Proposals by Israel’s new far-right government for far-reaching changes in the administration of the occupied West Bank prompted warnings from opposition figures and Palestinian groups even before Benjamin Netanyahu officially returned as prime minister last week.
But the intervention of the head of the Israel Defense Forces underscores how those concerns have also reached the highest echelons of the Jewish state’s military.
Aviv Kochavi, the IDF’s chief of general staff, used a phone call with Netanyahu last week to explain his concerns about proposals that include handing over administrative responsibility and control of Border Police forces in the region to far-right politicians.
Current and former Israeli military officers stressed the impact of these and other changes made to the coalition deal in the West Bank, where tensions have been rising even before the new government took office. The officer said it could undermine the army’s chain of command and combat readiness, and complicate the international legal status of Israel’s five-decade occupation of Palestinian territories and diplomatic relations with the US and Europe.
Netanyahu and Kochavi agreed that any initiative touching on military operations would be suspended until the government receives a full explanation of the consequences, according to the IDF.
“It’s not for the military to decide policy – that’s for the politicians. But it should be done with serious strategic planning and not hacking through coalition negotiations,” said Giora Eiland, a retired Israeli general and former national security adviser. The plan Netanyahu agreed to in discussions with his new ultranationalist and religious coalition partners “could undermine the entire strategy of the IDF” to maintain stability in the West Bank, he added.
The proposed changes were pushed by Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, two far-right leaders from the political fringes who were given senior government jobs by Netanyahu to form a coalition.
Smotrich, a proponent of West Bank settlement expansion, is Israel’s new finance minister, with an additional role in the defense ministry. His responsibilities in the latter position include control over the two military bodies that govern the daily lives of Palestinians in the West Bank as well as Israeli settlers.
Smotrich has promised to legalize scores of Jewish settlements that even Israel officially considers illegal and ramp up the demolition of Palestinian buildings and homes in parts of the area still directly controlled by Israel. Most of the international community considers all Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal.
Itamar Ben-Gvir greets supporters during a visit to the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem on December 30, 2022 © Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
Ben-Gvir, another pro-settler ultranationalist convicted of anti-Arab incitement in 2007, has been given expanded police powers as part of his new role as national security minister. In an unusual move, the entire Border Police, a force operating under IDF command in the West Bank, is set to come under direct control.
His desire to challenge the status quo was underlined on Tuesday when he made a surprise visit to the al-Aqsa mosque complex, Islam’s third holiest site known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount. The visit to a location historically a flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian tensions was labeled an “unprecedented provocation” by the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry.
The former senior officer highlighted the chaos that could ensue in the West Bank if an additional layer of civilian control was put into the administration of the territory, including security coordination with the Palestinian Authority.
“The IDF from the beginning has operated according to one simple idea: a very clear unity of command,” said Amos Gilead, a retired general and former director of the defense ministry’s political bureau. “This [plan] it is like having one carriage with four horses pulling in different directions. Motionless.”
Ben-Gvir’s possible shift in the use and deployment of the Border Police, the main security force in the West Bank tasked with fighting Palestinian demonstrations and Israeli settler unrest, is another cause for concern. One of the reported ideas is to remove troops from the West Bank, raising the prospect of the IDF having to use regular or reserve soldiers to police the civilian population, an idea Gilead called “unacceptable”.
Benny Gantz, the outgoing defense minister and former IDF chief, said last week that it was “predictable” that the proposed coalition deal would undermine stability in the West Bank, adding that the military was prepared for a possible escalation and that “blood may be spilled.” “.
The former senior officer also stressed the international legal harm Israel could do by replacing the two military bodies that have historically governed the West Bank under Smotrich’s civilian oversight. Since occupying the West Bank during the 1967 war, Israel’s official position in the region has been one of “temporary” military rule pending a political resolution.
“You can see increased international pressure and delegitimization campaigns against Israel, especially if you have increased benefits for [Israeli] settlers and a heavy hand against the Palestinians,” said Eiland. “This can be seen as a de facto annexation, with the army at the forefront.”
A further concern for analysts related to additional plans by the new government to overhaul the Israeli judicial system, which critics say will weaken the independence of the Supreme Court. That can damage the military and bring officers into danger of international law.
“The existence of a strong and reliable domestic legal system, including in the IDF, has been the main argument used by Israel to stop foreign court decisions and international investigations against officials suspected of violating international law,” added Eiland.
Taken together, the proposed changes pose a threat to Israel’s standing in western capitals and among Arab countries, according to the former officer.
The US has now reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its “opposition to policies that endanger its viability”. Gilead stressed how important it is to protect US president Joe Biden, citing America’s support as a key asset, especially in light of the threat posed by Iran.
“Israel’s national security is a combination of military strength and strategic wisdom as well as our diplomatic relations, especially with the US. My concern is that the new government’s proposals could destroy everything,” he said.