On an overpass in Tel Aviv, former spy Gonen Ben Itzhak addresses a small crowd of flag-waving protesters who are concerned about Israel’s future under Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister. Motorists honk enthusiastically at the group as they pass by, and a man on a scooter passing below yells “Traitor!”
Ben Itzhak, a former Shin Bet intelligence agent, once employed the son of a Hamas co-founder as an informant to prevent attacks on the occupied West Bank.
Now he is leading street protests against Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition government.
“Netanyahu is indeed the biggest threat to Israel and believe me, I arrested some of the biggest terrorists during the second intifada,” the 53-year-old told AFP at his home in Modiin, referring to the 2000-2005 Palestinian uprising.
“I know what a terrorist is. I think Netanyahu is leading Israel to destruction.”
He cited Netanyahu’s recent tensions with U.S. President Joe Biden — he accused Biden of delaying U.S. weapons supplies for Israel’s Gaza war — as an example of why many believe the Israeli leader must go.
“Biden is Israel’s biggest supporter … and Netanyahu spit in his face,” Ben Itzhak said.
“He’s destroying a vitally important relationship with the United States.”
‘The Green Prince’
Ben Itzhak – who joined the security services after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in the 1990s – has become a leading figure in the protests against Netanyahu.
He is part of the “Crime Minister” movement and once came in front of the Prime Minister’s convoy during an anti-corruption protest in 2018.
He was eventually caught by the same security service he once worked for.
Despite the war, prosecutors are still pursuing a corruption trial against Netanyahu, and some protesters have tried to break through police lines to reach his home.
Years before his own protests, Ben Itzhak was the handler of Mosab Hassan Youssef, known as the “Green Prince” and the eldest descendant of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Youssef.
He worked with his Hamas ally to pursue Palestinian militants and thwart suicide missions, including the arrest of jailed Fatah chief Marwan Barghouti.
The former spy believes that the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel could have been prevented thanks to reporting of the plan by a double agent like Youssef, and that the country’s security elite had underestimated Hamas.
“You need someone old enough to call you and tell you if something is wrong. And it seems like we didn’t have that,” he said.
“We think our enemy is stupid. In the end, Hamas turned out to be smarter. It’s very hard to say.”
Ben Itzhak believes the time has come to “change the equation” in Gaza — to end the war and garner international support to hand power to Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority.
‘Everything is explosive’
“The army rules the West Bank and Gaza. Enough is enough. We have to find a solution,” he said.
Ben Itzhak accused Netanyahu of encouraging Hamas and trying to sabotage the peace process so he can remain in power.
“Netanyahu only thinks about himself, his criminal problems and his political survival in Israel,” he said.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied the corruption charges, and on Monday reiterated that the Israeli military would destroy Hamas.
“We will not end the war (in Gaza) until we destroy Hamas and allow the residents of the south and north to return safely to their homes,” he told parliament.
The former agent also claims the Israeli leader has allowed ultra-nationalist Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to use the police as his “militia” to disrupt weekly anti-government protests in Tel Aviv.
They have questioned Netanyahu’s allegiance to the leader of the right-wing Jewish Power party, who was at one point barred from entering the Israeli military and investigated for extremism by the country’s security services.
He said, “God did not help us on October 7, just as he did not help us at Auschwitz.”
Ben Itzhak said he himself jumped in front of a water cannon to protect protesters from escalating police brutality, leading to his conviction, which was overturned in March.
He said, “Today Israel is destroyed from within. He (Netanyahu) is destroying everything.”
Ben Itzhak says the more Netanyahu caves to his ultra-nationalist allies, the more vulnerable Israel’s security will be. He claims they are also taking control of the army and prison service.
“Everything is explosive now,” he said.
“I would tell Netanyahu … to resign. That would be the greatest help you can give to the Israeli people.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
