AILSA CHANG, HOST:
More than 500 former officials who once led Israel's military and security agencies are asking President Trump to help stop the war in Gaza. Together, the officials are part of a group called Commanders for Israel's Security. And over the weekend, they published a letter urging President Trump to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to quote, "end the war, return the hostages, stop the suffering." One of the officials behind that letter is Nimrod Novik. He was an advisor to the late Israeli leader Shimon Peres. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
NIMROD NOVIK: Thanks for having me.
CHANG: So let's just start with, why now? Why did you and your colleagues choose this specific moment to publish this letter?
NOVIK: Primarily for two reasons. One, we have reached a conclusion that everything that can be accomplished by force has been accomplished. And that is primarily dismantling Hamas military formations and governance. Yet the third objective, which is more important and more urgent to us, which is bringing the hostages back, can only happen via a diplomatic deal. And the war has been dragging on without a purpose, certainly not one that relates to national security. And we thought it's time to end it.
The second reason was that President Trump has demonstrated more than once that he can get things done over here. He did it even before entering office in January when he, shall we say, persuaded Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept the hostages and ceasefire deal that he had rejected for months. Yet, once President Trump and his envoy, Steve Witkoff, came with that message, Netanyahu accepted. The second time that he demonstrated this capacity was in bringing an end to our fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon...
CHANG: Right.
NOVIK: ...Once Hezbollah was basically decimated and leadership decapitated. And he forced a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. And we believe that the time is right and that the - President Trump has what it takes to make it happen.
CHANG: OK. Well, your letter also says specifically to stop the suffering. I want to ask about that because Israel is getting so much pushback these days in response to images of starving children coming out of Gaza nearly every single day. The Israeli government blames Hamas, but the U.N. and aid groups say the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is a disaster, with people facing the choice between risking being shot or going without food. So asking you very directly, do you believe the Israeli government is worsening the mass starvation in Gaza right now?
NOVIK: I don't think it is a deliberate policy, but I think that much of it is a disastrous outcome. You know, when a war drags on beyond its justified - and it was justified after October 7 - beyond a justified and purposeful phase, everything goes wrong. And humanitarian assistance is the most pressing one right now. And I'm hoping that Steve Witkoff, when he's discussing this here, comes with very clear messages and be the adult in the room that stops the arguments and the blame game between the Israeli government and the U.N. and various NGOs instead of wasting energy on blaming each other, get them to coordinate.
CHANG: But do you believe that the Israeli government is playing a role in worsening the mass starvation?
NOVIK: I believe that as of last Saturday, there is a sea change here. I think that it was no accident the prime minister held an emergency Cabinet session on Saturday when the most extreme elements of his Cabinet are observant of the Sabbath and therefore were not there and decisions were made to open up and ramp up aid to Gaza, not at the pace that I would like and not at the scope that it should, but it is ramping up, I think, quite rapidly. And I think that that is part as a result of the prime minister realizing that the diplomatic tsunami is coming to our shores and in part because he realized that the Israeli public becomes more aware of it than ever before. Because the Israeli media used to self-censor those images, and suddenly, about two, three weeks ago, the media decided that, really, Israelis should not be spared the images of what's happening in our name.
CHANG: Why do you and your colleagues say in this letter that, quote, "Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel"? Explain that.
NOVIK: Yeah, as I suggested at the outset, Hamas military formations have been dismantled well over a year ago. Now it is insurgency, and we believe that we have everything that it takes to deal with its residual threat, which is not of a strategic dimension. Nothing of the sorts that we experienced on October 7 is in the cards. Terrorists are going to be there unfortunately for years, maybe decades, and Israel is strong enough to deal with them remotely or otherwise, and should the government of Israel allow the suggestion of five Arab countries to take responsibility for Gaza, boots on the ground included, in full cooperation with our forces and in full coordination with the Palestinian authority, we believe that offering Gazans an alternative to Hamas brutality is going to do its part in not cooperating and not enlisting and not mobilizing to Hamas but rather rejecting it.
CHANG: Have you received any response from the Trump administration since this letter was sent?
NOVIK: I will not violate the privacy of these conversations. I can only talk about what we say.
CHANG: OK. That is Nimrod Novik of the group Commanders for Israel's Security. Thank you very much for joining us today.
NOVIK: My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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