Tonight, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu fired back at a New York Times Magazine report titled “How Netanyahu Prolonged the War in Gaza to Stay in Power,” calling it baseless and a smear campaign against Israel and its leadership.
“The NYT article of July 11, 2025 rehashes long discredited claims of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s political opponents,” Netanyahu’s office stated. “It defames Israel, its brave people and soldiers, and its Prime Minister.”
The statement went on to credit Netanyahu’s wartime decisions with orchestrating one of Israel’s most dramatic military turnarounds.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s leadership brought about the covert detonation of Hezbollah pagers, the destruction of its missile stockpiles, the destruction of Assad’s armaments, the elimination of Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist chiefs and above all the decisive action against the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile programs aimed at annihilating Israel,” the statement said.
Directly challenging the narrative of the article, Netanyahu’s office argued that he was far from a passive player in the war.
“Contrary to the article’s claims, Prime Minister Netanyahu was not a passive bystander in these achievements but led them forcefully, often against strong reservations from senior security officials who urged him to capitulate to Hamas’s dictates and prematurely end the war. Had he done so, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and Iran’s nuclear and missile programs would all still be intact today.”
The Prime Minister’s office also took aim at the sources cited in the article, asserting that their motivations were political and their judgment flawed.
“Those senior officials, whose anonymous politically motivated supporters are widely quoted throughout the article, have since been replaced. The most senior among them said at the beginning of the war that Israel is unlikely to see any of the hostages alive.”
The statement then highlighted Netanyahu’s efforts to rescue hostages, pointing to significant progress made under his strategy.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu disagreed. His policy of applying military and diplomatic pressure on Hamas has so far secured the return of 205 hostages out of a total of 255. Prime Minister Netanyahu is committed to return them all.”
The Prime Minister’s office also disputed the article’s assertion that Netanyahu turned down a serious ceasefire agreement.
“Contrary to the article’s claims, there was no viable deal last year that Prime Minister Netanyahu turned down. Hamas continued to insist that Israel leave Gaza, enabling Hamas to regroup, rearm and threaten Israel’s security again and again.”
It added that Netanyahu’s rejection of such terms had nothing to do with political preservation and everything to do with national security.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s refusal to accept these impossible conditions, against the advice of senior officials, was based on a disagreement on policy and not on coalition considerations. When the Prime Minister achieved hostage release deals he deemed acceptable, he pushed them through even when his coalition partners voted against them and bolted the government.”
The statement concluded with a strong defense of Netanyahu’s motivations and legacy.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu was never concerned with his political survival, but with his country’s survival. He is carrying out his life’s mission: securing the future of the one and only Jewish state.”
The New York Times Magazine report, which was released earlier in the day, accused Netanyahu of deliberately extending the Gaza conflict to remain in power. Citing more than 110 interviews with senior Israeli and international officials, the article alleged that in April 2024, a six-week truce proposal was available but was ultimately shelved. According to the article, Netanyahu allegedly told his team to keep the plan quiet during a key security cabinet meeting, suggesting that political calculus outweighed peace prospects.
{Matzav.com Israel}