Tens of thousands of Israelis protested Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, calling for him to resign.
They are upset that Netanyahu sees it as an attempt to maintain power at some cost after deciding to resume bombings in Gaza last Tuesday, despite the remaining Israeli prisoners of war in Palestinian enclaves.
The ceasefire that Netanyahu defeated would have ultimately seen the release of all prisoners, but he did not want to move forward to end the war with Gaza, as the contract stipulated.
A new Israeli air attack in Gaza has already killed more than 500 Palestinians, including 200 children, over five days. However, analysts say concerns about the Palestinians killed in the enclave lack the dissatisfaction of protesters.
“People don’t believe there is a purpose to continue the war. It’s not what Palestinians mean, they are “invisible” – that’s what it means to them and hostages,” political analyst Ori Goldberg told Al Jazeera in Tel Aviv.
Budget voting
Protesters and many analysts say Netanyahu is motivated only by political interests.
He already has political victory. The day Israel resumed its attacks on Gaza, former far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gwil rejoined the government.
Netanyahu needs support in Congress from Ben Gwyr, who resigned in January in Congress to ensure the passing of the government’s budget. If the budget does not pass by March 31, an SNAP election will be triggered.
Throughout its lifecycle, there are several competing interests competing for slices of budget pie, some of which threaten to overturn the entire process.
Ben Goville and his Jewish party in power had previously voted against budget-related bills in December, but angered that the budget did not include the police wage increases reported to him.
The long-standing problem also comes from ultra-Orthodox political parties seeking guarantees that Jewish seminarian students will be exempt from military service and that the government will continue to acquire substantial funds for religious seminaries.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the budget expects a total spend of $169.199 billion, including a substantial amount of “reserves, employers, resources to defeat the enemy while supporting North and South reconstruction efforts.”
In 2024, Israel’s spending on wars surged, pushing the fiscal deficit to 6.9% of GDP, urging all three global credit rating agencies to cut Israel’s credit ratings. The 2025 budget sets a budget deficit target of less than 4.9% of GDP.
anger
Netanyahu may be happy to get enough support to pass his budget, but that has come at the expense of increasing anger against him.
The protesters opposed Ben Gwville’s return. This has suggested to many that coming soon after the first strike in Gaza and breaking the ceasefire and killing hundreds is part of an effort to ensure Netanyahu gets enough political support for the Congress.
“Netanyahu probably already had the necessary votes… but the support of Ben Gwil after the strike ensures that the budget is guaranteed,” said Nimrod Flashnberg, a political analyst in Israel.
“There’s a lot of rage… People are fighting the government and what it says,” Goldberg said. People are pissed at Netanyahu and rejecting the proposals he has played over the years. His welfare and the welfare of the nation are one. They aren’t. ”
“It’s like the Emperor’s new clothes. Everyone can see it now: the Emperor is naked.”
“Deep state”
Netanyahu claims he has been assaulted by the “deep states” of the country he has been arbitrating for over 17 years in total. The Prime Minister says the deep state “arms” the Justice Department against him. This is clearly deliberately cautious of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric president.
“In America and Israel, when strong right-wing leaders win elections, deep left-wing nations use their judicial systems to stop the will of the people. They won’t win either place!
As part of this supposed battle with deep states, Netanyahu is currently trapped in a fight to dismiss the head of Sinbet’s domestic security services, who is currently investigating the prime minister’s office. He is also trying to drive Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara away. These moves added to the rage of the protests.
Netanyahu’s coalition supported him and voted to reject the bar on Thursday, passing a no-confidence vote in Baharav Miara on Sunday.
However, the Supreme Court frozen the government’s attempts to drive Singh Bett’s head off on Friday, and Baharav Miara said on Sunday that her no-confidence vote was not part of the process required to remove her from her position as Attorney General.
Netanyahu claimed on Saturday that the push to the Firebar was not because he was investigating the prime minister’s office, but because of Sinbet’s failure during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu’s coalition voted against the bill to set up an investigation into the political class failures that led to the October 7 attack.
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