If Israeli headlines are anything to go by, the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have provided the Israeli leader with the most serendipitous outcome of his long and tumultuous political career. one of the transformations.
“The Hypocrisy of The Hague” was trumpeted on the front page of Yevoe Yee Yee on Tuesday, a popular mainstream daily that has frequently criticized Netanyahu.
The front page echoed the outrage expressed across Israel’s political spectrum and abandoned any semblance of impartiality, denouncing the “intolerable cowardice” of the chief prosecutor, Karim Khanbecause it said Israel was fighting alongside Hamas leaders “who are trying to eliminate it.”
Mr Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Galant, were threatened with arrest warrants as well as three Hamas leaders accused of involvement in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October. The devastating attack and Israel’s punitive reprisal on 7 October committed war crimes. Gaza.
This appears to have galvanized his opposition broadly. Israel’s political opponents offered support. U.S. officials have been critical of his plans to invade Rafah and have harshly condemned the International Criminal Court’s actions.
In the hours and days leading up to that, Mr Netanyahu had appeared to be in trouble, both domestically and internationally.
The Israeli public is increasingly frustrated with the government’s failure in more than seven months to achieve its stated war goals: to eliminate Hamas and bring home the 128 hostages, dead or alive, who remain in Gaza. Mr Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet is on the verge of collapse.
Galante and former military adviser Benny Gantz, two key members of the war cabinet, have publicly denounced Netanyahu in recent days for failing to develop a plan to govern Gaza. Gantz even issued an ultimatum, saying that if Netanyahu did not come up with a clear strategy by June 8, his centrist party would withdraw from the government.
Israel is also facing intense pressure from its most important ally, the United States, to halt its offensive.It takes center stage as Israel’s Knesset reconvenes on Monday after a spring recess Anti-government protests resume It is reminiscent of the events that rocked the nation in the months before the war.
