Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at Sunday's Cabinet meeting that the recently resigned Military Advocate General, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was behind the
"greatest public diplomacy disaster ever,” in relation to the leak of footage allegedly showing the abuse of detained terrorists at the Sde Teiman military base.
"The incident in Sde Teiman caused immense damage to the image of the State of Israel and the IDF, to our soldiers. This is perhaps the most severe public relations attack that the State of Israel has experienced since its establishment. I do not recall one so focused with such intensity. This demands an independent, impartial investigation, and I expect such an investigation to be carried out," the Prime Minister stated.
Netanyahu discussed the various fronts that Israel is contending with. "I wish to talk about our struggle with the Axis entities. The Iranian axis suffered a huge blow; in many places, we broke it, and in places where we broke it, it still exists, licking its wounds, trying to recover. Our effort is to deny it the ability to recover, and that is what we are doing on the various fronts."
"The first front is in Gaza, where Hamas suffered crushing blows; it is a shadow of what it once was, but it too is trying to recover. We are operating at four points. One: returning our hostages. Hamas's attempts are pathetic. They are trying to trick us, the United States, and the world, of course, they won't, and gradually, we will bring back all of the hostages. We are committed to it.
"The second thing: there are still pockets of Hamas in the territories that our under our control in Gaza, we are eliminating them systematically. There are two in Rafah and in Khan Yunis, and they will be eliminated. The third thing is the matter of threats to our troops, and my directive is unequivocal: if there is an attempt to harm our troops, we hit those who harm as well as their organization to protect our troops; that is our decision."
Addressing accusations that Israel has become a US protectorate, Netanyahu stressed, "We report to our American friends, we don't ask permission. You have to understand this because I hear things that are just not true. We maintain the supreme security responsibility and will not give it up.
"The fourth thing is the disarmament of Hamas. Disarming Hamas, demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, this is the main principle, this is the principle that President Trump and I have agreed on, and this we are working on in a clear framework. Of course, if it is not done one way, it will be done the other, and everyone knows what the other way is and who will do it."
Regarding Lebanon, the Prime Minister stated: "Hezbollah indeed suffers blows all the time, including now, but it is also trying to rearm and recover. We expect the Lebanese government to do what it committed to do, that is, to disarm Hezbollah, but we will exercise our right to self-defense as is stated in the ceasefire terms. We will not allow Hezbollah to become a renewed front against us, and we will act as needed."
"The third place that needs attention, which the Israeli public doesn't pay attention to, is the Houthis. The Houthis seem like some minor nuisance. From time to time, they launch a ballistic missile at us. We intercept those missiles. It looks minor. This is not minor; it is a major threat from a fanatic movement with the ability to create its own ballistic missiles and with other weapons, and it is committed to what it calls 'the plan to destroy Israel." This is not just theoretical; this can develop with time. Of course, this is in collaboration with Iran, and we will do everything needed to remove this threat. That is, we are still fighting an axis that, despite being broken and beaten, still tries to destroy Israel. We will, to put it mildly, deny its ability to do so."
The Prime Minister also noted, “At the same time, we are building and developing our country. Today, I especially want to highlight what we are doing in the Negev, in the field of healthcare in Be’er Sheva, which serves the entire Negev region. Today, the government will approve an additional 360 million shekels for the construction of a new hospitalization tower at Soroka Medical Center, which will also be fortified. The total investment amounts to over one billion shekels - one-third from the government, one-third from Clalit Health Services, and one-third from our friend Sylvan Adams.”