Occupied Jerusalem – Israeli society remains entrenched in shock from the events of October 7, 2023. A hundred days into the war on Gaza, it is evident that the Israeli way of life and history is still frozen at the point of the "Al-Aqsa Flood," which is considered a pivotal milestone in the future of internal relations between Israelis and marks a turning point in the conflict with the Palestinians.
As analysts converge in their estimates that the Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, has not achieved any of its goals on Gaza, research and studies by think tanks agree that the continuation of the war has brought internal disputes and conflicts back to the forefront, deepening the rift within Israeli society.
The societal rift reflects the reality of the artificial unity among Israelis, which was highlighted at the start of the war and which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to frame by promoting the idea that "Israel is fighting an existential war," calling for a rise above internal disagreements and unity, which was soon fractured following the failure to free all Israeli detainees and to achieve the war's objectives.
Israeli Disagreements
Activist Natan Raz from the "Day After" movement says, "Israel is stuck on the events of October 7, and Israeli society is still living the horror of the shock, with the battle being existential as Netanyahu's government propagated. Thus, the war comes and continues, despite the unprecedented losses sustained by Israel at all levels—political, military, social, and economic."
However, the Israeli activist indicated to Al Jazeera Net that the day after the war, which seems still far away, should look into the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and settling it through political solutions. He says it is also necessary to examine the entirety of the relationships among Israelis themselves and also with Arab citizens in Israel, who are dealt with according to emergency regulations.
Aside from the Israeli debate concerning the war's objectives and the possibility of achieving them, and the division over a prisoner exchange deal and the detainees' dossier, Raz warned that internal Israeli disagreements have resurfaced with the prolongation of the war, where issues of governance, religious and Torah-based legislations, amendments to the judicial system, and Netanyahu's corruption cases have come to light.
Division in Israel regarding the prisoner exchange deal and the detainees' dossier (European)
Right-Wing Dominance
In an analysis of the war stages on Gaza and how Netanyahu exploited them for his personal political interests and their use by far-right parties to maintain the governmental coalition at the expense of deepening societal rifts, Dr. Esaaf David, head of the Israel Department at the Middle East Institute in Van Leer Jerusalem, says, "Netanyahu's government went to war. Hamas had no choice."
Dr. David, one of the founders of the Regional Thought Forum, outlined in a situation assessment received by Al Jazeera Net, how Netanyahu's government exploited the different combat stages, under various names, for the strength of the coalition and the service of the far-right project.
He pointed out that Netanyahu's government, which went to war reluctantly, saw combat stages as a means to serve its objectives and projects, whether within the Israeli society or even with the Palestinians.
From the Israeli researcher's viewpoint, Netanyahu's government is waging war on the backs of Israeli detainees and Palestinian civilians in Gaza, all to prevent the government's dissolution.
He indicated that Netanyahu, amid failing to achieve any war objectives, is now aiming in the third stage of fighting to maintain the solidity of the right-wing camp to stay in power, even if it means deepening the Israeli society's rift.
Beginning of Cracks
Regarding developments and changes that could occur on the political scene, David believes that the emergency government, originally formed to support the Israeli military in the war on Gaza, may not last long due to the far-right coalition.
David warns of the beginning of fissures even in the Israeli consensus on the war, recalling the voices rising and protests escalating against the right-wing parties' coalition, which insists on sending soldiers and officers to fight for far-reaching goals set by a divided, conflicting, and incohesive government, which has led Israeli society to an unprecedented disaster.
The far-right, dominating the Israeli political and party scene, David says, "understands only force, and only knows how to speak with its opponents and enemies, whether Jews or Palestinians, through force, gradually turning Israel into a mad state, without the slightest thought of the day after the war, hoping to keep 200,000 Palestinians in Gaza in place of 2.2 million."
Esaaf David: Netanyahu aims to maintain the right-wing camp to ensure his stay in power (Al Jazeera)
The Persistence of Hamas
As the war on Gaza continues with interim results and realities on the ground, the Israeli writer Menachem Klein says, "The Israeli government is placing Hamas in the leadership of the Palestinian people," recalling what happened after Israel lost the October 1973 war when Israel refused for the West Bank to be under Jordanian rule, which helped reinforce the influence of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) "Fatah" to be the sole representative of the Palestinian people.
Now, in its manner of war in Gaza and dealing with the Palestinian issue, Klein points on the website "Seehear Makommit" that "Israel may do the same with Hamas, positioning it at the head of the Palestinian national movement."
The attack carried out by Hamas on October 7 affected Israel in a way no Palestinian organization had before, and for this reason, Klein says, "Any party coming to control Gaza or its rehabilitation will be required to at least have Hamas's approval, and perhaps also involve its participation in some form of government."
Difficulty in Decisiveness
On the Israeli security front, Uri Bar-Joseph, who lectures on national security, intelligence, and the Arab-Israeli conflict at Haifa University, described the "Al-Aqsa Flood" as an "earthquake" and asserts it is the most significant event in Israeli history since the Six-Day War in May 1967.
Bar-Joseph says in a position estimate published in the newspaper "Haaretz" that "Al-Aqsa Flood and the war is a turning point in many fields, one of the most important being the concept of national security, and the current concept's failure was clearly reflected in the results of Hamas's attack."
With the ongoing war on Gaza, the national security researcher says, "We return to the main point; the Israeli security concept has gone bankrupt, the military superiority that lasted for 75 years has declined."
He sees what Israel lacks is the political element, which he says will have the role of "reducing our enemies' motivations to wage war against us, easing the burden of the deterrence and early warning equation, and decisiveness. Without it, deterrence will fail, the warning will not withstand the test, and the army will find it difficult to be decisive."
