Former Israeli Security Chiefs Call for End to Gaza War and Hostage Release

The vast majority of them: Chiefs of Staff, Heads of the Service, Heads of the Mossad, Police Commissioners, and Heads of Aman.

Here, all the people here were in the cabinets, were in the kitchen cabinets.

In all the most sensitive decision-making processes.

More than a thousand years of security and diplomatic experience.

Gave us the duty to stand up and say what we have to say.

We are marking the eve of a defeat.

This war began as a just war.

It was a defensive war.

But when we achieved all the military objectives…

When we achieved a brilliant military victory against all our enemies…

This war stopped being a just war.

And it is leading the State of Israel to the loss of its security and identity.

We are now well past the point.

Beyond the point where we could have finished with a sufficient military achievement.

Right now, we are mainly incurring losses.

We have buried those achievements.

I don't know of any army that has defeated a guerrilla force.

We are currently in a static situation in the Gaza Strip.

An army that isn't moving is an army that gets hit.

They didn't consider how good the army would be.

A war without a political objective leads to defeat.

Today's war is a futile war.

Operation Chariots of Gilon achieved almost nothing.

We paid a price in casualties, oo many were killed.

Our achievements there are quite limited.

The international damages are severe.

And right now, we haven't advanced anything on the hostage issue.

What the world sees today is of our own making.

We are hiding behind a lie that we created.

This lie was sold to the Israeli public and, to my great regret,

The world has long understood that this is not the real picture.

The army agrees to everything that is happening there.

I don't envy the Chief of Staff.

He's like the only person you can wake up and pin your hopes on.

In some situations, a 'black flag,' you must stand firm and say, 'Enough.'

The IDF, with its capabilities, is unable to realize a fantasy

of someone in the cabinet who believes it can be achieved.

Right now, we have a government that messianists have pulled in a direction

that is not rational.

It's a minority. The problem is the minority controls the policy.

The government's current direction is an extremist, zealous worldview.

when it was not elected to be an extremist, zealous government.

And it has taken us captive.

Does anyone imagine that we can reach every terrorist,

every tunnel, and every weapon,

and at the same time bring our hostages home?

I think that this is impossible.

A fantasy.

But now it's the job of the army chiefs

Right.

to lay it all out on the table.

The heads of the organizations need to stand courageously

before the prime minister and the cabinet

and to tell the absolute truth.

About this war, about its futility.

It's their duty to say what they can do and what is not possible.

Even if someone wants it very badly.

The time has come to stop this war.

The end of the war.

This war could have been ended yesterday.

Withdrawal to the perimeter and an end to the war.

To stop the war for good.

Bring the hostages home.

And all in one phase.

The return of all hostages in one phase.

This war needs to end.

We need to bring the boys home, as many of them as possible.

Thank you very much.