A disagreement broke out Sunday night between ministers and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir during a Cabinet meeting ahead of the expected ground maneuver to capture Gaza City.
During the discussion, Zamir, without being asked, expressed support for a partial deal to secure the release of hostages, telling ministers: “There is a framework on the table, and we need to take it.” Zamir stressed that Operation Gideon’s Chariots had created conditions for bringing hostages home.
Settlement Minister Orit Strock sharply criticized the army’s approach, saying: “They’re trying to intimidate us, scare us with all kinds of terrors,” quoting, “What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, that he should not cause the heart of his brothers to melt, as his heart (Deuteronomy 20:8).”
Zamir responded firmly: “I came to fulfill the two missions of my life: preventing a nuclear Iran and destroying Hamas.”
The Chief of Staff also noted that he was the one who recommended the strike in Iran: “Every morning I look at the map of the Middle East, and I authorize strikes everywhere. No one here is fainthearted—not me, nor the generals sitting here.”
“I make powerful decisions that no one else has made. I present to you all the implications and consequences of every move. If you want blind obedience, bring someone else!” Zamir declared.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concluded: “I do not want blind obedience, but I also do not want a breach of boundaries.”