Israelis Realize They Can Be Killed by Their Own Government's 'Security Considerations'

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Israel to call upon the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate the release of the hostages still held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas. The protests were sparked by the deaths of the six of the hostages whose bodies were recovered by military last week.

But while many Israelis are not fond of Netanyahu and his government, the majority of the Israelis also “don't have an alternative for his war and perhaps don't want one,” says Dr. Ori Goldberg, expert on Israeli politics.

“The anger in the streets today is because for some time Netanyahu has claimed that the destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages are related. The death of the six hostages on Saturday revealed that the two goals are contradictory. Most Israelis are only realizing this now and they are angry,” he explains.

Goldberg does point out that Israeli “streets” now regarding the government as a “hostile factor” is a new development, and that while Israelis do “support (in varying degrees) the notion of a war against Hamas,” the deaths of those six hostages last week “changed the mood and the vibe.”

“Israelis are beginning to realize that they cannot simply accept every government decision justified by recourse to "security considerations", because these security consideration can end up killing Israelis,” he remarks.

The expert also suggests that ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas were “dead in the water” even before the hostages’ deaths, but says that Netanyahu may actually cave in to US pressure and accept the ceasefire deal proposal cooked up by the Biden administration.

The protests in Israel, while unlikely to cause Netanyahu to resign, also highlight the “an increasing polarization within the Israeli society,” adds Luciano Zaccara, adjunct associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar.

“[There are] Those who opposed him based on the mismanagement of the ceasefire negotiations, and those who vehemently demand him not to negotiate but to end the task of eliminating Hamas,” he says referring to how various groups in Israel regard Netanyahu’s policies.

Zaccara also argues that the protests are unlikely to affect the Israeli-Hamas negotiations, “since Netanyahu seemed since the very beginning not too worried about the opposition of part of the society.”