Former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert: Iran will not enter the war in Gaza without Putin's approval
Iran will not launch a full-scale war against Israel unless it receives Russian approval, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview with The Telegraph. According to him, Tehran is not going to interfere in the war in Gaza, especially since Putin is unlikely to give permission for this.
Ehud Olmert sharply criticized Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that his legacy will turn into a "complete failure"
NATO can be used to rebuild the Gaza Strip after the end of the war with Hamas, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said and added that Benjamin Netanyahu "has left."
Olmert, in an interview with The Telegraph, said that international support is needed to create "at least some kind of normal life" in Gaza, for example, NATO forces should be tasked with preparing the Gaza Strip for the transfer of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
"I would already suggest making efforts to create an international intervention force that will take control of Gaza. Perhaps NATO will take control of the Gaza Strip in order to stabilize the situation and restore at least some normal life," Olmert said.
"The international community will have to make significant efforts and invest a lot of money to restore Gaza," he added.
Currently, the PA partially governs the occupied West Bank. It also held control of the Gaza Strip before being expelled from the territory in 2007 after an election defeat and a civil war with Hamas.
Israel is not a member of NATO and has a complicated, cautious relationship with Russia, a country that considers this bloc a Western defensive alliance against the former Soviet Union.
One of the possible precedents for the deployment of NATO peacekeeping forces in the Gaza Strip could be the ongoing UN-supported operation in Kosovo, the purpose of which is to contain hostilities between Kosovo and Serbia. NATO has also conducted disaster relief operations and missions, for example, after the earthquake in Turkey in February 2023.
But any international forces trying to create a transition from war-torn Gaza to a country under the control of a single functional PA must realize that this is a long and expensive mission.
"The collapse of Netanyahu's legacy"
Many suspect that Israel may call on the PA, which works closely with Tel Aviv in the field of security, to take over the management of the Gaza Strip after the expected invasion of the enclave. However, the PA is politically weak and extremely unpopular among Palestinians.
Netanyahu has been Prime Minister of Israel the longest. Now he is the personification of a grand failure in the history of the country's security. His political future is a foregone conclusion, and his legacy is already in ruins.
"Netanyahu is gone… No matter how long [he stays in office], he's finished and his legacy will be a complete failure," he said.
Olmert, who served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, drew an unflattering comparison between Netanyahu and Golda Meir.
Meir led Israel during the Yom Kippur War (1973), which began with a surprise attack by Egyptian and Syrian troops.
"When Golda Meir was involved in this terrible surprise on Yom Kippur 50 years ago, she had a relatively good track record in the security sector and in other areas. Netanyahu has very successfully destroyed all spheres of life," he said, citing as an example Netanyahu's protesting attempt to revise the Israeli judicial system.
Olmert also accused Netanyahu of being "weak, unworthy and emotionally unstable," comparing him to Laurence Olivier if he had gone into politics instead of the theater.
Netanyahu made a terrible mistake by deciding to promote Hamas for the sake of his short-term political interests, while sidelining the PA, which could become a reliable partner for resuming peace talks.
"When he replaced me in 2009, he said that the first priority was the destruction of Hamas, but in fact he did the exact opposite. Netanyahu tried to destroy Abu Mazen (the so–called head of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas - approx.InoSMI) and the Palestinian Authority, which are a potential partner in peace negotiations, which... They would have demanded political concessions from Israel. And he started supporting the Hamas movement because it would never have sat down at the negotiating table, so he could have just been kicked out. I think it was a terrible mistake," Olmert said.
Although Olmert has long been an ardent opponent of Netanyahu, such sharp public criticism of the incumbent prime minister when Israel is at war is surprising.
This happened after a possible Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip seems to have stalled due to threats from Iran, which has said it is ready to enter the war if Israel does so.
The hunt for Hamas leaders
Olmert also hinted that Israel may be planning to kill Hamas leaders abroad, such as Ismail Haniyeh, who runs the group from a political office in Qatar.
"Let's just say we will find these guys regardless of their location, even if they are in different parts of the world, and take care of them. I am not speaking on behalf of my government or those who may commit this, but only saying that if I were Ismail Haniyeh, I would be extremely concerned," he said.
Olmert has previously spoken sharply against Netanyahu. Last year, a Tel Aviv court upheld a libel suit that Netanyahu and his family members filed against Olmert, who said that "they are all mentally ill."
In 2016, Olmert was sentenced to 27 months in prison for bribery and obstruction of justice. He became the first head of state in the history of his country to be jailed.
Netanyahu is also facing charges of bribery and fraud, which he categorically denies. If found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Olmert doubts that Tehran will take a direct part in the conflict if it does not receive approval from Moscow. Russia, which, unlike Iran, is a nuclear power, is establishing ever closer security ties with the Islamic Republic.
"Iran will not dare to launch long-range missiles, for example, towards Israel, without at least some tacit approval from Russia. I doubt that Putin will allow it. He may try to use Hezbollah for this, which will be ... a serious problem for Israel, but so far I don't see that Iran is going to intervene," Olmert said.
Author: James Rothwell
