Netanyahu shores up power over divided Israel with return to war

Ethan Bronner, Bloomberg News on Mar 19, 2025

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Israel says the resumption of deadly strikes in Gaza is aimed at increasing pressure on Hamas, though it’s also bolstered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s grip on power and caused significant unease among swathes of the public.

Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right minister, rejoined the ruling coalition in support of the return to fighting, swelling Netanyahu’s majority to 68 seats out of the 120 in parliament. That gives the country’s longest-serving premier greater freedom of action, though caused anxiety among those concerned about the fate of hostages still held in Gaza and resumption of a war with no clear end.

Attacks by air and sea early Wednesday killed about a dozen people, according to local media, adding to the 404 people killed in a surprise Israeli offensive across Gaza early Tuesday, the Hamas-run health ministry said. That ended a nearly two-month-old ceasefire, during which talks on an extension failed to get off the ground.

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening and more demonstrations took place in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Popular opposition to the firing of a top intelligence official has compounded fears for the safety of hostages and apprehension over the government’s populist policies.

Netanyahu said the renewed strikes are “only the beginning” and military pressure will continue until Hamas releases the remaining hostages. Military operations won’t stop even if negotiations restarted, he said.

The new strategy includes targeting Hamas political leaders. Several such figures were killed in the initial wave of strikes.

“With this resumption of warfare, we have de-facto declared war not only on Hamas’ armed wing but also on its civilian leadership, which was constantly enabling Hamas to rehabilitate itself,” Zeev Elkin, a member of the security cabinet, said on Army Radio. “This is pressure which will ultimately bring about Hamas flexibility in the negotiations.”

When Israel first went to war against Hamas 18 months ago after the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group that killed about 1,200 people and abducted 250, the nation was fiercely united. Hundreds of thousands of reservists were called up and many served for months on end.

More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to Hamas health officials, while vast portions of the coastal strip of 2 million people have been destroyed.

But polls show a very different view today, with some 70% of Israelis saying they’d be willing to end the war in exchange for bringing back the remaining 59 hostages. Fewer than half of those are thought to be still alive.

The hostages are Hamas’s main bargaining chip in the efforts to end the war and there’s considerable doubt about whether the U.S.-designated terrorist group will ever give them all up. Netanyahu and his closest aides have taken the view that they should get out as many as possible, and then return to destroying Hamas so it can’t threaten Israel again.

They’ve argued that military action is the only way to pressure Hamas. Opponents have pushed back, saying several dozen hostages have died in captivity, some due to Israeli strikes.

Moreover, the release of three-dozen abductees in recent weeks has caused the public to focus more on the fate of those still held in Gaza. The skeletal state of those freed has influenced opinion, and in frequent public appearances they’ve said those still held are fading fast.

Netanyahu’s announcement early this week that he was planning to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has caused public alarm. No domestic security chief has ever been dismissed in the country’s history and critics say Netanyahu is seeking loyalty over competence.

It’s unclear if he can dismiss Bar without approval from a senior appointments committee. In addition, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is under pressure after saying the prime minister has a conflict of interest because the Shin Bet is investigating allegations that key aides of his were being paid by Qatar, risking state secrets.

The potential firing of Baharav-Miara is part of the ruling coalition’s attempt to reduce the power of judicial authorities. They say the goal is more democracy; their opponents say they’re destroying democracy in favor of populism, and the renewed Gaza fighting is part of that.

As commentator Avi Issacharoff wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Wednesday: “Many Israeli citizens asked themselves the awful question: was the resumption of the fighting in Gaza and the collapse of the ceasefire by Israel done for operational security reasons or perhaps for reasons related to the political survival” of Netanyahu?

Israel’s leader, who is the subject of a corruption trial, angrily rejected such an accusation when he addressed the public on Tuesday evening, saying those who voice it “have no shame. They have no red lines. They simply echo Hamas propaganda.”

If increased military pressure fails to yield more hostage releases there could be a full return to war, including with ground troops.

So far, Hamas hasn’t responded to the renewed assault. It’s unclear whether it can, although it appears to have recruited many young men into its ranks.