Times: Netanyahu’s problem is that he is a coward | Politics

The British newspaper, The Times, said that the killing of six Israeli detainees in a tunnel under the city of Rafah a few days ago added a political uproar in Israel to the deep pain and shock, and a section of the Israeli public accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of signing their death sentence by refusing to agree to a ceasefire agreement that was believed to have led to their release.

The newspaper pointed out – in an article by writer Melanie Phillips – that Netanyahu will not admit that defeating the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) may mean sacrificing the lives of detainees, at a time when the main labor union (Histadrut) in Israel called for a general strike to intensify pressure on him to accept the ceasefire agreement that the United States participated in mediating.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets demanding an immediate ceasefire, but the conditions for a ceasefire demanded by Hamas, according to the writer, are that Israeli forces leave the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt, leave Rafah, and stop the war, which means a Hamas victory and Israel’s surrender.

Netanyahu’s critics claim that he is motivated only by corrupt political considerations, ignoring – according to the writer – that such a deal allows Hamas to recover and carry out its threat to repeat what happened on October 7, makes the “sacrifice” made by the Israeli army worthless, and also motivates and strengthens Hezbollah and Iran.

The writer said that Yahya Sinwar, the new Hamas leader, is continuing his strategy of using the ordeal of the detainees as a supreme psychological weapon to force Israel to surrender, to tighten the noose on Netanyahu, who is stirring up more fear and anger among the general public in Israel, which increases the pressure on him to surrender.

Despite the strength of the campaign against Netanyahu, the writer says, he does not have the courage to acknowledge reality. He set two simultaneous goals for the war: returning the captives and defeating Hamas. But these two goals were always in potential contradiction, and so Israel faced a hideous dilemma: winning the war would likely require killing most of the captives, while prioritizing the release of the hostages would mean Israel’s surrender.

In fact, the writer says, Netanyahu made a grave mistake in that he never told the people the truth, which is that his two goals in the war conflicted, and he never told them that he could not sacrifice the country to save the detainees, because he was not the kind of leader who had the moral courage to say that, but rather he was a moral coward despite being a skilled politician and strategist, according to the writer.