'Criminal gang headed by Netanyahu committing war crimes in Gaza': Israel former PM Ehud Olmert

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has issued a scathing denunciation of his country's ongoing military campaign in Gaza, declaring it a "war of devastation" that he now believes constitutes war crimes. Writing in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Olmert – who served as Israel’s 12th prime minister from 2006 to 2009 – condemned the Netanyahu government for pursuing a war "without purpose, without goals or clear planning, and with no chances of success."

 

Olmert wrote that while he had consistently defended Israel against accusations of genocide and war crimes, he could no longer stand by such assertions. "What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation: indiscriminate, limitless, cruel and criminal killing of civilians. It’s the result of government policy – knowingly, evilly, maliciously, irresponsibly dictated,” he said.

 

The former premier, who was convicted in 2015 on corruption charges and served time in prison, lambasted Netanyahu’s leadership and described the current war as a "private political war" that has transformed Gaza into a humanitarian catastrophe. "Never since its establishment has the State of Israel waged such a war," he wrote. "The criminal gang headed by Benjamin Netanyahu has set a precedent without equal in Israel’s history."

 

Olmert, once a prominent member of the right-wing Likud party – the same political bloc as Netanyahu – decried the scale of Palestinian suffering. He described the rising death toll as “monstrous”, saying recent operations in Gaza had “nothing to do with legitimate war goals”. Instead, he argued, they reflected a ruthless and calculated government policy aimed at exacting collective punishment.

 

He accused Netanyahu and his allies of using antisemitism as a smokescreen to deflect international criticism. "The Netanyahu government’s chorus of thugs and the poison machine it operates will immediately leap up with characteristic shrieks of rapprochement: The gentiles are anti-Semites. They hate us. They have always been against us. They support terrorism — and we fight terrorism," Olmert wrote. "The truth is, these governments are not anti-Israel, they are anti-the Israeli government."

 

His comments come in the wake of mounting international pressure on Israel. The EU is considering sanctions. Trump seems less enthusiastic about defending Netanyahu. French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a joint statement demanding Israel halt its military offensive and allow immediate humanitarian access to Gaza. In response, Netanyahu accused them of emboldening Hamas and "standing on the wrong side of justice".

 

Olmert’s warnings have resonated far beyond the Israeli political landscape. Apart from writing in Haaretz, he also gave an interview to the BBC, in which he reiterated his stance: "From every point of view, this is obnoxious and outrageous. We are fighting Hamas murderers, we are not fighting innocent civilians. And that has to be clear." Yet, he added, the reality on the ground was increasingly one of indiscriminate violence, with thousands of innocent Palestinian lives lost and significant Israeli military casualties.

 

He also criticised the government for failing to prioritise the lives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, calling the war "a war without a chance of achieving anything that could save the lives of the hostages."

 

Olmert had made similar appeals as early as November, when he told CNN that Israel had already achieved most of its military objectives and should have ceased hostilities months earlier. "We destroyed Hamas’s military capacity, the tunnels, the infrastructure. Continuing this war serves no strategic purpose."

 

His recent comments have drawn fierce backlash from Israel’s far-right. Education Minister Yoav Kisch accused Olmert and former general Yair Golan, the leader of the Democrats Party, of joining a "radical leftist chorus defaming Israel in the international arena." Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar went further, claiming they were "taking an active part in a diplomatic and legal campaign against Israel and the IDF."

 

Yet Olmert remains defiant, issuing a stark warning to Israelis and the international community alike: “If we do not change course, we will find ourselves ostracised from the family of nations and summoned to The Hague. And when that day comes, not even the best defence will save us. We are committing war crimes. And we must stop – before we lose not only our moral standing, but our very humanity."

Middle East