to commit to a serious plan.
“We can win this,” he said. “But it has to be serious. The current plan isn’t different from what we had before. It’s not enough.”
Original News Source – Washington Free Beacon
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