Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday that “continuing and expanding the war (in Gaza) only serves the personal interests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.” Olmert added in an interview with “Independent Arabia” that Netanyahu and hardline ministers like National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich want “one thing: fighting and destruction in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, re-occupying the Gaza Strip, expelling the Palestinians, and handing it over to settlers,” stressing, “We are doing everything we can to thwart these plans because they will lead to a historic disaster.” He noted that “what is happening now is not necessary after the fall of many Israeli soldiers and perhaps more than 60,000 Palestinians,” adding, “What is needed now is to end the violence and bring back the hostages from Gaza, and the only way to do that is to end the war, not expand it.” Olmert continued that “the war should have stopped last March,” accusing Netanyahu of withdrawing from the ceasefire agreement at that time instead of entering negotiations to release the remaining Israeli hostages and end the war.

Regarding the day after in Gaza, he pointed to “no Israeli vision except the vision of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, based on re-occupation, expulsion of Palestinians, and settlement in the Strip.” He acknowledged that the Israeli army committed “war crimes” in Gaza but said they were “mere mistakes caused by negligence or lack of self-control, not policy.” Olmert considered that former U.S. President Donald Trump is “the only one capable of pressuring Netanyahu to stop the war.” He described Trump as “Netanyahu’s only friend, although current U.S. President Joe Biden is a great friend of Israel, he may not have been a friend to Netanyahu.”