The wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused top army officials of attempting to orchestrate a coup against her husband.
These accusations were made during a private meeting last week with several families of Israelis held captive in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Tuesday.
According to Haaretz, Sara Netanyahu said that “Israeli forces are seeking to stage a military coup against her husband.”
The report added that, when some family members interrupted, suggesting she could not claim distrust in the Israeli military, she clarified that her “distrust applies only to senior army figures, not the (Israeli army) as a whole,” insisting more than once that “the army brass wants to stage a coup”.
Sara Netanyahu was not the only family member to accuse military leaders. Her son, Yair Netanyahu, made similar accusations earlier this month.
On June 17, Yair accused the military and the Shin Bet security service of “betrayal” during the military operation carried out by the Palestinian movement Hamas on October 7.
“What are they trying to hide? If there was no betrayal, then why are they afraid of external and independent parties investigating what happened?” he wrote on X.
“Why did the army and intelligence chiefs keep claiming that Hamas was deterred? Where was the Air Force on October 7th?” he added.
A spokesperson “speaking on Netanyahu’s behalf” dismissed the report, stating that “the plague of false, tendentious and constant leaks about Mrs. Netanyahu constitutes a heinous injustice,” according to Haaretz.
Growing Rift
Tensions have been running high between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the military regarding the feasibility of eliminating Hamas and the absence of a comprehensive post-war plan for Gaza.
Netanyahu and his office have consistently emphasized that the primary objective of the war is to dismantle Hamas. However, they have not addressed the issue of governance in the Gaza Strip once the conflict ends, a concern that the military believes must be resolved.
Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli army, expressed this sentiment in an interview with Channel 13 on June 19, stating: “Hamas cannot be destroyed. Hamas is an idea. Those who think it can be made to disappear are wrong.”
In a statement seen as an unusual and direct communication from the military to Israel’s political leaders, Hagari added: “What we can do is foster something new to replace Hamas. Who will that be? What will it be? That’s for the political leadership to decide.”
Ongoing Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 37,658 Palestinians have been killed, and 86,237 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Sara Netanyahu Accuses Israeli Army Leaders of Staging Coup against Her Husband – Report
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