Netanyahu’s Desperate Gamble

As crowds gather on the streets of Israel to protest against the government of Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, it is legitimate to ask which action of his are they protesting.  There are protests against his move to fire Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar; a renewed push for judicial reform, which drew hundreds of thousands into the streets before the October 7 Hamas attack; and breaking the Gaza ceasefire, once again killing Palestinians indiscriminately, before the remaining hostages are freed.

in killing Palestinians indiscriminately, before the remaining hostages are freed.

Netanyahu’s swift move to fire Bar is related to the other issues.  Bar has been under attack for the failure of his security forces to provide advance warning of the Hamas attack.  While it is still a matter of conjecture as to who bears responsibility for what all agree was a classic intelligence failure, some of the blame for it falls on Netanyahu, who is being accused of scapegoating Bar to cover for his own failure.  There is also the question of why, if Bar and the Shin Bet are to blame, has Netanyahu kept him in his position as a leading adviser since October 7?

There are also reports that Shin Bet agents are pursuing leads related to charges that two of Netanyahu’s top aides received money from Qatar for as-of-yet undisclosed purposes.  Netanyahu has bragged in the past about funneling as much as $1 billion to Hamas through Qatar, to build up Hamas as a rival to the Palestinian Authority, to split the Palestinians to make them easier to contain.

Further roiling a section of the Israeli public is that a session scheduled on March 20 for a meeting between family members of hostages and the security cabinet was postponed, so that the war cabinet members can hear Netanyahu’s case for Bar’s firing. This has provoked sharp rebukes from members of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, who accused the Prime Minister of repeatedly refusing to hear from them.  They are also upset that the renewed attacks on Gaza, launched on March 17, endanger the remaining living hostages.  At the March 20 session, the cabinet approved the firing of Bar, despite Israel’s Attorney General saying he could not take that step, thus possibly triggering a Constitutional crisis.

Adding to the anger directed at Bibi is the renewed slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, after nearly two months of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.  More than 550 are known dead from the first days of the attack, many of them children — this, on top of the 60 Palestinians killed so far, according to figures from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in Operation Iron Wall in the West Bank.  This was launched on January 21, two days after the Gaza ceasefire, and has led to the displacement of at least 40,000 Palestinians in the West Bank.  This was initiated at the insistence of war cabinet member Bezalel Smotrich, who has advocated for the mass transfer of the Palestinians, as the solution to “threat” of Palestinian terrorism.

“Transfer” is a euphemism for ethnic cleansing, and is a violation of international law.  The brutal Israeli treatment of the people of Gaza has already been the subject of a case brought before the International Court of Justice, which is investigating it as a case of genocide.

SUPPORT FOR WAR DROPS

It has not gone unnoticed by media commentators who had previously been staunch defenders of Netanyahu’s hardline response against the people in Gaza that the large demonstrations coincide with a loss of support for Bibi in the polls.  February polls by the Institute for National Security Studies show a 21% trust in the government, while Netanyahu’s approval rating has dropped dramatically to 27%.  These numbers reflect a significant decline in support for Netanyahu, who despite widespread dislike for him, had benefited from his position as a war-time leader, though his support always fell below 50%.

A poll last week reported by Channel 12 — a station which strongly supports editorially the Greater Israel stance of Netanyahu — found that 60% now believe Netanyahu should resign, and 73% favor the move to stage two of the ceasefire deal, which is threatened by renewed attacks in Gaza.

Columnist Amos Harel wrote in {Haaretz} that “Israel knowingly violated the ceasefire agreement with Hamas — with American support — because it didn’t want to fully meet the terms it had committed to two months ago.”  Even more sharp was the comment in an op ed in {Haartez} by Zvi Bar’el.  The Prime Minister, he wrote, “continues to aggressively undermine democracy’s foundations.”  Bar’el’s advice to the demonstrators taking to the streets against the policies of Netanyahu: “Polite protests won’t be enough.  This is a war for our existence.”