Why are the IDF instituting humanitarian pauses against Netanyahu's wishes?

Question

Yesterday, it was announced that the IDF would be introducing humanitarian pauses in fighting along one of the roads into Rafah, to allow more aid to flow into Gaza.

What intrigues me about this is that, not only did Benjamin Netanyahu not order the pauses, he actively disapproves of them:

An Israeli official quoted Netanyahu as saying the plan was “unacceptable to him” when he learned of it. The official said that Netanyahu received assurances that “there is no change” in the military’s policy and “fighting in Rafah continues as planned.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak with the media.

Israeli television stations later quoted Netanyahu as criticizing the military: “We have a country with an army, not an army with a country.”

I understand that Netanyahu has no direct control over the IDF, but it still seems highly unusual to me for a nation's military to conduct an operation that their nation's leader doesn't want them to. So what's going on here? Why are the IDF acting against Netanyahu's wishes? Have they explained this, or addressed Netanyahu's statements at all?

To be clear here, I'm not asking why the IDF are introducing humanitarian pauses. I'm asking what their rationale is for going against the wishes of their head of state.

Answer 1

It was in fact not against Netanyahu's wish. The government, led by Netanyahu, ordered the IDF to facilitate humanitarian relief to civilians in Gaza. But when the implementation was announced by the IDF, Netanyahu realized this is very unpopular with his voters, and denounced it.

That's how it works in Bibi's world.

This is the best reference I found in English. Here, Ben Caspit, a leading Israeli journalist, claims ensuring humanitarian aid was flowing was one of the orders to the IDF by the government when the Rafah operation was approved (Hebrew).

Answer 2

Question:

Why are the IDF instituting humanitarian pauses against Netanyahu's wishes?

The confusion is over what humanitarian pause means along with the scope. The 11 hour humanitarian pause proposed by the IDF is not a pause of all fighting just roads outside the conflict area so the UN can move their relief trucks safely. Israeli Fighting / bombings inside Rafah will continue throughout the humanitarian pause. When that, asked for clarification was made, Netanyahu seemed to agree.

Netanyahu: 'Humanitarian pause' in Rafah 'not acceptable'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the temporary "humanitarian pause" in parts of Rafah announced by the military earlier today was "not acceptable", a diplomatic source said according to the Times of Israel.

The military said an 11-hour pause would be observed on a key road in eastern Rafah daily to allow safe passage for aid trucks. It appears the decision was taken without consultation with the political leadership.

According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu sought clarification after the announcement and was informed that fighting would continue in Rafah unchanged.

Answer 3

It's hard to say what Netanyahu's wishes really are. He is caught between the realities of a military campaign in which no significant pro-Israel allies are on the Palestinian side, which in turn limits what happens after the IDF pulls out of an area, i.e. Hamas comes back, and on the other end, Netanyahu is hemmed in by the wishes of the farther right cabinet members that are (alas) crucial for his cabinet's majority in the Knesset. So, Netanyahu dances between these constraints. Furthermore, the defense ministry is ran by Gallant, whom also criticized Netanyahu for not finding what to replace Hamas with, in practice.

So, as I suspected, the decision regarding humanitarian pauses was approved by Gallant and criticized by Ben-Gvir:

Netanyahu contacted his military secretary and said the idea was unacceptable, but later backed down after being assured the fighting in Rafah would continue, according to the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The IDF’s decision to implement tactical pauses also drew fierce criticism from the increasingly rancorous far-right wing of Netanyahu’s coalition. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said whoever made the decision “is evil and a fool who should not continue to be in his position.”

An IDF spokesperson later told CNN the decision for the “tactical pause” was approved by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Gallant is a Likud member and so he doesn't 'rule' his own party. But if Netanyahu were to dismiss him, who knows what might happen. He might face a revolt of [some] Likud MKs, IDK. Or Netanyahu may just be letting Gallant take [domestically] unpopular decisions so as no to attract the ire of far right himself. Gallant has already attracted the ire of the far right over the judicial reforms.

[Gallant] asked for the government to delay the proposed legislation to allow for negotiations between the ruling coalition and the opposition, which resulted in National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir calling for Gallant's dismissal Netanyahu announced on 26 March [2023] that he was dismissing Gallant, sparking massive protests that night in several major cities across Israel. On 10 April, Netanyahu announced that he would not fire Gallant.

And so Gallant is still in a cabinet office.