Alone and embattled Netanyahu’s woes mount, but he won’t be going quietly
For Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the first week of April has perhaps been the worst since the Hamas attack on 7 October, six months ago, that triggered the current war in Gaza.
Protests against the leader by hostage families and the opposition returned with a vengeance as he spent two nights in hospital for hernia surgery. His major political rival, Benny Gantz, undermined the unity of the wartime government by calling for early elections; Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition allies are already angry with him over military conscription.
His initial, glib explanation for the drone killings of six foreign aid workers – “this happens in wartime’’ – was met with anger worldwide. And the week ended with a telling off from Joe Biden over the killings, which may even signal the beginning of the end of Israel’s offensive. Yet despite domestic and international pressure, Bibi, as he is known, doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. He views staying in office as his best chance to beat corruption charges, which he denies.
“[Netanyahu’s] only goal is to buy time – in the trial, with the [conscription] law, with the hostage deal – with his final objective not being entirely clear,” an unnamed government official told the Israeli daily Haaretz. “Maybe he thinks that normalisation with Saudi Arabia will be his last hurrah, but that possibility is fading too.”
The latest polling by the Israeli Democracy Institute (IDI) found 57% of voters rate Netanyahu’s wartime leadership as “poor” or “very poor”; 51% want early elections, rather than autumn 2026.
“Netanyahu’s responsibility for what happened on 7 October is partial; his responsibility for what happened since that day is total,” wrote the Israeli columnist Nahum Barnea.
Despite clear messages from the public and establishment alike that the 74-year-old Netanyahu must go, his coalition remains stable.
A January poll of Jewish Israelis found 88% thought that the shocking death toll in Gaza – then 25,000 people – was justified, and a majority said the Israel Defense Forces were using either “adequate” or “too little” force. Another recent IDI poll found two-thirds of Jewish Israelis were opposed to the establishment of an independent, demilitarised Palestinian state.
“A change of leadership won’t necessarily mean meaningful policy changes. If Benny Gantz, Israel’s former defence minister and IDF chief of the general staff, were to become prime minister, it is unlikely that he would adopt policies regarding the Palestinians that are substantially different from Netanyahu’s,” Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst at the International Crisis Group thinktank, wrote in Foreign Policy magazine.
Netanyahu views staying in office as his best chance to beat corruption charges, which he denies