An apparently strange choice was made by a correspondent from Israel’s Channel 12 when, on 22 April, he decided to release one of the most humiliating videos of a relatively large number of Israeli soldiers coming under attack by a single Palestinian fighter. As soldiers screamed and stumbled down the stairs of a building in Khan Yunis chaos erupted: some fell over each other, others hid behind a concrete wall, and some even fired erratically, endangering their own colleagues.
This begs a serious question: given the Israeli media’s frequent adherence to strict, often unreasonable, military censorship, what prompted the decision to release such a damaging portrayal of its own soldiers?
The answer lies in the open war between the Israeli political institution, represented by the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the one hand, and the rest of the country on the other. The “rest of the country” may seem to be an elusive concept, but it is not. Currently, Netanyahu is at war with the military institution, the internal intelligence agency Shin Bet, the judiciary, much of the media and the majority of Israelis who want the war to end and Israeli captives to be released.
This explains the unprecedented and open criticism by former top Israeli officials who are accusing Netanyahu of being a threat, not only to the Israeli military and Israeli society, but also to the future of Israel itself.
On 21 April, the head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, breached every protocol when he presented Israel’s Supreme Court with two documents, one of which was revealed to the public. According to Israeli media, in the unclassified affidavit, Bar stated that he was fired by the prime minister “because of his refusal to meet those expectations of loyalty,” particularly “regarding investigations into the prime minister’s aides” and for “his refusal to help Netanyahu avoid testifying in his criminal trial.”
Bar’s comments represented a fundamental historical shift in how Israel’s power players treat extremely sensitive security matters.
They were also, essentially, a call for the overthrow of Netanyahu.
A former head of Shin Bet, Nadav Argaman, has been equally vocal, although he was the first to speak about Netanyahu’s transgressions, suggesting clear coordination between the various elements of Israel’s notorious and powerful intelligence agencies. “If the prime minister acts unlawfully, I will say everything I know,” he told Channel 12 last month.
READ: Smotrich threatens to resign if Gaza military operations aren’t intensified
The coordination runs deeper, with former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who, along with Netanyahu, is wanted by the International Criminal Court, going on his own rampage on 23 April. Aside from the direct attacks on Netanyahu, calling his policy a “moral disgrace”, Gallant seems to have disparaged the Israeli military itself by revealing that, last August, Israel faked pictures of an alleged Hamas tunnel in order to block a ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli government used this specific episode as its rationale for maintaining control over the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza, a justification that emerged around the same time as the deeply embarrassing video of Israeli soldiers running in terror from a lone Palestinian combatant. The layers of humiliation continued to accumulate.
While Gallant’s actions may discredit the military and his own leadership, his primary aim appears to be to have an impact on Netanyahu, who many Israelis believe is prolonging the Gaza war for personal political gain.
Israel’s actual war losses are another key point. One of the occupation state’s historically best-kept secrets is its losses in fighting against Arab armies or resistance groups.
Its casualties in the current war on Gaza were also supposed to be a well-kept secret, except that they aren’t.
Although the Israeli army has tried to minimise its death toll since the start of the war on 7 October, 2023, it has faced many leaks, some initiated by the military itself. The aim? To put pressure on Netanyahu to end the war, especially in light of new information that at least half of Israel’s military reserves are refusing to return to the battlefield.
Interestingly, it was Eyal Zamir — Netanyahu’s hand-picked replacement for Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi — who surprised everyone in a speech shortly after his appointment in February. Zamir revealed that 5,942 Israeli families had “joined the list of bereaved families” in 2024. He had already committed 2025 to be “a year of war”, but now seems less inclined to escalate the war beyond Israel’s ability to sustain it.
The war between Israel’s political, military and intelligence elites has never been so ugly, let alone open, as if both sides have reached the conclusion that their survival — and the survival of Israel itself — is dependent on defeating the other camps.
After some reluctance and a relatively careful choice of words, Gallant has now joined the chorus of a powerful group of ex-officials who want to see Netanyahu out of power by any means necessary, including civil disobedience.
This internal conflict among Israel’s elite marks a departure from its long-cultivated image. For decades, Israel has presented itself as a beacon of democracy and civilisation amidst what it portrayed as its less cultured neighbours. However, the Gaza genocide has shattered this false narrative.
Consequently, the current infighting among the architects of this Israeli fantasy now offers an unprecedented opportunity to uncover deeper truths, not only about the ongoing war in Gaza, but also about Israel’s history, from its establishment on the land of historic Palestine to the ongoing genocide, nearly eight decades later.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.