A former prime minister of Israel has accused Benjamin Netanyahu of needlessly prolonging the Gaza offensive and blocking the path to peace while kidnapped hostages are left to die.
In a scathing condemnation, Ehud Olmert charged that Mr Netanyahu’s “arrogance” and “manipulation” has led to catastrophic security failures, allowing the Hamas attack which triggered the current conflict.
He also warned that right-wing “messianics and extremists” brought into Israel’s governing coalition by the prime minister, are blocking the vital need for a settlement and have plans to cleanse Palestinians from their vision of a ‘”Greater Israel.”
Mr Olmert’s strident criticism came as Mr Netanyahu snubbed the latest international attempt at a ceasefire, declaring that the war will continue until complete victory. Anthony Blinken, the US secretary of state, left his fifth visit to the Middle East in the last four months with relations between the Israeli government and Washington reportedly at their worst since the conflict began.
Speaking to The Independent, Mr Olmert said: “Israel has received huge support from the West, from Rishi Sunak in Britain, from Olof Scholz in Germany, Emmanuel Macron in France and, of course, from Joe Biden, who I got to know well.
“They have got opposition to this support from some people at home. How much longer will they be able to continue this support if this Israeli government will not even open up a narrow window to what may eventually become a peace agreement that will end this war?”
Mr Olmert served as deputy prime minister, acting prime minister and then prime minister of Israel, having spent many years in the Likud party now headed by Mr Netanyahu. Mr Olmert had started off in his political careeras a hawk who opposed returning land seized in the Six Day War and voted against the Camp David Peace Accords.
He later, however, became the chief architect of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and came close to reaching an agreement on a “two-state solution” with Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas before it fell apart at the end.
He argues that there needs to be a ceasefire followed by all conceivable efforts to rescue the hostages still being held.
Failure to do this and continue a military mission no longer tenable while hostages remained captive, he held, would be “absolutely unforgiveable” and “something which will never be forgotten by the people of Israel”.
According to latest Israeli intelligence estimates, 32 of the more than 130 hostages still held by Hamas are dead after four months of fighting. Until now the Israeli military had confirmed that 29 had lost their lives in captivity.
Hostages who were freed in a deal last November appealed to Mr Netanyahu to negotiate a ceasefire and bring their loved ones home.
Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv, they spoke of their fear that the captives will pay the price for the prime minister’s pursuit of “absolute history”.
One of them, 72-year-old Adina Moshe, said: “I’m very afraid and very concerned that if you continue with this line of destroying Hamas, there won’t be any hostages left to release. Everything is in your hands.”
Another, Sharon Aloni Cunio, 34, added: “We’ve reached the awful moment when you must decide who lives and who dies… 136 hostages now wait in tunnels, without oxygen, without food, without water and without hope, waiting for you to save them. The price is heavy, unbearable, but the price of negligence will become a stain for generations.”
Hamas seized hundreds of hostages, including women and children, in the October 7 attacks
Mr Olmert said Mr Netanyahu was trying to hide his government’s failure to prevent the Hamas massacre by continuing with military action with aims which were plainly unachievable.
He said: “The Hamas attack on October 7 was probably the greatest military defeat in the history of the state of Israel.
“We had a similar surprise in 1973 [the Yom Kippur War], but that attack was against soldiers, not civilians, and the outcome was very different when the army fought back quickly and aggressively.
“This time the trust of our people, civilians, was betrayed. They were attacked in their homes, and for hours and hours there was no military to save them. This was a devastating defeat for our country.
Ehud Olmert with Joe Biden in 2006
Israeli forces have repeatedly bombed Gaza, causing hundreds of thousands to flee
