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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
The Gaza ceasefire sparked a political mutiny among far-right members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, with ministers resigning or temporarily stepping down in protest at the agreement, raising the question of whether Netanyahu should be worried or if he can use this to his advantage. The pressure is growing, though, as the latest resignations also include military leaders.
Netanyahu’s coalition is facing turmoil over the signing and implementation of the Gaza ceasefire amid attacks from far-right ministerial incumbents, notably National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Ben-Gvir left the cabinet on January 19, promising to return if the Gaza war resumes “in full force.” Smotrich temporarily resigned and threatened to overthrow the government but announced on January 20 that he would return.
“We will not remain silent. The cries of our brothers’ blood call out to us. Our continued presence in the government depends on absolute certainty of resuming the war with full force—on a broad scale and with a renewed strategy—until we achieve a decisive victory, including the complete destruction of Hamas and the safe return of all hostages to their homes,” Smotrich said on January 15.
Netanyahu’s coalition holds a narrow majority in the Israeli Parliament, with 120 seats. It is led by his party, Likud, and made up of the religious and/or Zionist right-wing parties Shas, Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, United Torah Judaism, the Orthodox Noam, and New Hope-United Right. Some observers fear that if new elections are held, Israeli politics could return to a cycle of instability like the one experienced between 2018 and 2022 when five lightning elections were called in a four-year period amid endless disputes between pro- and anti-Netanyahu factions in the Knesset.
The long saga of Netanyahu’s criminal trial, constantly delayed by the war and his prostate surgery, also threatens to come back to haunt him now that the Gaza crisis has been put on hold, at least temporarily.
Ben-Gvir’s departure is related to the possibility that Hamas will retain power in Gaza for some time. The right-wing is furious that the second part of Netanyahu’s stated goal of freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas has not been fulfilled.
At the same time, at least two-thirds of Israelis, judging by polls, will be satisfied at this point with the return of the hostages and will consider it a victory in this war. The general consensus is for the return of the hostages now and deal with Hamas in the future.
Netanyahu’s coalition has 63 mandates, enough to prevent his far-right ministers from ousting him. Elections are likely this year but not before spring. They will occur when Netanyahu decides it is in his interest to dissolve the Knesset and organize the vote if the deal brings him political dividends. More importantly, if there are some agreements with Trump behind the deal, any concessions in Gaza will seem reasonable and moderate.
At the same time, the pending resignation of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, which he announced on January 21, was welcomed by Israeli leaders and lawmakers, who used the opportunity to put pressure and call for Netanyahu and members of his government to follow Halevi’s lead and resign.
Halevi, in a letter to Defence Minister Israel Katz, said he would leave the Israel Defense Forces on March 6 due to his failures in preventing the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Shortly after his announcement, IDF Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman made a similar statement, although he did not specify a date.
Smotrich praised Halevi for his decades of service, including his “great military achievements on all fronts” over the last 15 months.
Criticizing Halevi’s “failure in the campaign to eliminate Hamas’s civilian and governmental capabilities, as well as his responsibility for the October 7 failure,” the Religious Zionism leader said it did not “diminish the large debt of gratitude we owe him for all his work and contributions over the years, and for his achievements.”
Smotrich added that the upcoming period “will be marked by the replacement of the senior military command as part of preparations for the renewal of the war, this time in the name of not ending the war until total victory.”
Although political pressure is building on Netanyahu because he ended the war, he has not necessarily abandoned the idea of completely ethnically cleansing Gaza because of the development possibilities in terms of real estate, the offshore gas fields that can be exploited, and opening the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor.
Therefore, with Hamas boasting that it achieved victory and the outbreak of violence flaring up again being a matter of when and not if, it cannot be discounted that Netanyahu will relaunch the war to preserve power and protect his interests in the face of growing domestic pressure against him.
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it is a nuthouse. cradle to grave indoctrination of the zio mind belief system is a curse to all. defying the universe.
no matter what government israel gets, the world gets disappointment.
hahahaha as if the ” world” lives in ecstasy.
listen adolf, the world lived in disgust and terror under you and your crimes will never be forgotten. never.
here’s a window into the world’s government. sir j edgar hoover? humiliated britain flattered feared the fbi chief… you tube. deduction watson.
btw hope also monroe both had top secret security passes into laurel canyons naval intelligence facilities with its massive film studios where more movies were made than in hollywood itself. remember that when you’re watching “videos” on the military created internet. research hope and courtney. just for fun.
more deduction by observation “you won’t believe what pete hegseth did at his swearing in… you tube they both laugh at the, so help me god, but not as blatantly as the popes companions on the white house balcony when he said,” god bless america “at the end of his public address. imo.
deduce in particular who is it standing behind the flag and what’s his business there?
correction brice taylor…. “ted gunderson interview with brice taylor” you tube. remember ted’s ex wife married general michael aquino creator of the temple of set after spliting with anton le vey after they were set up as the fronts for the creation of the church of satan.
here’s another clue in the zoo. “what is gravitic propulsion and could the us government hide it?” you tube. another clue about you tubes parenting really imo. nonetheless moreover its noteworthy.
btw i’ve been shown things you wouldn’t believe and i’m not telling but i know why they hate the truth.. nothing is what at it seems. at all.
it is so bad for so many centuries that they are living in a permanent social psychosis as “god’s chosen,” as one one writer described. they will not get over it, they will not let it go, and there is no cure – only death can heal it for the world.
it’s global business.
you s know all about genrational indoctrination from pharoah. imo.
israel’s dictator will not leave power
israel is the dominion of its king charles. for some reason its treated as if a secret.
the politics of division created behind the scenes by the producers of, war the greatest profit making business venture possible. coming to a theatre of operations near you real soon.
and here’s the stargate ai exposed as not what it seems too, “what everyone gets wrong about ai…” you know who. another imo scam to rip off hundreds of billions by basically extortion through people’s ignorance of its reality imo allegedly
professor jeffrey sachs has always been right about bebe the chickanchit netanyaju: he is a manipulative, deep dark, mutter f…ing sob. he’ll pull some evil plot and get trump to go to war with iran just so he can remain israel’s prime minister and stay out of jail. it would be a shame if the trump administration allows itself of being a dog wagged by the israeli tail. make america first again! remember the uss liberty
netanyahu’s sop is to just kill more people, preferably arabs or goyem, but ok to kill sraelis when things get difficult.