As we enter the four-day pause in fighting, the mood in Israel is still for the most part “behind the war” in Gaza, says Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands.
“At the crux of this is that October 7 and the horror and trauma that Israelis went through that day is still incredibly raw,” he said.
The Israeli prime minister is shouldering most of the blame for this, Challands said, because of his policy of bolstering Hamas in order to sabotage a two-state solution and divide Palestinians.
“[The Israeli public] think that was a massive security blunder,” he said.
A poll from Israeli news outlet Maariv shows that if elections were held today, Netanyahu’s Likud Party would drop from the 32 seats it won in November 2022 to just 18.
The poll also shows only 27 percent support for Netanyahu as prime minister and 52 percent support for opposition leader and war cabinet member Gantz.
Ultimately, “the Israeli intention to smash Hamas has the broad support of many, many people”. said Challands.
Source: AlJazeera
