by Gila Svirsky

Israel’s renewed war against Gaza is horrendous, beyond words. But why strike again? After all, Hamas is no longer a threat to Israel. It can no longer breach the border to conduct another murderous assault like that of 7 October 2023. Indeed, Gaza is a wasteland of ruins and Hamas is beheaded of its leaders, defanged of its more dangerous arms, and depleted in numbers. Why kill more? Isn’t 50,000 enough? The number is unfathomably tragic.

IT’S ALL ABOUT POWER

March 19, 2025 anti-government protest in Jerusalem. Photo: FMT, CC BY 4.0

Why again? It’s an easy question, and most mainstream Israeli media have reached the same conclusion: To keep the current Israeli government in power. The extreme right wing threatens to bolt the coalition unless Gaza is cleared of Gazans and settled by Israelis. But Bibi Netanyahu has more compelling personal reasons: If there is a war, Bibi’s trial for corruption, breach of trust, and bribery is delayed and he remains prime minister. Crime Minister, as he is called without affection.

And there are more reasons for Bibi to prolong the war: Like his role model U.S. President Trump, Bibi is busy dismantling democratic safeguards. The less democracy, the more power to Bibi, and war is a good distraction while he is doing it. Here are three recent moves designed to cripple democratic norms. (They may sound familiar to Americans.)

First, Bibi is in the process of firing both the head of Israel’s intelligence services and its attorney general. Why? Because they are pursuing an investigation into a startling story: that two of Bibi’s closest advisors have been on the payroll of the Qatar government, feeding them intel. Shocking, isn’t it? And why is Bibi denying it and preventing an investigation? Maybe he has something to do with it? Maybe cooperating with Qatar is a way to delay a hostage deal and thereby prolong the war?

Second, a noose hangs over the head of Israel’s foremost civil society institutions—those engaged in monitoring clean government: One bill now tabled would criminalize any cooperation with the International Criminal Court—an international body recognized by every developed country except Israel and the U.S. The law would imprison those who make public evidence that Israeli officials have committed war crimes. A second bill would impose an 80% tax on donations to organizations that come from foreign countries or the UN. This would effectively silence and destroy human rights and monitoring organizations in Israel.

And, third, efforts continue to figure out how to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population without bringing down international wrath. The Israeli security cabinet just created an office to facilitate “the voluntary passage of Gaza residents to a third country…in accordance with U.S. President Donald Trump’s vision.”

AND HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS

And to somewhat balance the above, here are three items of good news:

First, many thousands of Israelis are taking to the streets on a daily basis, sometimes in the pouring rain, people from both the left and right, calling for an end to the war, a deal to return the hostages, and new elections to replace Crime Minister Netanyahu.

Second, reserve soldiers are not showing up when they receive draft notices. When October 7th happened, the call-up had a response rate of 120% – meaning more people showed up for duty than were drafted. And now – only around 50% actually leave home to join the fighting. It’s too much war for them, they’re exhausted, they don’t want to be killed or injured, their family income is suffering, and they resent the idea of risking their lives to keep Bibi in power, when there is no evident reason to be at war.

And last but not least, the Israeli judiciary is holding firm: The Supreme Court just elected a Chief Justice that Bibi was desperate to avoid. There’s hope that the Court will overturn Bibi’s efforts to oust the intelligence chief and our extraordinary attorney general, a woman with a steel spine who does not back down to villains.

Who’s gonna win? I’m thinking the good guys.