MK Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the “Yashar” party and former IDF Chief of Staff, on Monday morning criticized the emerging Gaza ceasefire agreement.
In an interview Monday morning on the “Kalman-Liberman” program, Eisenkot said, “In my view, the crossings were opened too early.”
He added, “The situation is being managed by an external party, by the Americans, and that’s something that is highly problematic. As the agreement progresses, more international forces will enter the picture, which will limit the IDF’s freedom of action.”
Eisenkot emphasized that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must uphold one core principle – namely, that “security responsibility in the [Gaza] Strip must remain in Israel’s hands.” However, he agreed that ”economic responsibility can be held by moderate Sunni countries.”
Responding to a social media post by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who criticized Eisenkot following the approval of the deal, he accused: “Other than his name, everything in that post was a lie. Smotrich, who served for ten months, wants to preach morality to me? There’s a limit to my sense of humor. It’s a problem that he’s a member of the Cabinet. He didn’t even know what the Nukhba force was. I watched him speak in the Cabinet about things he doesn’t understand.”
Regarding future control over the Gaza Strip, Eisenkot warned against replacing the Shiite axis with a Muslim Brotherhood-aligned axis.
“We must oppose Qatar and Turkey. This is an agreement which was created in distress. The least bad solution for Israel is a Palestinian force, which is not Hamas, backed by Egypt with American oversight,” he explained.
Eisenkot also addressed the composition of the next government: “Anyone who held a military or political role on October 7th will not be in a leadership position, including the entire Cabinet. A state commission of inquiry must be established, and it must examine events going back a full decade, starting from when I was appointed Chief of Staff.”