PM accused of tightly controlling narrative as rift with Washington grows
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly prevented the country’s top intelligence and security officials from briefing their American counterparts and lawmakers about the latest war in Gaza, multiple U.S. and Israeli sources told Axios.
The sources say Netanyahu’s moves appear aimed at tightly controlling the flow of information and messaging surrounding Israel’s military campaign as tensions escalate between his government and the Biden administration over the conflict’s rapidly mounting civilian death toll.
According to three officials cited in the Axios report, Netanyahu most recently barred the directors of the Mossad spy agency and the Shin Bet domestic security service from holding a briefing with U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) nearly three weeks ago. The briefing would have provided Rubio and his staff an opportunity to receive an unfiltered look at the intelligence underpinning Israel’s operations in Gaza from the officials directly overseeing them on the ground.
While the Prime Minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment, the revelations have sparked outrage among Palestinians and human rights advocates who accuse Netanyahu of attempting to conceal the full scale of civilian harm and suffering in Gaza. The besieged territory has endured weeks of intense Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages as part of the campaign against Hamas militants.
“Netanyahu has made it abundantly clear – through his actions, not just his words – that he could not care less about the truth or the thousands of Palestinian civilians being killed, maimed and made homeless by his criminal assault on Gaza,” said Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian legislator and activist based in Ramallah.
“Now he’s gagging his own security establishment to maintain an approved fiction for Western audiences that paints Israel’s aggression as somehow just and moral,” Barghouti added. “This secrecy is a tacit admission of guilt – no leader with clean hands would be so obsessed with controlling the narrative.”
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the revelations in the Axios report. A spokesperson for Rubio declined to confirm details of the alleged meeting.
A Deepening Rift
Netanyahu’s attempts to restrict direct communications between Israeli security chiefs and U.S. officials appear to stem from a deepening rift over the prosecution of the Gaza war, which has killed over 200 Palestinians – the vast majority believed to be civilians. Just 10 Israelis have died in retaliatory rocket fire from Hamas, according to the United Nations.
The lopsided death toll has prompted harsh criticism from the administration of President Joe Biden, which has repeatedly denounced the IDF‘s tactics as disproportionate and potentially constituting war crimes. Multiple diplomatic efforts by the U.S. to broker a ceasefire have so far floundered in the face of Israeli resistance.
Biden himself delivered his most forceful rebuke yet of Netanyahu on Wednesday, declaring there is “no shift” in his commitment to protecting Israeli security but that the current path of violence is only hardening extremists on both sides.
“I expect a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire,” Biden warned.
While the Prime Minister has repeatedly defended Israel’s “indisputable right” to neutralize the Hamas rocket threat through force, there are signs his hardline strategy is fraying amid vocal dissent within his own security cabinet and ruling coalition.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz, a former IDF chief, broke ranks with Netanyahu earlier this week by endorsing international efforts to pursue a ceasefire accord with Hamas. He cited Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation and the devastating humanitarian toll being inflicted on Gaza’s civilian population.
“The political leadership must show its responsibility and lead a military operation according to the diplomatic circumstances, which change from day to day and hour to hour,” Gantz said in a television interview.
By keeping a tight leash on communications between Israeli security brass and U.S. lawmakers and officials, analysts believe Netanyahu hopes to stifle any airing of dissenting views that could further undermine his determination to prolong the Gaza operation.
“Netanyahu is right to fear that freeing his own intelligence and military advisors to provide unfettered assessments could blow up his entire narrative in an instant,” said Khaled Elgindy, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. “Israel has already lost credibility with much of the international community over the civilian bloodshed – and he doesn’t want those closest to the fight in Gaza defecting from his single-minded crusade next.”
The alleged gagging of Israeli spy chiefs also coincides with what many see as Netanyahu’s broader attempts to consolidate power and muzzle domestic critics during the Gaza crisis. His security cabinet was forced to suspend a vote on Wednesday night that could have authorized plans for an audacious ground invasion of Gaza after disagreements fractured the coalition.
As the death toll continues climbing and domestic opposition grows, Netanyahu may face dwindling room to keep up his unrestrained prosecution of a war effort that has so far failed to meaningfully degrade Hamas’ capabilities or achieve any concessions at the negotiating table.
“For a leader rapidly losing control of the situation he created, crushing all internal and external dissent appears to be his sole remaining priority,” Barghouti said. “He is clearly more concerned with preserving his own power than preserving the lives of innocent men, women and children who keep dying by Israeli hands.”
