JERUSALEM: Cracks are widening in a public tiff between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his moderate defense minister, the latest spat showing growing discontent with Netanyahu’s handling of the war at a sensitive time.
Israel is bracing for potential Iranian retaliation after a blast in Tehran killed Hamas’ leader — an attack blamed on Israel. And a new round of ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas is set to begin later this week.
On Monday, the Israeli media reported that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant condemned Netanyahu’s “nonsense about ‘total victory’” a phrase the prime minister has frequently repeated during the 10-month-old war in Gaza.
The war, which began with a Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and left about 250 hostages in Gaza, has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians. Netanyahu has frequently been criticized, including by members of his own government, for lacking clear strategic aims, a post-war plan for Gaza, or even a specific definition of what “total victory” would look like.
Gallant’s comments were apparently made during a closed-door hearing before an Israeli parliamentary committee and leaked to the media.
Netanyahu struck back, saying Gallant should have criticized Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar instead.
“When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he harms the chances of reaching a hostage release deal,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Gallant attempted to ease tensions by responding that his priority was to “protect the citizens of Israel and to harm our enemies.”
Gallant, who is a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, raised the prime minister’s ire last year by publicly opposing his controversial push for changes to Israel’s judiciary. When Netanyahu attempted to fire Gallant, mass protests erupted, with hundreds of thousands of Israelis taking to the streets in the middle of the night.
An Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media said that Netanyahu is not considering firing Gallant at the current time.
Gallant is one of the few moderate voices left in Netanyahu’s government following the departure of centrist Benny Gantz, who left the unity coalition earlier this year.
Public spat highlights cracks in Netanyahu’s coalition as Israel braces for feared Iran attack
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Public spat highlights cracks in Netanyahu’s coalition as Israel braces for feared Iran attack
- On Monday, the Israeli media reported that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant condemned Netanyahu’s ‘nonsense about total victory’
- Netanyahu has frequently been criticized for lacking clear strategic aims, a post-war plan for Gaza among others
US makes plans to reopen embassy in Syria after 14 years
- The administration has been considering re-opening the embassy since last year
- Trump told reporters on Friday that Al-Sharaa was “doing a phenomenal job” as president
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has informed Congress that it intends to proceed with planning for a potential re-opening of the US Embassy in Damascus, Syria, which was shuttered in 2012 during the country’s civil war.
A notice to congressional committees earlier this month, which was obtained by The Associated Press, informed lawmakers of the State Department’s “intent to implement a phased approach to potentially resume embassy operations in Syria.”
The Feb. 10 notification said that spending on the plans would begin in 15 days, or next week, although there was no timeline offered for when they would be complete or when US personnel might return to Damascus on a full-time basis.
The administration has been considering re-opening the embassy since last year, shortly after longtime strongman Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024, and it has been a priority for President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack.
Barrack has pushed for a deep rapprochement with Syria and its new leadership under former rebel Ahmad Al-Sharaa and has successfully advocated for the lifting of US sanctions and a reintegration of Syria into the regional and international communities.
Trump told reporters on Friday that Al-Sharaa was “doing a phenomenal job” as president. “He’s a rough guy. He’s not a choir boy. A choir boy couldn’t do it,” Trump said. “But Syria’s coming together.”
Last May, Barrack visited Damascus and raised the US flag at the embassy compound, although the embassy was not yet re-opened.
The same day the congressional notification was sent, Barrack lauded Syria’s decision to participate in the coalition that is combating the Daesh militant group, even as the US military has withdrawn from a small, but important, base in the southeast and there remain significant issues between the government and the Kurdish minority.
“Regional solutions, shared responsibility. Syria’s participation in the D-Daesh Coalition meeting in Riyadh marks a new chapter in collective security,” Barrack said.
The embassy re-opening plans are classified and the State Department declined to comment on details beyond confirming that the congressional notification was sent.
However, the department has taken a similar “phased” approach in its plans to re-open the US Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, following the US military operation that ousted former President Nicolás Maduro in January, with the deployment of temporary staffers who would live in and work out of interim facilities.
