Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a mounting wave of criticism inside Israel, coinciding with an opinion poll that showed a decline in his popularity and a preference for excluding him from the position of prime minister.
The American newspaper “The New York Times” quoted Israeli War Council member Gadi Eizenkot as saying that the behavior of the Netanyahu government before and after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation was a “very big failure,” and stressed that Israel must ask itself how it will continue with “a leadership that has completely failed.”
For its part, the Israeli newspaper “Haaretz” quoted a source in the security cabinet as saying that “Netanyahu is stalling to gain time and escape responsibility,” while Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid saw that Netanyahu “does not care about Israel but rather about his political interests and must be replaced quickly.”
In turn, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak stressed the necessity of having a new leadership in Israel and organizing early elections before it is too late, he said.
Popular support declined
Anger against Netanyahu was not limited to military commanders and opposition leaders, as a recent opinion poll showed that only 31% of Israelis believe that Netanyahu is most suitable for the position of prime minister, according to an opinion poll whose results were published by the Israeli newspaper “Maariv” on Friday.
The poll showed that 50% said that Minister in the War Council, Benny Gantz, is most suitable for the position. He revealed that if the Israeli elections were held today, the right-wing Likud Party, headed by Netanyahu, would lose half of its seats in the Knesset, while the National Unity Party, headed by Gantz, would triple its seats.
The Likud Party now has 39 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while the National Unity Party has only 12 seats.
Maariv said that if the elections were held today, “the parties opposing Netanyahu’s presidency of the government would obtain 71 seats, while the parties supporting him would obtain 44 seats.”
The pro-Netanyahu camp includes, in addition to his Likud party, the parties “Shas,” “Judeut HaNorah,” “Jewish Power,” and “Religious Zionism.” As for the rejectionist camp, it includes the parties “National Unity,” “There is a Future,” and “Israel is Our Home.” “, “Meretz”, and “the United Arab List”.
Disagreements with ministers
Disagreements are escalating within the Israeli government between ministers who support Netanyahu’s policies regarding the course of the war in Gaza, and others who are trying to push for a deal to ensure the return of detainees held by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday evening, Israeli Channel 13 revealed that Israeli ministers – whom it did not name – had drafted, in recent days, the broad outlines of a proposal that could ultimately lead to a deal to release the detainees, but Netanyahu hardened his position and rejected this move, due to Hamas’s requirement to stop the war.
The left-wing Israeli Labor Party also announced – on Wednesday evening – that it will submit to the Knesset a motion of no confidence in the Netanyahu government due to its inability to recover detainees in the Gaza Strip.
In a press conference yesterday, Thursday in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu rejected any calls for early elections, knowing that the next elections are scheduled for 2026.
Israel says that Hamas has been detaining about 136 Israelis in Gaza since last October 7, while Hamas demands a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, in exchange for the release of its Israeli detainees.