Former IDF Chief Gadi Eisenkot warns the Netanyahu government against foreign control in Gaza, insisting Israel retain full security authority.
Former IDF Chief of Staff and “Yashar” party chairman MK Gadi Eisenkot sharply criticized the emerging Gaza ceasefire agreement Monday, declaring that Israel’s sovereignty and security must remain solely in Israeli hands — not dictated by foreign powers.
Speaking on Kan’s “Kalman-Liberman” program, Eisenkot cautioned that opening Gaza crossings prematurely and allowing the U.S. and international forces to manage the situation could dangerously erode the IDF’s operational freedom. “The moment foreign entities dictate our moves, we lose the ability to defend ourselves,” he said firmly.
Eisenkot stressed that Prime Minister Netanyahu must draw a red line — ensuring that Israel retains absolute security control in Gaza while permitting only economic oversight by moderate Sunni partners, such as Egypt or the UAE.
Turning his fire on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who mocked him online, Eisenkot dismissed the remarks as “a lie-filled post” and ridiculed the minister’s military inexperience: “He didn’t even know what the Nukhba force was. It’s absurd that someone so uninformed sits in Israel’s security Cabinet.”
Looking ahead, Eisenkot warned against the growing influence of Qatar and Turkey, calling them dangerous enablers of Muslim Brotherhood extremism. Instead, he proposed a pragmatic alternative — a non-Hamas Palestinian force backed by Egypt and supervised by Washington, ensuring Gaza does not fall again into the hands of Islamist radicals.
Concluding his remarks, Eisenkot said a state commission of inquiry must examine the entire leadership’s failures surrounding October 7: “No one who held political or military office that day — myself included — should lead the country again until full accountability is established.”
