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Likud MK Halevi Expelled from Committee after Calling Gaza War ‘Fraudulent’
Halevi’s remarks mark a rare and public rebuke of Israel’s military policy by a ruling party member.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported a heated exchange during a recent Knesset session between Likud Member of Knesset (MK) Amit Halevi and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz over the ongoing war on Gaza.
Although the exchange took place last Sunday, it was not reported until Friday.
According to the report, Halevi criticized the military campaign, arguing that despite nearly 20 months of operations, the Israeli army has failed to eliminate Hamas.
“There is no operational plan today that can defeat Hamas,” Halevi reportedly said.
“You don’t understand anything, you’re talking nonsense,” Katz shouted back, according to the Israeli newspaper.
Halevi, however, insisted that “this is a fraudulent war” and that Israelis “were lied to about the war’s achievements”.
In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, he noted that “We have been in a failed war plan for 20 months. The State of Israel is unable to defeat Hamas. There are indescribable gaps between us and our enemies.”
“In all the wars, we knew how to defeat our greatest enemies, but we are unable to defeat the Hamas faction. We are talking here in political rather than military terms: collapse, disintegration, damage, but not defeat or surrender,” Halevi reportedly continued.
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In response, Katz likened Halevi to opposition politician Yair Golan, head of the Israeli Democratic Party. Katz accused Golan of defaming Israeli society and soldiers by comparing them to Nazis and blaming them for killing children in Gaza.
“Halevi, from Likud, now mirrors these accusations by slandering commanders and accusing them of abandoning soldiers during combat,” Katz reportedly said.
Following the altercation, the Likud party expelled Halevi from the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee after he sided with opposition lawmakers in voting against a bill to extend the call-up of reservists.
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Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed his commitment to continue the war, despite mounting international pressure. In a Telegram video, he acknowledged that such pressure had forced Israel to allow some humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Backed by full US support, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza—ongoing since October 7, 2023—has resulted in over 175,000 Palestinians killed or wounded, the majority of them women and children. More than 11,000 remain missing, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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