“A government without a compass and without a conscience,” is how writer Ephraim Ganor began his article in Maariv newspaper, commenting on the continued marketing of the term “complete victory” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, in light of the continued failure of the Israeli army to achieve its goals in the Gaza Strip, as the anniversary of the Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa approaches, which was launched by the Palestinian resistance on October 7.
“The closer we get to October 7, the anniversary of the Iron Swords (the Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa), the more we feel the poison machine in full force, trying and working to blame the entire world, and everything possible in order to remove any shred of blame for our failure from the government and its leader,” Ganor said.
Illusory victory
Ganor described the term “total victory” promoted by Netanyahu as “an imaginary victory that will never come,” and said, “These are the facts about this victory. After nearly a year of war, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is still surely living somewhere in his hideout, dictating terms to Israel… with 101 kidnapped people in his hands, enjoying watching the State of Israel torn between those who are fighting for the release of the hostages in the deal, and those who are willing to sacrifice them on the altar of absolute victory.”
“The Gaza Strip will continue to be our ‘headache’ for many years. Just this week, we received confirmation of that with two rockets fired at Ashkelon,” he added.
The writer rejected the occupation government’s efforts to impose a military government in Gaza, considering it an illusion, and said, “It is only a matter of time before we feel well the arm of the guerrilla war that will be launched against our forces in the Gaza Strip, a war that will cost us a painful price in blood every day and will turn this illusion into a painful and bleeding wound.”
Community crisis
“The difference between the north of the ‘complete victory’ state and the south, after about a year of war, is that most of the residents of the north were displaced, leaving behind destroyed homes, burned fields and factories, and the date of their return is unclear, compared to the residents of the south who left behind dust shaded by fire, and their catastrophe will never be erased by the alleged victory,” he added, highlighting the repercussions of the ongoing war on the citizens of Israel.
“What exactly is absolute victory? Is it over Hamas? Over Hezbollah in the north? Over the raging attacks in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank)? Or perhaps over the Houthis in Yemen? Or perhaps finally in victory over Iran?” he asked.
“Only such a delusional government can talk about complete victory when we are embroiled in such a bitter reality, without providing an adequate response in any arena, and leading the country to a disastrous step,” he said.
cling to power
Ganor touched on the efforts to form a government commission of inquiry into the factors of the Israeli failure on October 7, but he called for the establishment of a commission of inquiry to examine the behavior and work of this fictitious government since then.
“It is no coincidence that the foreign press is publishing intelligence documents these days, with the aim of justifying Netanyahu’s positions and movements, and that it may only be a matter of time before this farce and its origins are revealed to the public,” he added.
“At the head of the complete victory camp are ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who are raising the flags of this imaginary victory just as they are leading Netanyahu and the country to the abyss,” he said sarcastically.
He concluded by saying, “All this happened because the Netanyahu family did not agree to give up power and ownership and was willing to sacrifice the people and the state for the sake of its continued existence.”
