Israel's recent renewed attacks on Gaza as the ceasefire ended, so soon after firing Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Director Ronen Bar, was likely a function of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu playing "a game of contemptable politics" to stay in power, Chuck Freilich explained to Sarah Ben-Nun on The Jerusalem Post Podcast.
Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser and fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, was asked about his thoughts on the background to the renewed offensive against Gaza.
"There is a strategic case to be made for renewing the warfare," he noted, citing the lack of progress on the hostage deal and how Hamas had used the time to replenish its forces and smuggle in more weaponry.
"The question, though, is what really motivated this strike," Freilich continued. "Was it primarily a diplomatic and military consideration... that the hostage negotiations are not going forward, or was it for totally different reasons?
"Or," he continued, "was it primarily a function of the prime minister's, I would say unbridled, attempt to remain in office at all costs."
Freilich elaborated on that point further, noting the timing is linked to many of the other political and legal woes plaguing Netanyahu.
"It would begger belief to imagine that this attack was not largely motivated by the prime minister's personal, political, and legal considerations," he said. "How can you launch an attack in the very hours after informing the head of the Shin Bet that he has been fired, when you've already announced that within days, you also intend to fire the attorney-general?"
Freilich noted that his analysis of the matter may be controversial, but that he is supported by the facts.
"Now some some of our listeners may be unhappy with this analysis," he said. "They may take umbrage with this kind of analysis, but I really think it requires a willful blindness to ignore the reality that we've been in actually for the last five or six years, now that we had five rounds of elections in four years, because the prime minister wants to remain prime minister at all costs, and considerations of what's good for Israel do not seem to be his primary motivation."
He continued, "We're in the midst of this military operation. Soldiers are risking their lives, hostages may have been killed, and we're playing a game of truly contemptible politics."
Ronen Bar: A hero of Israel who blew it
Freilich further discussed the firing of Ronen Bar, criticizing the decision, despite the Shin Bet's self-admitted responsibility for allowing the October 7 massacre to occur.
"If you want to say - which is true - that [Bar] was one of the people who bear responsibility for the catastrophe of October 7, that's true," Freilich said. "Unlike the prime minister, he immediately took responsibility and announced that he will step down as soon as the hostages are released and the government adopts a decision to establish a commission of inquiry. Now, you can make the case that it isn't [the job[ for the head of the Shin Bet to set conditions for his own stepping down, but here is a man who's always a hero of Israel. We all, as people, owe him a great debt, and also he blew it."