The problem is not necessarily Prime Minister Netanyahu’s hawkish stance, but also the many Israelis outraged by the brutal Hamas attacks. It is Prime Minister Netanyahu’s conflation of leadership with political survival, and the widespread perception that Prime Minister Netanyahu opposes any negotiated settlement or U.S. advice or mediation; Not because they truly believe they are against the interests of Israelis, as they claim, but because they pretend to be so. It is to counter “American pressure,” and portraying the Gaza war as a broader conflict over a Palestinian state and Iran serves his political purposes.
At least, that’s what the majority of Israelis seem to believe. This includes those who agree with the prime minister’s insistence on completely eradicating Hamas. A political poll conducted in late December found that only 15% of Israelis wanted him to continue in office after the war ended.
Beyond Israel’s borders, the scale of casualties and destruction in the Gaza Strip is increasingly frightening. More than 26,000 people have died in Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, and vast swathes of narrow land have been flattened. On Friday, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, part of the United Nations, said Israel should take action to stop its forces from committing genocide in the Gaza Strip and to allow more aid to the enclave. Ta. The ruling is the first step in a lawsuit in which South Africa accuses Israel of genocide, and although it stops short of requiring Israel to immediately halt military operations, it puts pressure on Israel to find a way to withdraw. This was one of the reasons for the increase.
But how the war ends, and what happens “post-Gaza,” as Israeli commentators put it, depends largely on who is in charge. Key members of the wartime cabinet set up to manage the fighting, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, both former military chiefs of staff, have criticized Netanyahu, particularly on the painful issue of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. He is known to have vastly different opinions from Mr. There are 129 people including both men and women.
The fate of the hostages has been at the center of Israeli debate over the war, as Israel has historically gone to great lengths to recover the remains of prisoners of war and even those who died. As Eisenkot said in an interview, their families feared that “it will not be possible to return the hostages alive in the near future,” and were keen to prioritize their release in any deliberations about the war effort. I have been exercising. contract. ” Netanyahu and his right-wing allies have argued that only unrelenting military pressure on Hamas will lead to its freedom.