Benjamin Netanyahu is back in command of Israeli politics. He and his coalition are now polling close to where they were before the war began. They don’t yet hold a majority, but they are positioned to prevent an alternative coalition in case of elections. Bibi’s partners, religious fundamentalist settlers such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, as well as ultra-orthodox parties and his Likud backbenchers, are firmly united behind his insistence to prolong the war. In head-to-head contests with his likely alternative, Benny Gantz, Netanyahu is now polling ahead after many months of being behind. To add to his good fortunes, the Israeli Knesset has recently gone on leave until late October after the Jewish holidays. During Knesset recess, it is practically impossible to overthrow a government.
This all means that Netanyahu will stay in power at least until mid-2025, if not longer. He will be welcoming either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris when they are inaugurated.
This is an impressive political comeback, even for Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. After the October 7 Hamas attack, Netanyahu was considered by many to be a dead horse. “Mr Security,” as he branded himself for years, was responsible for the worst military defeat in Israel’s history. Under his hard-right coalition, a nonstate actor with no air force, tanks, or artillery achieved a full-blown invasion of Israel. Hamas and its partners inflicted the biggest killing spree of civilians in the country’s history in a matter of hours, under the nose of the editor of a book called Terrorism: How the West Can Win.
Netanyahu was rightly held responsible by Israeli commentators not only for the defense debacle but also for Hamas’s military build-up over decades….
La suite est à lire sur: jacobin.com
Auteur: Nimrod Flash
