The political reverberations of Israel’s ceasefire agreement with Hamas continue to erode the foundation the Netanyahu government strengthened itself upon across the 15-month war. Over the course of the conflict, Netanyahu’s regime took unprecedented measures to consolidate power in the office of prime minister under the justification that the war constituted a state of emergency that required effectively dictatorial powers. With the war at least momentarily at a pause, the iron-fisted grasp Netanyahu held over Israel has started to slip away. The rapid deterioration of support for Netanyahu has led to the prime minister taking increasingly desperate measures to preserve his future.
The latest development serving that interest comes in the form of an Orwellian law passed by the Knesset that makes questioning the official narrative about the events of October 7th a thoughtcrime. Those events have long been marred by accusations of security failures and even speculation as to whether Netanyahu’s regime permitted the attack as a false flag to salvage his 6th term as Prime Minister Of Israel amidst the massive protests calling for his resignation that preceded it. Netanyahu now faces that same pressure yet again in the fallout from agreeing to a ceasefire with Hamas.
Following the official recognition of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Netanyahu lost the support of extreme rightwing factions of the ruling coalition of his government. That political upheaval was instigated by former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of Israel’s Jewish Power party as well as the leader of the Religious Zionism party and Netanyahu’s Minister Of Finance Bezalel Smotrich. The mass resignations of their respective party members from the Knesset led by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich were followed by the resignation of Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the head of the Israel Defense Forces. Halevi’s resignation will take effect on March 6th.
Hellbound and Down 