18 March 2025

Netanyahu has gone back to war. But Israel is not with him

Hostage families and civic society alike have been outraged by the renewed assault on Gaza.

The resumption of strikes on Gaza have led to a feeling of desperation among many Israelis. Benjamin Netanyahu said this evening (18 March) that these attacks – which have so far killed 400 people in Gaza – were “just the beginning”. A substantial part of the population is now convinced that the government is willingly inviting further bloodshed only to further its own agenda.

Though many in Israel accept the military case for not withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor, which was meant to take place after Hamas had released 33 hostages, last night’s bombardment of Gaza looks like a nakedly cynical attempt by Prime Minister Netanyahu to shore up own position in the face of intensified pressure. Given his ongoing legal problems and a resurgent protest movement, Netanyahu had been attempting to fire the director of Israel’s domestic security services, Ronen Bar, and the attorney general Gali Baharav Miara. With the failure of these strategies, it looks as though he has decided to return to war.

This has produced an immediate political dividend: within hours of last night’s strikes, Itamar Ben-Gvir announced that he and the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) party would be rejoining the government, with Ben-Gvir taking up his old post as minister of national security. For almost half the country, though, the ultimate purpose of this war is to distract from Netanyahu’s failures before 7 October, in the subsequent campaign, and his conspicuous refusal to create an official inquiry into the government’s part in the disaster.

Immediately before the latest strikes, journalist Uri Misgav presciently captured the public mood. “Everything is closing in on them,” he wrote. “They could start a war in Gaza or somewhere else in the next two days… [Netanyahu] panicked and went all-in, as usual without consideration and in-depth examination of the consequences, [and] is losing his pants again.”

Several of the hostages and their families have publicly denounced the return to war: Ayala Metzger confronted the finance minister Bezalel Smotrich in the Knesset, shouting that “there are deals on the table, and you choose to continue, to sacrifice more hostages and soldiers”. In response, Smotrich, whose supporters, like those of the Likud, have expressed open contempt for the hostage family, said that the hostage families were heard from “too much”.

Yarden Bibas, who only learned upon his recent release of the death of his wife and two children, said: “Israel’s decision to return to fighting brings me back to Gaza, to the moments where I heard the sounds of explosions around me and where I feared for my life… We must stop the fighting and bring everyone home.” Doron Steinbracher, who was released in the latest deal, called for an immediate return to the ceasefire, posting on Instagram: “… we must continue negotiations, we need an agreement… The abducted should be here, they must not be any further injured, neither physically nor mentally.”

In the south, Einav and Natalie Tsengauker, the mother and sister of hostage Matan Tsengauker, marched with other activists from kibbutz Nir Oz to the Gaza fence, where they hung pictures of the remaining abductees. Addressing the soldiers present, Tsengauker warned them that “Military pressure kills hostages. Do not allow the Prime Minister and his cabinet members to sacrifice the blood of Matan, Benny and the other living hostages on the altar of his rule.”

For many, the situation seems impossible. The scale of public outrage and anger is so tremendous, and there is a determination that this return to war cannot stand, tempered by an increasingly apathy: if they can’t make Netanyahu change course now, it will be a signal of his effective impunity. As one text circulating today read: “The difficult news from this morning makes it clear to everyone that we must act, it is in the hands and feet of each and every one of us to be a defensive wall for [democracy in] Israel.” Unfortunately, with Netanyahu’s political coalition now looking more secure, it is a vain hope that this latest spasm of public outrage will affect much change.