01 Dec 2022; MEMO: Israel's defence minister has warned the country that he is "worried" about the strength and solidity of the Israel Defence Forces.
"If the rumours are real," said Benny Gantz yesterday, "then I am very worried about the existence of the Israeli army as a people's army."
Far-right hardliners close to the leader of the extremist Otzma Yehudit party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, have been criticising the army lately in an apparent attempt to force senior officers to adopt more extreme measures in the occupied Palestinian territories. There is an emerging rift between the army elite and the settler militias led by Ben-Gvir and his wife.
Addressing the Israeli people, former chief of staff Gantz stressed that whoever cares for Israeli soldiers does not harm their commanders, and does not play "dangerous political games" behind their backs.
