Home World

Netanyahu: Why He Wants War Over Peace

Netanyahu, as protests grow, clings to power in what seems to be a calculated gambit to secure his political and legal future, regardless of the cost.

By Martin Kear, 360info
New Update
Netanyahu | Why He Wants War Over Peace

Netanyahu being denounced by Israelis marching on the streets is not an unusual sight. | Nir Hirshman Communication | Credits CC by 4.0

Listen to this article
0.75x 1x 1.5x
00:00 / 00:00

Netanyahu: Desperation and Power Over Peace

War-weary and angry, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are taking to the streets week after week, calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut a deal and bring the remaining hostages from the October 7 Hamas attack home.

Their calls remain unanswered.

These massive public demonstrations, including the largest nationwide strike in 18 months, are met with renewed conditions for any deal with Hamas and commitments to continuing the war into its second year.

We Have a Request for You: Keep Our Journalism Alive
We are a small, dedicated team at The Probe, committed to in-depth, slow journalism that dives deeper than daily headlines. We can't sustain our vital work without your support. Please consider contributing to our social impact projects: Support Us or Become a Member of The Probe. Even your smallest support will help us keep our journalism alive.

Despite the more than 750,000 protesters calling for his resignation and an end to the war, clinging to power and continuing the fight against Hamas appears to be Netanyahu’s only plan for the future.   

What Started the Protests?

The protests began after another six Israeli hostages were found dead in Gaza at the beginning of September.  

A key demand of the protesters has been for Israel to sign a ceasefire with Hamas that would see the release of the remaining Israelis still held captive since the October 7, 2023 attacks

Despite increasing public dissent, he has refused to sign any ceasefire and continues to add new conditions to any potential deal.  

When others tell you what happened, The Probe reveals why it happened. Stay informed—join our WhatsApp channel today. Click to join: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaXEzAk90x2otXl7Lo0L

The latest sticking point is Israel’s insistence that it retain a permanent military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor – a strip of land on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. 

Hamas refuses to accept any such stipulation, arguing that all Israeli troops should evacuate the Gaza Strip. 

Egypt has also expressed its concern at the prospect of Israeli troops stationed on its border, amid concerns of miscalculation from either Egyptian or Israeli troops. 

Adding to the public pressure on Netanyahu is the political pressure from both inside and outside of his ruling coalition.

Externally, his political rivals accuse him of lying to the Israeli public and for putting his political survival ahead of any deal to bring the hostages home.

Inside his coalition, there is more pressure to continue the war until all vestiges of Hamas are destroyed and the Palestinians are pacified.

While commentators speculate on how long Netanyahu can survive, perhaps the more relevant question is how he got here in the first place.

Netanyahu’s Narrow Window

The root cause of Netanyahu’s current dilemma is a series of 2016 allegations of corruption. Subsequent police investigations led to him being charged in 2019 with breach of trust, accepting bribes, and fraud.

Since the allegations became public, he has tried various political manoeuvres to avoid fronting court and a potential guilty verdict and likely jail sentence. 

Initially, these involved using parliamentary procedures to impede the judicial process. This included the Attorney General being accused of interfering in the investigation and deliberately delaying the indictment, as well as the PM seeking immunity from prosecution from the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset.

When these efforts failed, Netanyahu’s trial began in May 2020.  Then, in March 2021, he lost the election and the prime ministership, leaving him without any institutional protection – something he covets.

After another inconclusive election in November 2022, the Prime Minister made a Faustian bargain with several right-wing nationalist parties to regain his prime ministership. In return for entering his coalition, he agreed to pursue the nationalists’ political agenda.  

One of his government’s first acts was to try and enact sweeping judicial reforms that would give the government oversight of Israel’s Supreme Court. These reforms could benefit both him and his coalition partners.

Political Bargain Offers No Way Out

Because Israel has just one parliamentary house, the Supreme Court acts as a check and balance on the Knesset’s power. The government’s intention to ensure it always had a majority on the committee that appoints judges was of particular concern to many Israelis.  

Opponents feared these reforms could give Netanyahu the power to appoint sympathetic judges to the Supreme Court and potentially gain immunity from prosecution.

For the nationalists, the proposed reforms would remove many of the institutional checks and balances imposed by the Supreme Court on the expansion of Israeli settlements and the appropriation of Palestinian land in the West Bank – something  Israeli nationalists have wanted for years.  

If successful, it would mean Israel’s 57-year occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem would become permanent, sounding the death knell for any future Palestinian state, something that did not go unnoticed by Hamas.

The proposed reforms provoked unprecedented public backlash, with massive weekly prote

login-icon

Unlock this story for free.

Simply log in with your email ID and immerse yourself in a world where exclusive insights and compelling narratives come alive.