The head of the Israeli government faces the anger of public opinion, who accuse him of not having succeeded in freeing the Hamas hostages. Within the executive, voices are calling for early elections.
The noose is tightening around Benyamin Netanyahu. Six months after the start of the war in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister finds himself under fire from criticism in his country. On Wednesday April 3, Benny Gantz, former Minister of Defense and member of the war cabinet formed after the Hamas attack, called for early legislative elections in the hope of replacing him. This statement comes in the wake of numerous criticisms addressed to the head of government.
In recent days, thousands of people have demonstrated, particularly in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, to call for his resignation. Among them, families of Hamas hostages, who criticize him for not having succeeded in freeing their loved ones. According to a poll by the Israel Institute for Democracy conducted in January, only 15% of Israelis want Benjamin Netanyahu to remain in office after the war in Gaza, quotes the Times of Israel. Even within his government, voices denounce his military strategy, while more than 33,000 Palestinians have died according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, and an Israeli strike has killed seven humanitarian workers on April 3causing a wave of indignation across the world.
The exasperation of the families of the hostages
“My uncle was murdered on October 7. My grandfather was kidnapped. And this government is responsible! In six months, they have done nothing!” deplored Maï Albini Peri to franceinfo, during a demonstration in Jerusalem on March 31 against the government. According to Israeli authorities, of the 250 people kidnapped on October 7, 130 are still officially considered captive. However, 34 of them are believed to have died. However, Benjamin Netanyahu has constantly repeated that the release of the hostages was one of his priorities. “We take care of it day and night”he assured in January.
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But after more than one hundred and eighty days of war, families deplore having received no information about their loved ones who are prisoners. Some said the government even refused to receive them. Anger escalated in December, when the Israeli army admitted to having accidentally killed three hostages. “Families have reached a breaking point with Netanyahu”portrayed to the Washington Post Josh Drill, head of the Change Generation movement, which is fighting for the release of the hostages.
However, at the start of the war, “Israelis in general supported the government’s war aims”remember from franceinfo Nimrod Goren, researcher in charge of Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute. But they now see that “L“Negotiations for the release of the hostages are not progressing as they hoped.” Israeli media regularly broadcast testimonies from released hostages, from women who recount sexual violence suffered in captivity… And “families feel even more urgently to act”, continues Nimrod Goren. Benjamin Netanyahu is all the more criticized because after the Hamas attacks, he had already been accused of having ignored warnings of a large-scale assault by the Islamist movement.
A military strategy criticized
Within his close guard, “Bibi” is still challenged in an unprecedented way. On January 16, former Defense Minister Benny Gantz sent him a list of 12 measures to take in the conflict in Gaza, underlines the Times of Israel. Among them, a reassessment of its war objectives. Two days later, Gadi Eisenkot, a former general, also a member of the war cabinet, exhibited for the first time his differences with the Prime Minister on the popular television channel Canal 12. The soldier, who lost his son and a nephew in the fighting in Gaza in December, is particularly respected in Israel. He is at the origin of the Dahiya doctrine, which advocates the disproportionate use of force in civilian areas where movements hostile to Israel are based.
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“Talk about absolute defeat [du Hamas à Gaza] is untruthful. Today, the truth is that the war objectives are not being achieved in the Gaza Strip.” he tackled, after Benjamin Netanyahu declared thathe was aiming for a “total victory” of Israel against Hamas. “To be a good leader, you have to tell the truth to the people”he continued.
“We must say it with courage: it is not possible to return the hostages alive in the short term without an agreement [avec le Hamas].”
Gadi Eisenkot, former general and war cabinet ministeron the Israeli channel Canal 12
Gadi Eisenkot also said he prevented the government from committing a “serious strategic error”. According to him, Israel had decided to attack Lebanese Hezbollah five days after the Hamas attack, but he convinced his colleagues to wait. “If the decision to attack Lebanon had been taken, we would have fulfilled the wishes of Sinwar [Yahya, le chef du Hamas à Gaza] to start a regional war”.
Unthinkable at the start of the war, these criticisms reveal a “enmity between the army and the Prime Minister (…) unprecedented in Israeli history“, writes American-Israeli analyst Mairav Zonszein, member of the International Crisis Group, an NGO specializing in conflict resolution. According to the specialist,The military holds Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for poor preparation of the army for war due to the crisis linked to the 2023 judicial reform. They accuse him of “maneuver to avoid personal liability in a future state investigation.” An audit of the army and the government is in fact on the table to assess any possible failings that may have led to the attack on October 7.
Anger over military exemption granted to ultra-Orthodox
Outside of the fighting, various rounds of talks were held between Hamas and Israel to free the hostages and arrange a truce. A single session resulted, in November, in a halt to the conflict for four days. During the latest negotiations with Qatar, the United States and Egypt, Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh accused Israel of procrastinating. For his part, Benjamin Netanyahu places the blame on the Palestinian movement, which would have “hardened” his position. Hamas refuses to release the hostages until Israel completely withdraws from the Gaza Strip.
Within the war cabinet, some accuse the head of government of not giving up any ballast to satisfy his far-right ministers, with whom he has formed a coalition, and who reject any idea of a ceasefire. These groups in power also crystallize the anger of the demonstrators, because they defend the military exemption granted to the ultraorthodox. In 2022, the latter represented approximately 13% of Israel’s Jewish population, or approximately 1.28 million people, according to the Israel Democracy Institute (PDF document).
Military service is compulsory in the Jewish state, but ultra-Orthodox people can escape it and receive subsidies if they study the sacred texts of Judaism. However, the war is going on and the army needs reinforcements. On April 4, she announced the temporary suspension of permissions for “fighting units” and called up new reservists for its air, intelligence and civil defense troops.
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On March 28, the Supreme Court put an end to this exception, but its application is still suspended from a plan to be presented by the government. “This subject could break up the coalition,” supports Nimrod Goren. “If the government cannot reach an agreement, this could be a reason for resignation for certain parties”, and the holding of early elections, adds the researcher. According to an investigation by the Israeli newspaper Maariv published in December 2023, if legislative elections took place, Benny Gantz would come well ahead (49%) against Benjamin Netanyahu (32%). In Parliament, this would mean that the opposition would get 71 seats, while the Prime Minister’s coalition would have only 44 seats, compared to 64 currently.
Old divisions resurfacing
Criticisms against Benjamin Netanyahu are far from new. They were already numerous before the war, notably due to of judicial reform. “The war paralyzed the oppositions. But that anger hadn’t gone away, it had just dissipated.” summarized with franceinfo Denis Charbit, professor of political science at the Open University of Israel.
And Balthough weakened, Benjamin Netanyahu has not said his last word. During his thirty years of political career, including fifteen at the head of government, he “was already considered a politically dead man on numerous occasions, and he was able to bounce back”, recalls Emmanuel Navon, professor at Tel Aviv University, to AFP. He can thus count on unfailing support from his party, the Likud, which he was able to transform into “a family business, where there is no dissent”he said.
Faced with the protest, the Prime Minister remains inflexible, because he “wants to emerge victorious from the war”, resumes Denis Charbit. He says stopping the fighting now would be a failure, both for him and for Israel. “It looks like: what was it for? Gaza was razed, but it is being rebuilt, and Hamas is still there.” illustrates the professor.
“In general, you stop a war when you believe you are losing, not when you still think you can win it.”
Denis Charbit, professor of political science at the Free University of Israelat franceinfo
To date, the United States, Israel’s main military ally, seems the only one capable of changing the Prime Minister’s position. On April 4, for the first time, the White House linked its support for the Jewish state to action “immediate” in the Gaza Strip. A few hours later, the Israeli executive announced the intensification of the transport of humanitarian aid via the port of Ashdod and the Erez crossing point.