Could Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be out of office this year? One of the members of Israel’s war cabinet – Benny Gantz – is polling ahead of him, and has called for elections in September.
“Polling in Israel shows two things. Israelis overwhelmingly support the country’s war goal of destroying Hamas, and Israelis overwhelmingly disapprove of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” said Steve Inskeep of NPR this week.
Haaretz, an Israeli news outlet, noted Thursday that the 2023 Israeli Democracy Index showed that “rifts are widening” in the country. It also explained that results of the survey are often published in January, but they were published in March this year in order to gather more data after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Since that attack, Netanyahu declared the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. As the war drags on, Israel has been criticized for continuing the fight as civilian Palestinians in Gaza are caught in the crossfire, with limited access to humanitarian aid. Even former President Donald Trump recently said that Netanyahu should wrap up the war.
“Whoever plans to hurt us – we will hurt him,” said a translated Thursday X post from Netanyahu.
In the U.S., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said last month that Netanyahu has “lost his way” and is now beholden to right-wing extremists in Israel. Schumer called for the country to hold elections.
“When a leading member of Israel’s war cabinet calls for early elections and over 70% of the Israeli population agrees according to a major poll, you know it’s the right thing to do,” said Schumer in a Wednesday X post. Gantz has previously criticized Schumer for attempting to intervene in Israeli politics.
In early March, Gantz also met with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The Vice President and Minister Gantz discussed the situation in Rafah and the need for a credible and implementable humanitarian plan prior to contemplating any major military operation there given the risks to civilians,” said the White House. “She urged Israel to take additional measures in cooperation with the United States and international partners to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and ensure its safe distribution to those in need.”
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu Thursday.
“President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable. He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” said the White House. “He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps. He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home.”
According to Axios, Gantz currently leads the polls in Israel by a wide margin – around 50% of people said he’s the right person to lead Irael’s government compared to 35% who said the same about Netanyahu. Gantz is the leader of the moderate National Unity party and joined the emergency government shortly after the Oct. 7 attack. Polls also show that his party would win seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
“In the first few months of the war, Gantz and members of his party had significant influence on government policy, especially the first hostage deal with Hamas in November,” Axios reported. “But over the last two months, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regained confidence after the initial shock of Oct. 7, he has been taking steps to sideline Gantz.”
Netanyahu has rejected Gantz’ call for early elections, the outlet added. He said the current government will remain in place until all war objectives are met and accused Gantz of “playing petty politics.”
“The rupture that we experienced following the events of October 7th is reflected in the findings of this year’s Israeli Democracy Index: the public places great trust in the IDF and its commanders, who set a personal example, take responsibility, and act with courage and conviction in every aspect of the war. Local government and the police also saw a spike in public trust,” Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute said of the poll results. “By contrast, we found a conspicuously low level of trust in the government and the Knesset – less than a quarter of the public trusts their elected officials.”
Netanyahu has served as Israel’s prime minister two times in the past – from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021.