ALBAWABA - According of Al Jazeera, former senior Israeli military officials have slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for blocking a prisoner exchange arrangement with Hamas that may calm northern front tensions.
Former Southern Corps commander Yitzhak Brick called the Philadelphi Route, a border passage between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, "the most significant deception since the founding of Israel," noting that it has no military importance. Brick reported a private conversation with Netanyahu in which the Prime Minister reportedly doubted the passage could be secured due to Hamas threats. Netanyahu said Israel had asked Egypt to manage the crossing, but Cairo rejected, leaving Israel with no option.
Brick stressed that Israel must choose between freeing its captives or controlling the Philadelphi Route. He cautioned that Netanyahu's insistence on retaining the corridor under Israeli control is undermining discussions by misrepresenting it as a strategic necessity.
Al Jazeera also quoted former Northern Corps commander Noam Tibon, who urged Israeli security chiefs to stop Netanyahu from derailing discussions. Tibon called the discussions the final chance to save the inmates' lives and asked for openness, proposing that security personnel could expose Netanyahu if he refuses the arrangement.
Former IDF Operations Directorate chief Israel Ziv said that repairing Israel's northern front involves first settling the Gaza crisis. He called Netanyahu's focus on the Philadelphi Route an impediment to peace and said a prisoner swap arrangement is needed to calm southern tensions.
Al Jazeera reports that Netanyahu accepted to the American plan, which says Israel would withdraw from the Philadelphi Route in the second phase of a prospective deal. Hamas and Egypt complain that this idea favors Israel.
Haaretz journalist Josh Breiner told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu is more concerned with keeping political support from hardliners like National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir than releasing Hamas-held Israeli captives. A prisoner swap arrangement might destabilize Netanyahu's administration, Breiner said, since it would imply a compromise that would alienate his political base.
