Former Israeli security officials call on Trump to end Gaza war
Jerusalem: US President Donald Trump has been encouraged by hundreds of senior Israeli security personnel, including former intelligence chiefs, to put pressure on their own government to put a stop to the conflict in Gaza.
In an open letter sent to the public on Monday, the former officials said, “It is our professional judgment that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel.”
According to Ami Ayalon, the former head of the Shin Bet secret agency, “this war was a just war at first, a defensive war, but when we achieved all military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war.”
In a video posted with the letter, Ayalon warned that the conflict, which is approaching its 23rd month, “is leading the State of Israel to lose its security and identity.”
The petition, which was signed by 550 individuals, including former Shin Bet and Mossad intelligence heads, urged Trump to “steer” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toward a truce.
In response to the devastating October 7, 2023, assault by the Palestinian organization Hamas, Israel began a military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
International pressure has mounted on Israel in recent weeks to reach a ceasefire agreement that would allow UN agencies to deliver humanitarian assistance and free Israeli detainees from Gaza.
However, other Israelis, including ministers in Netanyahu’s coalition administration, are advocating for Israeli soldiers to advance and for the full or partial occupation of Gaza.
Three former Mossad leaders—Tamir Pardo, Efraim Halevy, and Danny Yatom—signed the letter.
Other signatories include three former military chiefs of staff, including former prime minister Ehud Barak, former defense minister Moshe Yaalon, and Dan Halutz, as well as five former Shin Bet leaders, including Ayalon, Nadav Argaman, Yoram Cohen, Yaakov Peri, and Carmi Gilon.
The Israeli military, according to the letter, “has long accomplished the two objectives that could be achieved by force: dismantling Hamas’s military formations and governance.”
“The third, and most important, can only be achieved through a deal: bringing all the hostages home,” it said.
“Chasing remaining senior Hamas operatives can be done later,” the letter said.
The former officials inform Trump in the letter that he can exert pressure on Netanyahu to halt the conflict and release the captives because he is credible in the eyes of most Israelis.
The signatories believe that Trump might pressure a regional alliance to back a reconstituted Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza instead of Hamas after a truce.