Jerusalem, 27 August, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday following Israeli media reports that Netanyahu had maintained a secret channel to Hamas during the 2014 Gaza war.
Eisenkot, who was Israel Defense Forces deputy chief of staff during the war, accused Netanyahu of pursuing a policy of “containing” Hamas and said the reports highlighted what he described as the prime minister’s role in shaping Israel’s policy toward the terrorist group.
Yashar Party leader Gadi Eisenkot at a press conference in Tel Aviv on May 5, 2026. Photo by Yossi Zeliger/TPS-IL
“On stage, he speaks about the decision, and behind the scenes, he sends associates to speak directly with the senior leaders of the terrorist organization in order to promote a policy of containment,” Eisenkot wrote on X.
The reports concern events during the 2014 war and do not indicate that Netanyahu currently maintains a direct channel with Hamas.
According to the reports, Israeli businessman Shlomi Fogel, an associate of Netanyahu, communicated directly with senior Hamas official Razi Hamed in Gaza during the war. The contacts reportedly took place while senior Israeli security officials were conducting separate ceasefire negotiations with Hamas through Egyptian mediators.
The 2014 Gaza war followed the June 2014 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers and a subsequent escalation in rocket fire from Gaza.
The reported backchannel was allegedly unknown to senior Israeli defense and intelligence officials, including then-Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and then-Mossad director Tamir Pardo. According to the reports, a defense establishment official questioned Fogel and asked him to halt the contacts. Fogel later said he was acting with Netanyahu’s authorization and that messages came through then-National Security Council chief Yossi Cohen.
The reported contacts were separate from later communications between Israel and Hamas involving Yahya Sinwar, which were conducted through Egyptian intermediaries.
“For the umpteenth time, we are exposed to the failures of the Netanyahu government, and his significant role in shaping the concept against Hamas,” Eisenkot wrote.
“With one hand, he sends the senior leaders of the defense establishment to negotiations, and with the other, he extracts critical information from them,” he added. “Disorder, lies, and tactics of divide and rule as a management method. We all know the results of this method well.”
Eisenkot also criticized Netanyahu’s advisers over their conduct during the current war, accusing them of driving a wedge between senior defense officials and spreading what he called “spin and lies” in the media.
“These are the same advisers who are suspected of providing services to the state that funded Hamas,” Eisenkot wrote, referring to Qatar, which has provided extensive financial assistance to Gaza and maintained relations with Hamas.
Recent public opinion polls show Yashar leading Netanyahu’s Likud in votes, but Eisenkot’s bloc would still fall short of a Knesset majority. The election is scheduled for October 27.