Politics

Israelis are finally fed up with Netanyahu's endless war on Gaza

The gulf between the political and military establishments is widening. Politicians speak of a delayed victory, but military leaders warn of an inescapable quagmire.

Jack GUEZ / AFP

Demonstrators raise placards during an anti-government rally calling for action to secure the release of Israeli captives in Gaza near the defence ministry in Tel Aviv on August 12, 2025.

Israelis are finally fed up with Netanyahu's endless war on Gaza

Ziad Al Halabi

last update on 14 Aug 2025

In July, two video clips emerged from Gaza showing visibly emaciated and malnourished Israeli captives—soldiers captured by Hamas during the Gaza war. The images sent shockwaves across Israeli society, exposing what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government had been desperately trying to conceal: despite stating that its key war aim is to free the captives, its insistence to continue said war could ultimately lead to their deaths.

The videos of the two prisoners released by Hamas's Qassam Brigades division serve as a damning testament to the Israeli government's political and military failure, evidenced by an Israeli public that has finally turned against the war, with more than 60% of Israelis now favouring an end to the war in exchange for the hostages’ return.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu's tried and tested methods of rallying public sentiment—drawing parallels to images of emaciated Jews in Nazi prisoner camps—didn't work. And even though the Israeli public has seemingly caught onto Netanyahu's tricks, he still finds a way to sabotage prisoner exchange deals to prevent an end to the war.

As for global opinion, the shift against Israel's war on Gaza happened a while ago. But especially after emaciated children in Gaza began to proliferate in recent weeks, Netanyahu's likening of rail-thin captives to Nazi Germany has largely fallen on deaf ears in the international community. At least 100 people have been starved to death since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023, with multiple stages of forced starvation throughout.

Omar AL-QATTAA/AFP — Hidaya, a 31-year-old Palestinian mother, carries her sick 18-month-old son Mohammed al-Mutawaq, who is also displaying signs of malnutrition, inside their tent at the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 24, 2025.

However, in recent weeks, the phenomenon has risen exponentially. Not only are children dying as skeletons, but civilians seeking aid from the controversial US-Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation have been shot dead while trying to fight for limited parcels of basic aid like flour and pasta. More than 1,000 have been killed in this manner so far, further enflaming global opinion.

But instead of trying to tame international outrage, Netanyahu has doubled down on the war, announcing that Israel would now seek to occupy the entirety of Gaza by seizing the remaining quarter of the enclave in Gaza City, Deir Al-Balah and the surrounding refugee camps. It would then try to push the remaining 1 million Palestinians southward over the next few weeks.

Highly-unpopular plan

The plan has not only drawn international criticism, but it has also been slammed by several Israeli military leaders who warn it is a gamble that could cost the hostages’ lives. At least 42 have already been killed since the war began—some by Israel itself. They also warn that any long-term occupation of Gaza risks bogging the army down into open-ended operations that could cost more soldiers their lives and even risk more captures.

The gulf between the political and military establishments is widening. Politicians speak of a delayed victory, but military leaders warn of an inescapable quagmire.

Military assessments indicate that fighting in central Gaza—a densely populated and operationally complex area—offers no guarantee of decisive results, but instead heightens the risks to both hostages and soldiers, particularly given the lack of precise intelligence on hostage locations and the diminishing returns of continued military action.

In closed meetings, senior officers voiced concerns that the army was being used as a political tool to prolong the government's survival rather than as an effective means of achieving clear objectives. Questions have increasingly been raised about the real purpose of continuing the war, particularly after senior military officials repeatedly stated that all attainable military goals had already been reached.

Clear shift

Meanwhile, the largest Israeli protests have been taking place on the streets of Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem. The shift can be seen not only in the number of demonstrators, but in the manner they are protesting, with direct clashes with police taking place.

Placards carried blunt messages: "The government is sacrificing the hostages to save itself", "The war is killing them, not saving them", "We want our sons, not your slogans", and "Enough lies… the hostages are not political ammunition." These voices are no longer confined to the fringes of Israeli society but from soldiers' families, former soldiers, and reserve officers, all demanding an end to the war and an immediate prisoner exchange, even if that means a ceasefire or an outright end to the conflict.

REUTERS/Ammar Awad — Israeli protesters, including reserve and retired Israeli Air Force pilots, demonstrate to demand the release of all Israeli hostages held in Gaza and an end to the war, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on August 12, 2025.

Daily protests, vigils outside the Defence Ministry, and letters from families to officials have become more than emotional appeals; they now embody a social movement that rejects continuing the fighting for unattainable goals that do nothing but endanger their loved ones in captivity.

Ironically, the hostage families meet and coordinate frequently with US envoy Steve Witkoff, but rarely with Netanyahu or his ministers. Diplomatic sources say mediation efforts by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States continue to run up against Israeli rejection of any deal that would end the war. This suggests the government prefers to keep the matter unresolved, even at the cost of further internal erosion.

The gulf between the political and military establishments is widening. Politicians speak of a delayed victory, but military leaders warn of an inescapable quagmire. Israel now faces a complex moment of reckoning: will it heed the street and seek a settlement that saves the captives and halts the attrition, or will it press on towards a political and security abyss?

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