-Analysis-
PARIS — In what other country at war is there a general strike to change military strategy? In what other country do hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets to demand the resignation of a wartime prime minister — even though they share the war’s raison d’être?
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This country is Israel, of course, in all its complexity, where real political democracy coexists within its historic borders alongside an illegal occupation of Palestinian territories and acts of war of extreme brutality.
Israel has long been polarized — long before Oct. 7 — when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked huge protests against his plans for institutional reform. But the war that has been going on for almost 11 months, and above all the ordeal of the hostages, is causing new rifts.
New rifts
The discovery over the weekend in Gaza of the bodies of six Israeli hostages who had just been killed by their Hamas captors has plunged the country into anger. This anger is directed at Netanyahu. It was Hamas, of course, that captured the civilian hostages on Oct. 7, and murdered the six Israelis found dead in a tunnel.
But the demonstrators are angry at the prime minister for his refusal to conclude a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that would have freed the living hostages — and presumably the six who were just killed.
The protesters are convinced that Netanyahu and his coalition, which includes a very virulent far-right, are multiplying the obstacles to U.S.-led negotiations. The latest is the demand that the Israeli army remain in the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land on the border between Gaza and Egypt. The far-right parties are threatening to leave the coalition, and thus bring down the government, if it accepts the deal pushed by U.S. President Joe Biden.
Pressure from the street
The new element is the general strike that paralyzed the country Monday morning, including Ben Gourion airport, which was closed for a few hours. Histadrut, Israel’s major trade union center, carries with it much of Israel’s history and beyond. It was led in its day by David Ben Gurion, the founder of the state, during the British Mandate.
Yet Netanyahu has so far been able to resist the pressure of the street. On Monday, he was very combative, accusing the demonstrators of playing into the hands of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader hiding in Gaza. His main concern is to keep his majority together, which is far from easy.
Most of the demonstrators have no sympathy or even empathy for the Palestinians.
But beyond the survival of the government, the real question is that of this endless war and its trail of atrocities, for the hostages and for the 2 million Palestinians in Gaza subjected to collective punishment. Most of the demonstrators have no sympathy or even empathy for the Palestinians at this time of confrontation. They first want the hostages back, and blame a prime minister who puts this objective second.
The time has not yet come for a debate on the post-war period. That promises other dilemmas — and other divisions — for bewildered Israelis.
