Benjamin Netanyahu might have expected better headlines on Wednesday from his high-profile talks with Donald Trump in Washington, as the US president pushes for an end to the Gaza war.But instead of plaudits, the Israeli prime minister faced mounting pressure to quickly wrap up the conflict back home, after five soldiers were killed in an ambush this week in the embattled Palestinian territory.Monday night’s losses came as Netanyahu was on an official visit to the United States to discuss a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Trump. But even as he said a deal could be reached, frustration is growing among large swathes of the public at the perceived stagnation of the war, the rising military losses and the lack of progress in releasing the remaining hostages.”It’s time to make history. Bring ALL the hostages home. End the war,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum wrote in a post on Truth Social directly addressed to Trump. “After 642 days, one more day, or week, or month, or two months, won’t really make a difference,” added columnist Raanan Shaked. “There is still time. Go to Washington… Look busy, as you try to ‘bridge the gaps between the two sides’,” he wrote sarcastically in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper on Wednesday. Monday’s attack with improvised bombs came after seven soldiers were killed in their armoured vehicle on June 25, one of the deadliest attacks on Israeli forces in 21 months of war. Since Israel launched a ground operation in Gaza in October 2023, 450 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the territory, according to an AFP tally based on army figures.- ‘Fear of Netanyahu’ -Public appeals to end the conflict have been issued on an almost daily basis by Netanyahu’s opponents.In the latest rally on Monday, scores of protesters gathered outside the US embassy brach office in Tel Aviv, urging Trump to force an end to the war and bring all the Israeli hostages home.”For the soldiers, for their families, for the hostages, for the State of Israel: This war must be ended,” tweeted opposition leader Yair Lapid on Tuesday, following the announcement of the latest military losses.The ruling coalition, however, has mostly endorsed Netanyahu’s policy of pursuing military operations in Gaza until “Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are eliminated”, which he restated to reporters at the White House on Tuesday evening.The unanimous backing of his coalition partners, however, may not reflect the will of their voters. The majority of the Israeli public supports ending the war in Gaza, according to Gideon Rahat, a political science professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.The continuation of the war is the will of a “minority leading the country”, he told AFP. That minority is composed of hardliners, led by far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who can be “more extreme than their own voters”, Rahat maintained.The bulk of Likud legislators, the mainstream right-wing party led by Netanyahu which holds over one quarter of the seats in the Israeli parliament, “don’t dare to talk because they are afraid of Netanyahu”, he added. Lately, however, at least one voice opposing the war has emerged from inside the coalition. The deaths of the seven soldiers sparked rare criticism of the war effort by a prominent lawmaker from the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, a partner in Netanyahu’s coalition.”I still don’t understand why we are fighting there… Soldiers are getting killed all the time,” Moshe Gafni said on Tuesday.The war broke out after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,680 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
Benjamin Netanyahu might have expected better headlines on Wednesday from his high-profile talks with Donald Trump in Washington, as the US president pushes for an end to the Gaza war.But instead of plaudits, the Israeli prime minister faced mounting pressure to quickly wrap up the conflict back home, after five soldiers were killed in an ambush this week in the embattled Palestinian territory.Monday night’s losses came as Netanyahu was on an official visit to the United States to discuss a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Trump. But even as he said a deal could be reached, frustration is growing among large swathes of the public at the perceived stagnation of the war, the rising military losses and the lack of progress in releasing the remaining hostages.”It’s time to make history. Bring ALL the hostages home. End the war,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum wrote in a post on Truth Social directly addressed to Trump. “After 642 days, one more day, or week, or month, or two months, won’t really make a difference,” added columnist Raanan Shaked. “There is still time. Go to Washington… Look busy, as you try to ‘bridge the gaps between the two sides’,” he wrote sarcastically in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper on Wednesday. Monday’s attack with improvised bombs came after seven soldiers were killed in their armoured vehicle on June 25, one of the deadliest attacks on Israeli forces in 21 months of war. Since Israel launched a ground operation in Gaza in October 2023, 450 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the territory, according to an AFP tally based on army figures.- ‘Fear of Netanyahu’ -Public appeals to end the conflict have been issued on an almost daily basis by Netanyahu’s opponents.In the latest rally on Monday, scores of protesters gathered outside the US embassy brach office in Tel Aviv, urging Trump to force an end to the war and bring all the Israeli hostages home.”For the soldiers, for their families, for the hostages, for the State of Israel: This war must be ended,” tweeted opposition leader Yair Lapid on Tuesday, following the announcement of the latest military losses.The ruling coalition, however, has mostly endorsed Netanyahu’s policy of pursuing military operations in Gaza until “Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are eliminated”, which he restated to reporters at the White House on Tuesday evening.The unanimous backing of his coalition partners, however, may not reflect the will of their voters. The majority of the Israeli public supports ending the war in Gaza, according to Gideon Rahat, a political science professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.The continuation of the war is the will of a “minority leading the country”, he told AFP. That minority is composed of hardliners, led by far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who can be “more extreme than their own voters”, Rahat maintained.The bulk of Likud legislators, the mainstream right-wing party led by Netanyahu which holds over one quarter of the seats in the Israeli parliament, “don’t dare to talk because they are afraid of Netanyahu”, he added. Lately, however, at least one voice opposing the war has emerged from inside the coalition. The deaths of the seven soldiers sparked rare criticism of the war effort by a prominent lawmaker from the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, a partner in Netanyahu’s coalition.”I still don’t understand why we are fighting there… Soldiers are getting killed all the time,” Moshe Gafni said on Tuesday.The war broke out after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,680 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable.
