Binyamin Netanyahu is making Israel ‘untouchable’: this has only one winner

He doesn’t care that the US president, Israel’s ultimate security guarantor, contradicted him publicly and berated him privately over the starvation of children in Gaza. If he did, he’d change his policies or drop his denials.

And he doesn’t care that almost all of Israel’s traditional friends are distancing themselves from his government. Germany is halting the export of offensive weapons and Britain, France, Canada and Australia are in the process of recognising a state called Palestine.

He cared just enough about the loss of global support to hold an English-language press conference on Sunday, a rare event aimed at overseas audiences.

But not enough to change course: “To have European countries and Australia to march into that rabbit hole,” of recognising Palestine “is disappointing, and I think it’s actually shameful. But it’s not going to take, it’s not going to change our position.”

So what does he care about? In a word, himself. He is doing what he must to hold his precarious coalition government together by pandering to its most mutinously inclined elements. Specifically, his far-right allies, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, of the Religious Zionist party, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of the Otzma Yehudit party.

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These men demand continuous hostilities against Palestinians in both of the Palestinian enclaves, Gaza and the West Bank. They rank aggression against Palestinians above the lives of the Israeli hostages.

However far Netanyahu goes in acting against the Palestinians, it is never enough for Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. Indeed, Smotrich on Saturday criticised Netanyahu for half-measures in Gaza.

When the prime minister said he would order the army to occupy Gaza City, Smotrich said this was inadequate. He’d “lost faith that the prime minister is able and wants to lead the IDF to a decisive victory”. He implied that he’d be prepared to quit Netanyahu’s government unless his demands were accommodated.

This is the perpetual condition of the Netanyahu coalition, meaning he must wage perpetual war.

The alternative, as articulated by Ehud Barak, Israel’s former army chief, former prime minister, and ranked with two others as the most highly decorated soldier in Israel’s history: “From this position of strength,” he wrote in May, “Israel can now afford to pivot towards a broader deal: release all hostages (living and dead), end the war and pursue a peaceful regional order.”

Barak also explained why Netanyahu would reject this constructive solution: “Embracing this path would break Netanyahu’s coalition and likely end his political career. The prime minister is not acting in the national interest; he is acting purely for self-preservation. Every other argument is a smokescreen.”

Beyond his prime ministership, Netanyahu is protecting himself from two other personal reckonings. If he loses power, he will be held to account for the Israeli lapses that allowed Hamas’ barbaric assault in October 2023. Most Israelis hold him responsible. He is not interested in being the subject of a national investigation.

Second, there are three corruption cases still pending against him. The prime ministership protects him from accountability here, too.

A “total victory” over Hamas, says Barak, is a “mirage”, which is exactly why it’s so convenient for Netanyahu. So long as he rules, the war rages.

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So what’s the point of London, Paris, Ottawa and Canberra moving to recognise Palestinian statehood? Surely it cannot stop Netanyahu fighting his one-man war of self-preservation.

Netanyahu himself gave a blunt explanation at his Sunday press conference: “Many of these leaders tell me in private conversations, ‘We agree with you. We understand what you’re doing. We would do the same.’ But they say, ‘We have to cater to public opinion at home.’ I tell them, ‘It’s your problem.’”

He’s right that these governments are responding to pressure from their electorates. He’s wrong that it’s their problem alone. It’s also Israel’s.

Since its founding in 1947, Israel has struggled to win support and recognition around the world. It was on the cusp of winning diplomatic recognition from Saudi Arabia when Hamas attacked. One of its specific aims was to sabotage the negotiations. It succeeded.

Netanyahu is making Israel untouchable. And that is rewarding Hamas.

Peter Hartcher is international editor.

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