Former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Chalutz made a bold statement during a left-wing protest, asserting that the greatest threat to the State of Israel doesn’t come from terrorist organizations but from certain government ministers.

“The State of Israel is fighting its war against the existential, internal threat to the Zionist enterprise,” Chalutz declared while speaking at a rally in Caesarea on Motzoei Shabbos.

“It is not Hamas, not Hezbollah, not the Houthis, not Iran, but rather [Itamar] Ben Gvir, [Bezalel] Smotrich, and Yariv Levin who are the threat to a strong Israel.”

Chalutz, a consistent critic of the current government, has actively participated in numerous anti-government protests. In late September, he was among the demonstrators who blocked a road during a protest. Police had to remove him by force.

In March, Chalutz openly criticized Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in the context of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

“He is responsible. I don’t know a country in the world where a Prime Minister, after something like this, would not climb the tallest tower and jump off of it. There is no such thing,” the former Chief of Staff said in an interview with Channel 13 News.

Chalutz further accused Netanyahu of failing to acknowledge the atrocities of October 7. “In Netanyahu’s calendar, there is no seventh of October. This man doesn’t fight, we are going from bad to worse under his leadership.”

Dan Chalutz is also remembered for an incident in 2006, when he was chief of staff of the Israeli military. He left a cabinet meeting to contact his bank and sell an NIS 120,000 investment portfolio just hours after two IDF soldiers were kidnapped by Hezbollah at the northern border. Later that day, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared war on Hezbollah, and Israeli forces began bombing targets in Lebanon. As Haaretz reported, “as the country’s political and military echelons urgently met to discuss the possible declaration of war, Chalutz went at 12.00 P.M. on July 12 to sell an investment portfolio.”

{Matzav.com Israel}