Fuel will flow to Gaza; there will be ceasefires for various arrangements. The problem is the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most of his government ministers address the Israeli public. Instead of understanding that telling the truth is also an option, they give us half truths that are worse than lies, and in some cases, simply outright lie in our faces.
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Instead of saying that our greatest friend, the US, requested/demanded that we transfer fuel to the Gaza Strip, they start by blaming the army and the Shin Bet security agency. And then Minister Without Portfolio Benny Gantz issued a statement saying that Israel is heeding the requests of international entities, adding that doing so "serves the continuation of the IDF's campaign." It ends with the statement of the National Security Council head Tzachi Hangebi, who finally says the truth: "The War Cabinet responded to a special request from the US to provide two fuel oil tankers per day for the sewage treatment facilities in Gaza, which are on the verge of collapse."
Why not tell the truth upfront? And why not mention another truism: We don't need our greatest friend to ask for it – we alone need to say that without supplying fuel from Israel, sewage treatment facilities in Gaza will cease to operate, and those affected will be the residents and beaches of Ashkelon and Ashdod. Tell us, we'll understand – and we will accept.
And there is another thing that must be said: It's quite amusing to hear Netanyahu and his ministers say that together we will win, that we must preserve unity among the people. Really? While some of us insist it's not the time to talk about the events that led to the Oct. 7 lapses, we still must never forget who sowed division, quarreled, and incited during that period. In this case, no eraser is strong enough to erase the guilt.
And another truth must be said: Everyone is playing politics. From the prime minister, who says he is not engaged in politics during the war, to everyone else. They conduct polls, act according to the polls, and talk just for the record so that the minutes shine them in a good light. Politics is present everywhere, even within the Likud. I am not referring just to MK Galit Distel-Atbaryan, who spoke to Israel Hayom this weekend and lashed out at Netanyahu and those around him. I am also talking about Opposition Leader MK Yair Lapid, who changed his position and said this week that he would be willing to join a government led by Likud, on the condition that Netanyahu is replaced in the current Knesset through a constructive vote of no confidence.
I have mentioned in the past that such a scenario is not very feasible, but the very suggestion by Lapid could mean that he has the ability to launch such proceedings, that, if successful, will be good for... Lapid. He will remain with 24 seats, as opposed to losing many seats if they go to elections, and Gantz's party will stay with 12 seats, not with the plethora of seats they are projected to win in the polls. In conversations with close associates, Lapid says that Netanyahu must not be allowed to do politics during the war, pointing to the prime minister catering to Coalition partners with pork-barrel spending, refusing to close unnecessary ministries, and continuously attacking everyone while forsaking those from the border communities who have had to evacuate without getting government help. Netanyahu, Lapid insists, cannot expect everyone to sit idly by as he conducts himself in this way, with even the various state agencies having long lost trust in him.
State Party MK and minister Gideon Saar is also knee-deep in politics despite being in an emergency government. He has been meeting with Netanyahu – someone who was his sworn enemy to the point that he left the Likud. He is conducting this way just so he can open an option for himself to be part of a liberal right-wing party. In this way, he also weakens the State Party a bit, and here his interests intersect with those of Netanyahu, hence the frequent meetings between them. It's all politics, and that's the way it is. But please, just try to tell us the truth. That's the preferred option.
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