Thread by @Marianhouk

The real reason Netanyahu kept Gantz + Ashkenazi – two former IDF chiefs of staff – completely in the dark on UAE deal: Netanyahu then gave an interview saying he intentionally did not tell them b/c he didn’t trust them, they would have leaked the news... jpost.com/opinion/the-di…

"The inherent problems with this behavior are vast", Yaakov Katz writes..."Ashkenazi + Gantz..have literally
held Israel’s greatest secrets in their hands..
Ashkenazi was chief of staff in 2007 when Israel..
destroyed a nuclear reactor under construction in northeastern Syria...

"Gantz was a member of the General Staff at the time... And who was the first Israeli official to go on television and openly talk about the operation, confirming that Israel had attacked Syria? The head of the opposition in 2007. Benjamin Netanyahu"...

"GETTING BACK to the process: in a normal country where the system actually functions, a historic + important deal of this kind wld have been discussed among the govt’s senior leadership. Netanyahu wld have had a meeting w/ his def min, FM, IDF chief of staff + air force commandr

The PM wld have "informed them it was likely the UAE – which has asked repeatedly in recent years to purchase F-35 fighter jets – would receive US approval to purchase the advanced aircraft following the deal.
Netanyahu [should have then..asked] to hear
everyone’s opinion...

But, Yaakov Katz writes:

"We had none of that.

At the security cabinet meeting on Wednesday,
Netanyahu was asked by some of the ministers
whether the UAE deal included the sale of F-35s.
Netanyahu had a prepared printed answer...

June 2: national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat
spoke with IAF chief Amikam Norkin to hear his opinion on a potential F-35 sale;
July 7: Netanyahu said he personally voiced his opposition in a meeting with @USAmbIsrael David Friedman;
July 8: Netanyahu said he sent a letter

"...making that same point [i.e., voicing opposition]
to @SecPompeo;
July 29 he [Netanyahu] updated Gantz;
August 3: Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer
met with Pompeo + reiterated Israel’s position"
[which Netanyahu described as opposition to the F-35 deal].

"Unfortunately, this isn't how things really went down.
It is true Ben-Shabbat called Norkin to get his opinion
on an F-35 sale to an Arab country, but didn't mention
the UAE [nor that a deal] was forthcoming. It was such
a random call Norkin didn't update the CoS or def min.

"At Netanyahu’s own meeting at the end of July
with Gantz – one of the last meetings the two have held over the last few weeks.. – the two PMs spoke about
a few dozen topics. At one point Netanyahu asked Gantz what he thought about a future sale of F-35s to
an Arab country...

"...and Gantz said he didn’t think it was a good idea. Netanyahu said nothing about the imminent peace deal, or that the Arab country was the UAE..

"Officials who were later briefed on what happened
in the meeting said Netanyahu’s explanation sounded
like someone on the defensive, someone who had
prepared his case in advance... so the person speaking
can be protected one day in case there is an investigation".

Here’s the thing...there might not even have been opposition to the deal had this been done in a normal
and correct way...former IDF generals have weighed in
on what the delivery of F-35s to the UAE means for Israel + opinions vary...

"...Some believe Israel will be fine; others think Israel
needs to try to stop such a sale. But believing that Israel can simply stop a transaction of F-35s shows a misunderstanding of the way arms sales work
in the US...

...By law, the Defense Dept is required to ensure
that weapons sales to Mideast nations comport w/ an American guarantee of Israel’s...Qualitative Military Edge [QME]...Israel can object, it can lobby the administration and even appeal to representatives + senators, but...

"...ultimately, if America wants to sell their weapons,
it will happen."

"Netanyahu easily cld've explained to Israelis – when announcing the deal – that the UAE wld likely receive permission in the coming yrs to purchase advanced weapons from the US. Abu Dhabi doesn’t just want F-35s.
It's interested in attack drones, cyber weapons + missile defense

"Truthfully, there was no reason to hide it...
The Saudis already fly F-15s, and the UAE has some
of the most advanced F-16s in the world. That the UAE
will now be able to buy more US weapons actually makes sense...

"...Simply put: when a country makes peace with Israel,
it moves from the bad club to the good club, and
when you are in the good club you enjoy the perks":
per Yaakov Katz...

"THE PROBLEM is that Netanyahu didn’t tell the full story. Instead, he preferred to boast how he makes 'peace
for peace' deals, not 'peace for land' deals like the Left.
He tried to present Israelis with a mirage – as if
this deal happened just because he is strong...

and by consequence, Israel is strong.
But this was not true. It was fake, and now...Israelis
are busy arguing who fooled whom, who cheated whom, whether it was right for Netanyahu to keep Gantz in the dark, and whether Israel will fight a sale of F-35s to its new peace partner..

"None of this should come as a surprise though.
Anyone following this government knows that the different sides despise one another. Netanyahu+Gantz
can barely stand being in the same room together,
some parts of the Netanyahu camp believe that
[even having Gantz in this govt]

"...has only brought the prime minister + his family
bad luck. This is the camp that wants him to let
the Knesset disperse on Monday night...

"In the midst of all of this is Netanyahu, who feels like
he has to try one more time to get a right-wing majority before his trial kicks into high gear in five months...

"Dispersing the Knesset now and holding an election
in November might be his [Netanyahu's] last chance
to avoid having to sit three days a week in a courtroom come January."

And, Yaakov Katz continues,
"No one can still think that the political crisis this week
was about a disagreement over the length of the budget, be it one year or two. Even Likudniks can’t hide that what is really at play is Netanyahu trying to obtain more influence...

"...more influence over the appointment of a new police chief, a new attorney general and a new state attorney. This has nothing to do with the people. It is all about
him and him only."

"In a system of government like Israel’s, decisions of these kind [the UAE deal + a subsequent US sale of F-35s to the UAE] are made by the coalition, not by a single individual. Netanyahu, of course, does not see it this way...

"and he [Netanyahu] has systematically tried since 2015
to rid the country of all checks + balances...[and] push everyone out of the way so he can decide on his own
and rule on his own": by Yaakov Katz =
jpost.com/opinion/the-di…