Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing Democrats, stated: “A strong people, a determined army, and a home front behind them, that is how we were always victorious, and that is how we will win today.” Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party and a former deputy prime minister, recently criticized Netanyahu for arming criminal militia-turned-clans opposed to Hamas in Gaza, and quickly posted on social media: “The eternal people are not afraid.”
Netanyahu faces accusations of misleading Israelis into believing that negotiating an end to the Gaza conflict now would pose an existential threat to Israel. Many Israelis, including former Prime Ministers Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak and former intelligence chiefs like Ya’akov Peri, disagree with Netanyahu on this point, suggesting he is prolonging the Gaza conflict for political gain. They argue that Netanyahu is a war-maker, not a peacemaker.
However, there is consensus in Israel that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a genuine existential threat to the country. Amid successes in military and intelligence operations, including targeting leaders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s air force commander, and several top nuclear scientists, Netanyahu’s actions have faced little public opposition. The operations have also struck missile sites and damaged Iran’s nuclear production facilities.
Iran’s delays in nuclear negotiations with the U.S. provided Netanyahu with a strategic opportunity for military action. “An attack on Iran had become inevitable,” said retired Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser, a former member of Israel’s Iran nuclear negotiating team and now head of The Jerusalem Institute for Strategy.
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