After 6 months... How did the war on Gaza reinforce the internal division in Israel?

Tel Aviv protests demand prisoner exchange with Hamas (Getty)

Occupied Jerusalem

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From the first day of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle and the Israeli war on Gaza, Israeli society raised the slogan “Together we will win,” a slogan that crystallized in the first hours of what was called in the Hebrew media “Black Saturday” on October 7, 2023. In order to create what is called “national unity” in Israel.

Under this slogan, Israel beat the drums of war on Gaza. With the start of the ground incursion into the Strip, it sought to spread a fighting spirit amid a consensus that Israel is waging an existential war for the survival of the “state of the Jewish people,” after the rift and fissure that struck Israeli society with the takeover of the far-right government. Under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Half a year after the war on Gaza, Israel seemed divided against itself in everything related to the conduct of the war, failing to achieve its declared goals of eliminating the Islamic resistance movement “Hamas” politically and militarily, and not returning all the Israeli detainees in captivity in Gaza, so political polarization returned again, and the rift appeared. community to reflect differences over internal issues that had been hidden by the shock of the “Al-Aqsa Flood”.

As Israeli society absorbed the severity of the shock and the delay in resolving the war, the features of a rift were formed that intensified to dramatic proportions, with the fracturing of consensus about the feasibility of continuing military operations in the Gaza Strip, and the widening of the circle of protests demanding the conclusion of a comprehensive exchange deal that would return all detainees, at a time when voices were raised that It demands Netanyahu's departure and early elections for the Knesset.

Reports indicate internal tension between the political and military leadership over the implementation of a military operation in Rafah, Gaza (Israeli press)

Divisions and threats

In the 75th year of its founding, Israel faces - as the head of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Colonel Reserve Doron Almog, says - “social divisions from within and without that constitute a real existential threat. Peace must begin at home. A model society can only be prepared when there is a constant effort.” To bring hearts together despite differences, polarization and societal gaps.”

In light of the war on Gaza and the exposure of the political and religious polarization that Israeli society is witnessing with the prolongation of the war, Almog believes in an article published by the Jewish People’s Policy Institute that in order to bring hearts closer and reduce the gaps and rifts between Jews in Israel, it is necessary to build bridges between the various segments. The Jewish community with its various political, religious and ideological affiliations.

Almog explained that this stage requires linking and unifying the Haredi, religious, conservative, reform, secular, and traditional Jews, saying, “Today, each group is fortifying itself within the specific limits of its agenda, ideologies, and worldview, which reflects the state of division and polarization, as it is not necessary for this to be the case.”

The Israeli army and security forces are not only the protecting force that ensures Israel's existence, Almog says, "but they also constitute the social cohesion that affects all aspects of life. Businesses, educators, CEOs, social entrepreneurs, the social melting pot must be present and present in Every square in Israel.

“Together we will win” is not just a slogan, said Adam Clare, spokesman for the “Peace Now” bloc, adding, “In the first days of the war, there was solidarity, unity, reciprocity, and a spirit of volunteerism the likes of which Israel had not seen in a long time. It reminded me of the period of waiting that preceded the Day War.” The six in June 1967, when there was a feeling in Israel of a real existential threat in the face of the declared intentions of the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan to destroy it.

Clare told Al Jazeera Net, “Whoever did not see and experience the unity of the people of Israel in those days before the June 1967 war did not see true unity. It is true that the unity of the days of October 2023 does not resemble the eve of the six days, but the rift and polarization created by Netanyahu and the right-wing parties "The extremist is unprecedented, despite the justification of societal unity for waging an existential war."

Disagreements and protests

But with the prolongation of the war and the strengthening of convictions among broad circles in Israeli society that Netanyahu is using it to achieve personal political goals, Clare adds, “The slogan, ‘Together we will win,’ seemed empty of content, as the protests that were initially launched for the sake of liberating the kidnapped people expanded and expanded to reflect the rift and political and ideological differences in society.” "Israeli."

He explained that the features of the rift in society surfaced again, as it appeared as if the Netanyahu government was procrastinating and evading negotiations on the exchange deal, and convictions were strengthened among broad Israeli circles that Netanyahu is waging an endless war in order to remain in the prime minister’s chair, and is ready to sacrifice the detainees in order to continue. The mandate of the far-right government.

Accordingly, Clare says, “The protests expanded to meet the voices calling for a ceasefire, as well as the movement calling for the overthrow of Netanyahu’s government and heading to the ballot box, so that the slogan “Together we will win” will disappear after the war, and will be replaced by division and rift, and this slogan will soon turn into a phrase. "Together we will continue to divide and dismantle the people and the state."

Fissure and polarization

In a reading of the widening circle of protests in Israel regarding the conduct of the war and the performance of the far-right government in everything related to the detainees file, an activist in the protest movement, Erbel Moyal, says, “The division, polarization, and rift in Israeli society revolve around Netanyahu and his approach and management of the government in the shadow of the war, as Netanyahu realizes that the protests, even if Their goals differed, pushing towards removing him from the Israeli scene.”

Moyal explained to Al Jazeera Net that the circle of protests that is expanding throughout the country is burdening Netanyahu, tightening the noose on his policies and approach, preventing him from moving, and encouraging the push towards holding early elections by many political parties, which fear that they will lose their electoral power if they do so. Failure to respond to the demands of the protest movement and understand the nature of popular anger.

It is believed that Netanyahu seeks to weaken the protest movement, whether by continuing the war, freeing detainees, sharing the burden and recruiting the Haredim, and even by strengthening the character and identity of Israel as a Jewish and bureaucratic state.

But Netanyahu, according to Morial, “does not understand that the protests cannot be stopped, compared to other protests against amendments to the judicial system. This protest under the shadow of war does not have a central leadership. It is fragmented and large, and it is very difficult to restrain it, as it interacts across multiple fronts and arenas and is subsumed under it.” "A lot of Israelis, which is what Netanyahu fears."

Source: Al Jazeera