The resumption of the war in Gaza highlights Netanyahu's autocratic drift.

CairoPolitical calculations have long since become the main element that guides the decisions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Gaza. And despite the fact that the Israeli leader has once again blamed Hamas of the breakdown of the ceasefire in the Strip, his government had never hidden its intention to resume the war to advance its genocidal agenda in the Palestinian territories, but also to take advantage of the clash to further its autocratic plans.

Just hours after launching the current bombing campaign in Gaza, the Israeli government announced the return of the far-right party of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, which had left the executive branch following the truce agreement with Hamas in January. This reinforcement comes at a key moment, as the government needs to approve a new budget before the end of the month to avoid its dissolution and the automatic calling of elections. Furthermore, the Parliament begins a new recess in April, and will not meet again until May.

The new offensive in Gaza comes amid a context of increased control by Netanyahu, who in recent months has dismissed or forced the resignation of two key figures with whom he had strong disagreements over the course of the war: former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and former army chief Herzi Halevi. The former was replaced by Israel Katz, considered a servant of Netanyahu, and the latter by Eyal Zamir, much more aligned with the prime minister.

With Gallant and Halevi outIn recent days, Netanyahu's attention has focused on another powerful figure: the head of the internal intelligence service, Ronen Bar. Like the two previous leaders, Bar advocates establishing a state commission to investigate the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 and determine responsibility, but Netanyahu opposes it. On Sunday, the prime minister informed Bar that he would dismiss him, an unprecedented move in Israel and raising concerns about the potential politicization of the country's most powerful security agency.

After Bar, Netanyahu's next target is Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Despite failing to stem the violence in Gaza and the West Bank, Baharav-Miara has halted multiple government decisions she deemed illegal, opposed reforms that would weaken the independence of the judiciary, and forced the application of the law on issues highly sensitive to the executive branch, such as compulsory military service for Jewish extremists. In her case, the government has already initiated the process of removing her, although the process could take several months.

Third in the crosshairs is Israel's Supreme Court Chief Justice Isaac Amit, another defender of the judiciary's independence. Although the government legally cannot remove him, Netanyahu's entourage has attacked and discredited him since he took office in February. And for the first time ever, neither the prime minister, the speaker of parliament, nor the justice minister attended his inauguration, with the latter declaring that he did not recognize his authority.

Social suspicion

All these moves come amid various investigations into Netanyahu himself. On the one hand, the agency Bar heads is investigating three of his advisors for allegedly receiving payments from Qatar to improve its image during the war in Gaza. It also concluded that part of the funds Doha sent to the Strip since 2018 for humanitarian purposes and with Netanyahu's approval were diverted to the armed forces. On the other hand, the prime minister is being investigated for corruption in three court cases brought by Baharav-Miara.

Netanyahu's authoritarian drift, in turn, generates deep mistrust among broad sectors of Israeli society, which is impacting public opinion on the war in Gaza, even if it is not out of solidarity with the Palestinian people. The latest polls show that nearly three-quarters of the country support a cessation of hostilities, a withdrawal from Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners. in exchange for the return of all the hostagesAnd less than a third of Jewish Israelis, the backbone of the army, advocate resuming intense fighting.

These sentiments are eroding commitment to the military, especially among reservists, who have been key to keeping the country's war machine active, but who, over time, are reporting fewer and fewer when called up, resulting in a shortage of troops. In recent weeks, anti-government protests have also intensified, fueled by Netanyahu's administration, including this Wednesday. And while they haven't reached mass scales so far, it is believed that his authoritarian tendency could backfire.