The events of September 11, 2001, were rehashed ad nauseam yesterday. Reawakening the revenant of global terrorism in light of Israel’s belligerent stance in West Asia is essential for the United State’s interventionist agenda. While Vice President Kamala Harris may be an aspirational neoliberal warlord, the U.S. political and military apparatus is not a monolith. The Lindsey Grahams and the Netanyahus of the world will always call for war and escalation. However, just like any set of political officials, there will always be dissent and cross-purposes.
Tonight on State of Play, we discuss the reality of internal dissent and degrading security within the Israeli establishment by examining their “culture of leaks,” meant to influence public opinion and damage political enemies. We’re going to look at the footage leaked from the Sde Teiman torture camp and its connections to Western funding, the false torture report attributed to Sinwar and leaked right-wing Hebrew media and the ongoing drama over the occupation of the Philadelphi Corridor as case studies.
As internal dissent mounts, this culture of leaks will become more uncontrollable and self-destructive, especially now as Israel seeks a new military operation against Hezbollah.
According to an article published earlier today by the Jerusalem Post, “Israeli government leaks, particularly from the security cabinet, have intensified during the current war, revealing internal conflicts and undermining decision-making processes.”
While government leaks have been a perennial issue in Israeli politics, this unprecedented conflict has “taken this phenomena to new heights.”
We are seeing through a series of leaks from the security cabinet that there is a decision to support Prime Minister Netanyahu in his bid to retain control of the Philadelphi Corridor, the hotly contested border between Gaza and Egyptian Siani, which goes directly against both the unofficial and public opinions of the defense minister, the IDF chief of staff, the head of Shin Bet, and the head of the Mossad.
Therefore, it is abundantly clear that the primary government decision-making body in this war has been hijacked and shackled to the will of the prime minister, who is now at odds with the defense establishment. In such a passive council, one of the main avenues of dissent is through leaks which are consumed by an eager public, enamored by the crude and shallow language used or embarrassed by its headlessness.
Unofficial leaks have always been used to influence public opinion for one purpose or another, both at home and abroad. Israeli daily Ynet News reported that the IDF has initiated an internal investigation after documents allegedly attributed to Hamas leader Sinwar were leaked. The leaks were seemingly aimed at stoking opposition to a hostage deal with talking points nearly identical to those made by the prime minister in recent interviews.
Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, he referred to the Bild allegations at length.
This emerging landscape where dissent is only tolerated in the public sphere and the media landscape is mired in ploys of willful manipulation, will only serve to corrode the governmental decision-making process, which is already crude and short-sighted, and degrade Israel’s standing as a serious and formidable nation on the world stage. The long-term security implications are clear.
Greg Stoker is a former US Army Ranger with a background in human intelligence collection and analysis. After serving four combat deployments in Afghanistan, he studied anthropology and International Relations at Columbia University. He is currently a military and geopolitical analyst and a social media “influencer,” though he hates the term.
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