In the weeks following the massacre of civilians by Hamas on October 7, two seemingly contradictory phenomena are emerging in Israeli politics and public opinion. On the one hand, what is known in English jargon as a “rally ’round the flag” occurs when a community that has suffered severe trauma gathers in support of the ruler. In Israel, polls currently show that the population is quite united and strongly supports the army’s military operation in the Gaza Strip.
But unlike in these cases, the Israeli population is not rallying around the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu; on the contrary: the Israeli prime minister is more unpopular than ever, and the vast majority of his fellow citizens consider him unsuitable to wage war and deal with the enormous crisis , which was caused by the Hamas attack.
According to some Financial Times polls, only 7 percent of the Israeli population trusts Netanyahu to handle the war. This distrust is huge among center-left voters (only 4 percent of them trust Netanyahu), but it is also very strong among center-right voters (10 percent trust him). It also stands in stark contrast to the widespread trust (74 percent) shown in the leaders of the armed forces, with whom Netanyahu has had extensive disagreements in the past and even after the start of the war.
Netanyahu is also in crisis at the political level: if we were to vote today, only 29 percent of Israelis would want him as prime minister, compared to 48 percent for Benny Gantz, the opposition leader who has been embroiled in the conflict since the beginning of the war. A government of national unity.
It is the lowest figure in the very long career of Netanyahu, who has been in power in Israel for most of the last 15 years and is considered one of the most capable politicians of his generation, exceptional in election campaigns and capable of forming even very risky coalitions, despite being involved in the remain in power. The coalition with which he governed until October, when part of the opposition entered the government, was the most right-wing in Israel’s history and included numerous extremist and fundamentalist Jewish political leaders. His government was already hotly contested over a judicial reform proposal that the opposition believed would weaken the country’s democratic freedoms, but the outbreak of war brought everything to a head.
The reasons for the dissatisfaction with Netanyahu are mainly twofold. The first concerns the fact that during his long years in power, Netanyahu underestimated the danger of Hamas, downplayed the seriousness of the situation in the Gaza Strip, and tried to politicize the army in order to… to respond to needs that did not concern Israel’s security, but rather the policy priorities of him and his ultra-right coalition.
Although for many years Netanyahu’s nickname was “Mr. Security,” Mr. Security, in reality there have been many members of the Israeli defense community over the years who have openly criticized Netanyahu and his policies, including some former heads of the Mossad, external intelligence agencies and the Shin Bet. the internal secret services. According to many analyses, Netanyahu, who viewed the leadership of the armed forces and intelligence services as a possible internal enemy, very often weakened rather than strengthened them.
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Netanyahu is also accused by many quarters, particularly on the left, of giving political legitimacy to Hamas with the aim of weakening the moderate Palestinian leadership of Fatah, which rules the West Bank. This does not mean that Netanyahu directly supported or supported Hamas, but rather that he very often took advantage of the group’s dominance over the Gaza Strip to avoid addressing the Palestinian issue politically and to minimize the possibility of serious negotiations with the Fatah leadership.
The second reason for dissatisfaction with Netanyahu concerns his behavior in the days and weeks after the Hamas massacre. Although he made numerous rather belligerent speeches against Hamas, Netanyahu seemed more concerned with preserving his image, shirking responsibility and reducing possible loss of political consensus than with leading a traumatized and crisis-ridden country.
While military and security force commanders apologized in the days following the massacre for what had happened to Hamas, Netanyahu avoided at all costs any expression of regret. According to Aviv Bushinsky, a former Netanyahu adviser and now political analyst, Netanyahu avoids apologizing or making amends because he fears the apology could be used politically against him. But in doing so, he explained to the Financial Times, he ultimately alienated a large part of his electorate. “People say: Our soldiers are risking their lives in Gaza, thousands of people have lost their homes, Moody’s, Fitch and S&P could lower our rating and Netanyahu is only thinking about his political survival.”
This attitude was expressed very clearly last week when Netanyahu posted a tweet very late at night in which he accused the army and intelligence commanders of failing to warn him about possible Hamas attacks, but rather placing all the blame on them Shoveled shoes. Within a few hours there were massive protests by all Israeli politicians and Netanyahu he deleted the tweet, apologetic. Some journalists and commentators noted that this was the Prime Minister’s only apology.
Netanyahu also showed some distance towards the families of the more than 200 people kidnapped by Hamas and taken to the Gaza Strip. It took him days to contact her directly by phone and text and then meet her in person, probably out of fear of criticism. In recent days there have been large demonstrations in Israel organized by the families of the hostages to demand the government make their release a priority.
All of this has led to widespread anger against the prime minister, which has also been reflected in some dramatic demonstrations: In recent days, some activists have thrown fake blood at Netanyahu’s Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv, among other things.
The reasons for dissatisfaction with Netanyahu could continue to grow in the coming months, including because Israel’s economy threatens to be severely affected by the war against Hamas.
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