JERUSALEM –
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was publicly challenged on Wednesday over post-war plans for the Gaza Strip by his own defense chief, who vowed to oppose any long-term military rule by Israel over the devastated Palestinian enclave.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s televised statement marked the most outspoken dissent within Israel’s top echelon against Netanyahu during a multi-front conflict that has created political rifts at home and abroad.
Netanyahu hinted, in a response that did not explicitly mention Gallant, that the retired admiral was making “apologies” for not yet destroying Hamas in a conflict now in its eighth month.
