With the withdrawal of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties from the coalition, the Israeli government became a minority government. This signals the formal realization of a longstanding basic reality: even when the government enjoyed the solid support of 68 Knesset members, it was, fundamentally, a minority government.<\/p>\n
Its positions on major national issues do not align with the majority of the Israeli public. This is a minority government not only in the Knesset but also among the people. Take, for example, the management of the war. The government strives for a \u201ctotal victory,\u201d yet just a minority of the public believes this is an achievable goal (31% \u2013 JPPI). The vast majority of Israelis think the war should be ended through a deal that would release all the remaining hostages in one fell swoop (70% \u2013 Accords Center). The government chooses to continue embroiling the people\u2019s army in a war that most of the people want to end.<\/p>\n
An overwhelming majority of Israelis demands the establishment of a state commission of inquiry (78%, including 52% of coalition voters \u2013 Maariv). Is it conceivable not to thoroughly and professionally investigate the circumstances that led us to the lowest point in our national life since the establishment of the state? The government, which holds the authority to establish such a commission, is bucking the will of more than three-quarters of the Israeli public.<\/p>\n
THE SAME applies to haredi IDF conscription. Israelis are fed up with the continued de facto exemption of young haredi men from military service. The gap between the lived experience of combat soldiers and their families \u2013 under the heavy cloud of existential anxiety, jeopardized physical and mental health, family separation, and economic uncertainty \u2013 and the lives of young haredim, some of whom study Torah while others idle in white shirts, is incomprehensible to almost all of us. Yet the government refuses, seeking instead to use its power to perpetuate this injustice.<\/p>\n
An overwhelming majority of 89% of Jewish Israelis believe haredim who are not studying seriously should be drafted, and 62% support drafting all haredim, including those who do study. The government\u2019s priorities diverge entirely from those of the public. The highest priority for this government is advancing the judicial overhaul\/revolution, which subverts the standing of the judiciary, legal advisers in the executive branch, the media, and any governmental or civil body that might serve as a check on government power.<\/p>\n
By contrast, among the general public, only a negligible minority sees this as the most pressing issue (10% \u2013 Channel 13), and nearly two-thirds believe the reform plan should not be pursued during wartime (61% \u2013 Israel Democracy Institute).<\/p>\n
The common sense of Israelis \u2013 including many who support the reforms in principle \u2013 calls for a pause in the internal conflict, at least until the geopolitical situation stabilizes. Yet once again, the government does the opposite \u2013 stoking controversy, deepening division, and fanning the flames at every opportunity.<\/p>\n
THE MAJORITY of the Israeli public leans to the Right. Likud and the coalition parties have represented the dominant identity camp in Israel over the past decade. The war has further strengthened this inclination. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remarkably collapsed the Iranian web and mobilized the US, with all its power, as a strategic partner.<\/p>\n
Despite these historic achievements, public trust in him and the \u201cfull-on\u201d right-wing government remains very low (61% do not trust it \u2013 JPPI). Clearly, the enormous gap between public opinion and government policy on all critical issues undermines public trust. There is no greater political wizard in Israeli politics than the prime minister \u2013 his extraordinary longevity at the top of the political pyramid is definitive proof of that. Why then does he choose to turn his back on the will of the majority, thereby eroding public trust in him and his government?<\/p>\n
It appears that Gulliver is bound by Lilliputians: National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have bound him with the rope of \u201ctotal victory,\u201d likely against his better instincts. The haredim twist his arm to support their escape from responsibility for Israel\u2019s security. The revolutionaries \u2013 posing as conservatives \u2013 push him to promote an anti-democratic agenda under the guise of reform.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu is perceived as a formidable leader. However, the continuing predicament in which he acts according to the proclivities of others \u2013 fringe elements and extremist factions \u2013 raises the question: Is he a leader or a follower? The facts show that the far Right, the haredim, and the so-called conservative radicals who, having cast him as Sampson, are chopping at his hair, chipping away his authority, and steering him toward their extreme predilections, which stand in stark contradiction to the preferences of the overwhelming majority of Israelis.<\/p>\n
Will he know how to return to his senses?<\/p>\n