Minister Eliyahu: "Eisenkot reduced the army – and we are paying with the lives of our children"

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu attacked Gadi Eisenkot and Mansour Abbas in an interview, rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state, and claimed that political concessions led to disaster. Eliyahu accused Eisenkot of reducing the army during his tenure as Chief of Staff, saying "we are paying with the lives of our children." He called for not cooperating with those who want to establish a Palestinian state, defining it as "complete insanity."

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu attacked Gadi Eisenkot and Mansour Abbas in an interview with Radio North 104.5FM, and firmly rejected any possibility of establishing a Palestinian state. Eliyahu said "there is no such thing as a Palestinian nation" and that the Otzma Yehudit party will not support such a move, which he called "complete insanity." He claimed that the events of October 7 proved there is no room for political concessions, and that the Oslo Accords led to "exploding buses and the massacre of Jews." Eliyahu directed harsh criticism at Eisenkot, accusing him of reducing the army and collecting weapons from emergency squads during his tenure as Chief of Staff, with the result being "we are paying with the lives of our children." He called for not sitting in a coalition with those who undermine the existence of the State of Israel, and questioned Eisenkot's commitment not to establish a Palestinian state. Eliyahu described the approach supporting concessions as "delusional messianism" that brought about the massacre.