Experts and analysts unanimously agree that the steadfastness of the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip and the prolonged war are behind the growing rift in Israeli society, after there was initially confidence in eliminating the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and its military structure.
Israeli affairs expert Dr. Muhannad Mustafa said that the state of Israeli consensus that was at the beginning of the war on Gaza to achieve the set goals has now become subject to Israeli doubt.
Mustafa explained during his speech on the program “Gaza… What’s next?” There is increasing boldness in Israel in distrusting Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and its goal of eliminating Hamas, as a conviction is forming that the goal is unrealistic, especially with the losses of the occupation army.
He pointed out that Israel also failed in its goal of “demonizing Hamas” after it became clear that Palestinian prisoners are dying in Israeli prisons, while Israeli prisoners held by the resistance in Gaza are treated very well.
However, Mustafa says that Tel Aviv will continue its war against Gaza due to American support, in addition to internal Israeli support, but if the current rift expands, Israel will review its calculations, especially since the length of the war will cause economic repercussions.
He adds that the current debate is currently escalating about the goals of the war on Gaza and the extent of its realism, indicating that the problem in Israel is that the military is more extremist than the political, and the current debate may dissolve this extremism.
Remarkable transformation
For his part, writer and political researcher Sari Orabi stressed that Israeli society is facing a transformation, but it has not yet reached decisive pressure, adding that the level of this transformation should not be underestimated.
Regarding the reasons for this transformation, Orabi says that there are several factors, including the resistance’s steadfastness and its management of the prisoner file, the long duration of the war, and Israel’s entry into the battle with instinctive goals of revenge, in addition to the fact that it was in a state of division.
Orabi adds that among the reasons is Tel Aviv’s inability to read the Al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Hamas movement – nor did it learn from the shock of October 7, and that Hamas is not capable of surrender and defeat.
He pointed out that the problem is not with American support, since Washington is involved in the war, but rather with the Palestinian Authority and the Arab countries.
As for military censorship of media discourse, the political researcher considered that the matter is not new because it is traditional Israeli behavior that “proves the necessity of not dealing with confidence or credibility in the numbers and information that Tel Aviv broadcasts during wars.”
“It will not achieve its goals”
In turn, the military and strategic expert, Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi, stressed that war is one of the means of politics, and the political team must review itself and take the opinion of the military, but he said that the partisan and personal agenda in this war takes precedence over politics and the military dimension.
He added that the Israeli defeat had occurred since the seventh of last October, as the war was based on the lust for revenge, believing that Tel Aviv would not be able to achieve its lowest goal, which is “releasing the prisoners.”
He considered Netanyahu’s statements about continuing the war “marketing and for partisan purposes,” recalling the resistance operations in Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, and Juhr al-Dik in the eastern central region, areas that the occupation army entered in the first days of the ground war.
He stated that these areas provide a small picture of what is happening, because field conditions do not always allow recording all resistance operations, as they are documented in relatively safe areas.