In a sign of fraying tensions amid nearly a year of hostilities on Israel’s northern border, most northern regional council leaders did not attend a Monday security briefing Monday by the head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Northern Command.
Out of 89 city, municipal and regional council leaders, only six attended the briefing: Metula Council head David Azulay, and the leaders of Kfar Vradim, Ma’alot, Yesod HaMa’ala, Metula, Katzrin and the Golan Heights. Of these, Azoulay was the sole representative from one of the many northern communities to have been evacuated due to Hezbollah’s ongoing attacks.
At the briefing, which took place in Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin’s office at Northern Command in Safed, Gordin updated the municipal leaders on Israel’s preemptive strike against Hezbollah the day before.
“The IDF is engaged in a campaign aimed at changing the security reality on the border, so that northern residents can return to their homes and maintain their routines, with security and a sense of security,” said Gordin, according to Ynet.
However, many of the council heads aren’t convinced.
“I received a warning a little before the [Israeli Air Force] strikes started, and I said to myself, it took 11 months but it’s finally happening—at the end of this event, the security situation will be far better than it is today,” Upper Galilee Regional Council Head Giora Zaltz told JNS.
“We activated all the officials on the council, and we told them it would take a few days of fighting but the situation would change,” he continued. “In the end, it was a significant and important military operation, but even if the data provided about the elimination of 6,000 missiles is correct—this is less than 3% of what [Hezbollah] had at the beginning of the war,” he siad. “So it has no real meaning in terms of the long-term impact. We essentially woke up to the same place that we were the day before.”
Asher Regional Council Head Moshe Davidovich announced he would no longer take part in any such meetings with Gordin.
Such meetings, he said, “are essentially intended to praise and glorify the IDF’s activities in Lebanon, and I, as a citizen and as a municipal leader, when I saw what was happening, I decided that I don’t want to participate in this celebration.” Davidovich reportedly left a WhatsApp group for northern municipal leaders and senior IDF officials, saying, “I don’t have time for another @#!% group.”
Other leaders, however, were more reserved in their criticism. Shlomi Council Head Gabi Naaman, who did not attend the meeting, explained that he had apologized in advance that he would not be able to participate. Regarding Davidovich’s comments, Naaman said, “He doesn’t represent us.”
“When the general asks, we drop everything and go,” said Naaman, though he added that he, too, has criticisms of the way the government and military have conducted the war.
Many of the leaders feel overlooked, and have complained that the IDF steps in to respond when rockets are aimed at the center of the country, but has done little to nothing to prevent rockets from being fired daily at the north of Israel.
“My position is that there cannot be any difference between the Golan or Metula and Tel Aviv,” Golan Regional Council head Ori Kalner told JNS. “When Hezbollah is attacking Metula and the Golan, one should act as if a missile had fallen on Tel Aviv. There is no doubt that in recent months Israel has been saying we are ready to absorb some of the [attacks from Lebanon]. And I say—we are not ready to accept it. Israel must attack.”
Monday wasn’t the first time Gordin has clashed with municipal leaders. Ynet reported in June that in a similar meeting, Gordin clashed with Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avichai Stern, who stormed out. Since then, Stern has not attended any meetings with the general, although the two have seemingly reconciled through the mediation of Interior Minister Moshe Arbel.
“The Northern Command sees great importance in the connection with the heads of the authorities and sees them as an integral part of managing the war,” according to a statement by the IDF Spokesperson following Monday’s meeting. “The Northern Command maintains constant contact and frequent situation assessments together with the local authorities to enable functional continuity according to the updated situation assessment,” the statement continued.
