It is relatively easy to fight a war with dreaded enemies on the front, but it is tougher to confront peace with its own citizens.
This is the predicament of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for whom the two-year-long conflict with Hamas came as a temporary reprieve. With coalition partners not fully satisfied with peace deal, the old cases of bribery, fraud and breach of trust will come again to haunt him. Ever since his election as Prime Minister in late December 2022 till the first week of October 2023 lakhs of Israelis used to protest every Saturday (the weekly holiday in that country) seeking his resignation for his alleged arm-twisting of judiciary which had censured him.
Time running out
Even if the smaller hardliner parties of finance minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power Party reluctantly continue to support his government, time is running out as election is due in the country before October 27, 2026.
If he is voted out of power next year, or even earlier Israel and not Iran would be witnessing a regime change.
Once the war is over Israel would return to political instability with the country having seen 37 governments in 77 years of existence. Politically the Zionist state would be once again a fragmented entity.
There is no dearth of objective political pundits even within Israel who do not rule out another renewal of conflict with Hamas as Netanyahu had violated similar President Donald Trump brokered ceasefire early this year. A sizable chunk of Jews, both within Israel and in the rest of the world, view Netanyahu as a polarising figure who can go to any extent for his political survival.
Israel’s weakness exposed
It would be premature to jump to the conclusion as to who had emerged as the clear-cut victor in the 735 days long war in Gaza as Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, Ansar Allah (or Houthis) as well as Iran had suffered material and military losses. But there is near unanimity in the diplomatic world that it is none other but Israel along with its western backers which ended up weakest in the Gaza conflict.
Not only had the Zionist entity become a sort of global pariah, Israel has become a laughing stock of the world in military term as it could not finish off a small non-state actor notwithstanding massive support from its Western masters. The Israeli Defence Forces, which had in the Six-Day War (June 5-10, 1967) routed the very well-equipped combined armies, air forces and navies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan had in 729 more days could not wipe out poorly armed Hamas. Mind it, the Gaza Strip, then a part of Egypt, was snatched by Israel in just a few hours in 1967. Yet the IDF struggled this time in front of a few thousand ‘terrorists’, which barring Iran and Yemen got no open backing from any country of the planet.
Though it is also true that a large number of human rights activists and even average citizens of the same West came to the help of besieged men, women, and children facing genocide. They risked their own lives to undertake this exercise amidst relentless bombardment. Curiously, some Jews were also a part of these dedicated band of Good Samaritans.
Ate humble pie
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retaliated to the October 7, 2023, attack with a resolve to decimate Hamas, Hezbollah, and bring about regime change in Iran. Exactly two years later he had to eat humble pie and held talks with the same Hamas. Surprisingly, Israeli delegation held indirect peace talks in Sharm-al-Sheikh (Egypt) with none other than Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, whom they wanted to eliminate in Doha (Qatar) on September 9 last. He survived but his son died in that air strike.
On November 26 last year, Israel had to buy peace with Hezbollah on the plea made by Netanyahu that his army is in the grip of war-fatigue and had run short of arms and ammunition. Then on June 24, 2025 the Zionist state had to virtually beg before the United States for ceasefire with Tehran after it was, in the words of President Donald Trump, “hit hard by Iran”. Houthis are still blockading Bab al-Mandab Strait, a sea-route connecting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, for Israel-bound vessels, and may still continue to fire missiles on Israel.
Two years down the memory lane there is a question mark over Abraham Accord. The fate of India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor, the idea which was conceived at G-20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10, 2023 lies in total uncertainty.
In the last couple of years, even the pro-West rulers of the Muslim world have grown suspicious of the role of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, etc.
The monarchs of Gulf countries have been compelled to go with the feeling of masses which have grown anti-Israel. This was visible during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Arabic social media was flooded with pro-Iran messages.
Israeli stupidity
In the West there was a popular upsurge against Israel. In the United States, as per the latest poll, 59% of people are against the Zionist state’s barbarism—an unthinkable development. Even some Republicans came out strongly against the genocidal policy of Netanyahu, who have been getting unqualified support from the Western rulers.
The stupidity of attacking Qatar backfired. As the air strike failed to kill Hamas leaders, Donald Trump, according to an independent Israeli expert, soon dissociated himself from it. He further added that had the Hamas leaders been killed the US President would have taken full credit for it. Needless to say, when Israel succeeded in killing Hezbollah supremo, Hassan Nasrallah, the then President, Joe Biden, was all praise for Netanyahu.
Cornered by the circumstances Trump compelled Netanyahu to come to the negotiating table. The Israeli PM boasted that he had achieved the goal of ensuring the release of hostages. The truth is that this was not at all his objective. Hamas offered to release them way back in November 2023 and many of them were even set free in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu then vowed to completely eliminate Hamas and delete Gaza from the map. Biden and Trump fully endorsed his approach. Since this did not happen there was no option left for them. Now the Western propaganda machinery would take up the rest of the battle from here. They have already blacked out the devastation caused on Israel by Iranian bombardments. Now they would day in and day out highlight as to how Israel had emerged successful from the war. The truth may be something else.
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