Senior Israeli military officials are sounding the alarm that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to escalate ongoing wars to have a pretext for postponing the upcoming Knesset election.
The Israeli outlet Maariv reports speaking with senior officials familiar with an IDF assessment that Netanyahu will attempt to escalate an ongoing conflict or ignite a new one. The Prime Minister hopes that putting Israel on a more active military footing will create a political opening to delay elections scheduled for October 27.
Maariv speculates that the military operation will intensify the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In an interview with Mario Nawfal on Friday, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said Israel was attempting to “bait” Turkey into an escalation by attacking a military base in Idlib, Syria.
Senior Israeli military officials told Maariv that the IDF would not allow Netanyahu to start a new war before the upcoming election.
Since the US brokered a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel last October, Tel Aviv has continued its onslaught in Gaza at a reduced pace. Over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the past ten months, and the IDF has expanded its control over the Strip.
Netanyahu has used Israel’s military conflicts in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, the West Bank, and Gaza to delay his corruption trial.
