'Netanyahu has failed militarily, diplomatically, and politically ... everyone is angry with him'

Six months into the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lost the plot and has plunged the country into the worst crisis, according to Israeli affairs expert Khinvraj Jangid.

Despite suffering one of the worst terrorist attacks anywhere in the world, Jangid said Netanyahu failed to amass the world’s support and sympathy and, on the contrary, Israel now stands more isolated internationally than ever over the conduct of the war in Gaza.

As for the recent exchange of fire between Israel and Iran, Jangid said Tehran was never detached from the war. “While Iran did not take responsibility for the October 7 attack, it endorsed it and patronised the escalation in the region against Israel by its proxies after the attack. It never kept itself away from the war,” said Jangid, Director of the Jindal Center for Israel Studies (JCIS) at the OP Jindal Global University and Adjunct Faculty at Azrieli Centre for Israel Studies (MALI) of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

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In an interview with Firstpost’s Madhur Sharma, here is how Jangid described Netanyahu’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza, the history of the Israel-Iran conflict and the recent clashes, and crisis within Israel:

‘Netanyahu didn’t have political outreach, brute force approach failed’

In response to the October 7 attack, Netanyahu did not adopt any political outreach and instead opted for brute military force alone. I see that the result is that he has failed militarily, diplomatically, and politically.

Militarily, the main objective of the war was to defeat Hamas which remains unfulfilled. Multiple battalions of Hamas still exist and Rafah remains its last bastion. Moreover, not all tunnels in Gaza have been discovered and dismantled. The tunnels allow Hamas to hide, regroup, and keep its warstores safe. The military also could not rescue hostages

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Diplomatically, Israel has lost goodwill internationally. It faces a genuine existential threat from Hamas and other groups sponsored by Iran. It suffered one of the most devastating terror attacks of all time. Yet it is isolated because of the devastation and humanitarian crisis in Gaza that the world has seen daily for six months on TV and the internet. The humanitarian crisis was not at all unpredictable and I believe Israel could have and should have prepared for the war’s effect on civilians beforehand.

Politically, Netanyahu is at a point where everyone is angry with him. His far-right allies are miffed because they say he is not applying enough force in Gaza and centrists are miffed at the poor conduct of the war. The public, particularly the families of the hostages, is angry at the failure to rescue the hostages and the high toll of the war.

‘Israeli public’s reaction to Iran’s attack & Israeli retaliation very interesting’

I see that the common Israelis did not support an overwhelming retaliation to the Iranian attack. It was surprising considering the general perception was that they would support a forceful retaliation to the unprecedented Iranian barrage but that was not the case.

It was evident on the street and surveys also showed it. Polling by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that 76% of Israelis were against any retaliation that could threaten the newfound coalition with Western and Arab countries against Iran.

The primary wish of the Israeli public is the return of all hostages — whether alive or diseased. The calls for retribution or punitive actions against Iran or its proxies are a distant second. It is evident in ongoing protests against Netanyahu and in everyday conversations.

‘Israel & Iran were not always enemies, conflict began with Islamic Revolution of 1979’

Israel and Iran have been in a shadow war for so long that it appears the two countries have always been enemies, but that’s not the case. The real enmity began with the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 when the new regime of the Supreme Leader declared Israel as a fundamental enemy.

While antisemitism is quite fundamental to the post-1979 Iranian regime, it’s not mere hatred of the Jews that drives its war against Israel. There are also political and domestic agendas.

Politically, the Iranian regime’s main enemy is the United States whom it calls ‘the Great Satan’. The regime calls Israel the American imperial outpost in the Middle East and that’s why —as the Great Satan’s proxy— Israel is also a fundamental enemy.

Domestically, the new regime of the Supreme Leader had to create an ideological enemy to rally people around the new state ideology. They made Israel that enemy. The framing of Israel as an ideological enemy and as the imperialist outpost of ‘the Great Satan’ was also a tool to fuel the Islamic Revolution’s ideology.

The Iranian regime does not actually care for the Palestinians. It exploits them to meet their end-goal of undermining its principal adversaries: the United States and Israel.

‘Mild Israeli retaliation a good thing, Iranian reaction tells it also doesn’t want war’

Since Israel is infamous for the disproportionate use of force, the mild reaction was actually strategic. While it conveyed the message to Tehran that Israel could respond and it could touch its nuclear facilities and bypass its defences, it did not cause enough damage that would draw the two countries into a spiral.

Iran has also dismissed the Israeli attack. The news of the attacks broke through anonymous US and Israeli sources and Iran never properly acknowledged the attack. The lack of acknowledgement on Iran’s part allows Iranians to not respond. The lack of desire of Iranians to not respond shows they don’t want a direct war with Israel.
As for the broader Israel-Iran ping-pong, it will continue as long as the Islamic Republic of Iran exists. Since the Iranian regime has fundamental enmity with Israel, only a fundamental change in Iran —a successful democratic movement— may end this enmity. I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

‘Netanyahu opposed Palestinian statehood to rise to power, now lack of solution haunts Israel’

Netanyahu used the rhetoric against Palestinian statehood to help his rise to power for the first time in 1996. He spoke against the Oslo Accords during the campaign. Since then, the idea of a two-state solution under his leadership has weakened.

The unprecedented violence during the Second Intifada and the rise of Hamas in Palestinian polity further weakened the desire for any solution within Israel. Using these incidents as a pretext, Netanyahu has continued to say that any Palestinian state would be adversarial for Israel’s security.

For more than a decade, Israeli politics has revolved around Netanyahu. During this time, he did not work for any political solution to the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The lack of any proposed solution to the Palestinian question is now haunting Israel. He took a unilateral approach to Israel’s national and foreign policies where he dismissed the Palestinian statehood when much of the world —including Israeli partners like the United States— supported it.

Netanyahu’s longstanding opposition to Palestinian statehood has led Israel to a point today where the Israeli leader and the country have lost goodwill in front of the international community as there is simply no answer within the Israeli polity to the Palestinian question when the world really wants one. Netanyahu thought he could keep going on forever without addressing the Palestinian issue but now it’s come to haunt him and Israel.

‘Israel’s internal political worsens international standing, helped Hamas’

For years, Israel has been going through a political crisis. The 2022 elections that brought Netanyahu’s far-right coalition to power was the fifth in four years. The right-wing in Israel has practically been taken over by far-right. I see the collapse of the moderate right-wing as a tragedy.

Netanyahu’s coalition’s survival depends on the support of two extremist ministers: Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir. This means their inflammatory statements go unchecked and their wishes regarding moves like judicial changes and West Bank settlements are honoured, which attract international ire, inflame domestic polity, and harm reconciliation prospects with the Palestinians.

Throughout last year, there were protests against judicial changes that the coalition was bringing. Netanyahu had to commit to the changes to keep the extremists in the coalition. In doing so, he ended up dividing the nation. This meant that Israel stood fundamentally divided and politicians were engaged in the worst political crisis. Hamas used instability and distraction to carry out its attack.

‘Hamas attack & Gaza war have damaged Israeli security system’s reputation’

Israeli military and intelligence services have had a legendary status for a long time. Stories of their daring operations have long been envied by other agencies in the world. But that’s now in the past.

The fact that thousands of terrorists were able to storm southern Israel and carry out a rampage for days was a blow to the Israeli security establishment. Moreover, the failed war in Gaza has further shattered the Israeli military’s reputation.

Six months into the war, none of the war’s objectives have been met. While there is a political failure on Netanyahu’s part, there are military failures as well: not all tunnels have been destroyed, not all Hamas battalions have been defeated, no hostages have been rescued in military missions, and Yahya Sinwar —Hamas leader in Gaza— has not yet been captured or killed.

It is shocking that the Israeli military —famed for rescuing hostages like in the Entebbe mission— failed to locate and rescue hostages. This military failure also contributed to the political failure as Netanyahu did not employ a political approach to the war at all. He counted on the military approach alone and, now that it has failed, Israel is in a stalemate with few good options left.