Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz says the Biden administration dispatched four senior American military commanders to Israel after the Hamas invasion of October 7, 2023, to convince Israeli leaders not to back an invasion of Gaza.
By World Israel News Staff
Former Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has revealed that the Biden administration sent four senior US military officers to Israel following the October 7 massacre in an effort to dissuade Israeli leaders from launching a major ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
“Four US generals tried to stop us,” Gantz said in a new interview on Raz Sauber’s podcast, describing previously undisclosed discussions between Israeli leaders and senior American officers during the opening weeks of the war.
According to Gantz, the American officers warned Israeli officials about the dangers of sending forces deep into Gaza’s densely populated urban areas and invoked the experience of US troops in Fallujah, Iraq, where American forces fought some of the fiercest urban battles of the Iraq War.
Gantz said he rejected their argument, maintaining that after Hamas’s October 7 assault, Israel had no viable alternative to a large-scale military response aimed at dismantling the terrorist group and recovering the hostages it had taken into Gaza.
The former IDF chief of staff was in a position to participate directly in the discussions.
Four days after the Hamas attack, Gantz joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant in a three-member emergency war cabinet established to oversee the campaign.
Former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot and then-strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer served as observers.
Gantz’s account provides a more pointed description of the US military delegation’s mission than the Biden administration offered publicly at the time.
Contemporaneous reports in October 2023 confirmed that Washington dispatched several experienced military officers to Israel as Israeli leaders prepared for a ground campaign.
The most senior publicly identified member was Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Glynn, a three-star general with extensive experience in Iraq who had fought in Fallujah and later commanded special operations forces fighting ISIS.
The Pentagon said at the time that Glynn and the other officers were supposed to draw on US experience in urban warfare, including the battles of Fallujah and Mosul, while challenging Israeli planners to consider the risks of their proposed operation.
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder insisted on October 24, however, that the Americans were advisers rather than decision-makers.
“The IDF will and always will make its own decisions. They are not there to direct,” Ryder said, adding that the officers were there to discuss “hard questions” as Israel considered different operational scenarios.
US media reporting at the time nevertheless indicated that the Biden administration was attempting to slow the planned Israeli invasion and was skeptical of the type of broad ground offensive initially under consideration.
The Washington Post reported on October 27, 2023 that administration officials were urging Israel to reconsider a full-scale invasion in favor of a smaller campaign based more heavily on air power and targeted special-forces raids.
Axios similarly reported that Biden administration officials were deliberately seeking additional time before an Israeli invasion and wanted Israeli planners to draw lessons from the battle for Mosul rather than Fallujah.
The public debate over American pressure was already underway before Israeli ground forces entered Gaza in strength.
Two days after the October 7 attack, then-secretary of state Antony Blinken deleted an X post following criticism that it appeared to endorse an immediate ceasefire.
“I encouraged Türkiye’s advocacy for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas immediately,” Blinken had written after speaking with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
The State Department subsequently rejected suggestions that Washington was calling on Israel not to respond militarily. Spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken’s post had been “unfortunately worded” and “did not capture” the administration’s actual position, stressing that the US supported Israel’s right to take action against Hamas.
Washington simultaneously rushed weapons and other military assistance to Israel and deployed additional US forces and air-defense systems to the region.
Gantz himself publicly acknowledged those disagreements as the ground operation began. While thanking Washington for its support in late October 2023, he declared: “We’re going to listen to our friends, but we’re going to do whatever is right for us.”
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