Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is quickly losing his grip on power as public support for him has been decreasing for some time now, given how he has been prosecuting the war in Gaza.
Surveys that were taken just early January saw that support for Netanyahu was at around 29 percent.
Currently, new numbers in Israeli media are showing that just 23 percent of respondents would like to see Netanyahu, remain in his position while 41 percent of respondents wanted to see former Defence Minister, Benny Gants in power instead.
This marks a six percentage point drop in support, and those numbers keep getting lower and lower.
When it comes to the number of seats in the coalition, the anti-Netanyahu bloc would have 68 seats if elections were held today and Netanyahu’s bloc would only have 47.
This means that he would not be the Premier. He simply would not have enough seats.
However, Netanyahu looks unbothered, or so it seems, as he remains defiant in his stance of “absolute victory” over Hamas.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office released a statement saying that Netanyahu is clear and consistent that there will be an absolute victory over Hamas in this war and that any reports or leaks within the media that say there are going to be major concessions given up by the Israelis, in exchange for a captives’ deal, are simply incorrect.
The statement ended by saying that the Israeli military is not going to withdraw from Gaza and that thousands of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails are not going to be released.
Prior to those remarks, the country’s national security minister of the far right, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and also a member of Netanyahu’s coalition, released a post on X saying that if the Israeli government enters a deal that he considers bad or not favourable to the Israelis – there is going to be a dissolution of the coalition.
Essentially threatening to tear apart the government if Netanyahu enters a deal to bring back the captives.
Shortly after, Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapid – a fierce critic of Benjamin Netanyahu – posted a statement himself saying that whatever deal the Israeli government chooses to enter to bring the captives back to their families, he will support and provide some sort of safety net for the government if the far-right chooses to leave the coalition.
This shows multiple disagreements on every level within the government.
Israel Unlikely To Listen To U.S
U.S Secretary of State, Antony Blinken is scheduled to visit Israel.
Reports circulating within Israeli media indicate that he will arrive in Tel Aviv on Saturday, February 3, 2024, where he will meet with the Israeli Prime Minister.
This will be Blinken’s sixth visit to Israel since the war began.
He will also sit in on a meeting with the country’s war cabinet where he will express U.S proposals for what the Americans are hoping to see happen after the war with Gaza.
However, it is unlikely that the Israelis are going to really listen to the advice of the U.S.
As we have seen, Netanyahu has brushed them off in the past. The last time that Blinken was in Israel, the meeting between the two leaders was reportedly incredibly tense and filled with a lot of disagreements.
Americans want to see more aid going into Gaza.
the Israeli prime minister says that he only wants to allow what he says is the minimal amount necessary to prevent a humanitarian disaster.
Over the past three, going into four, months, a humanitarian catastrophe has been unfolding in Gaza given the amount of people who have been dying, given how many Palestinians have been forced to flee their homes and are now displaced.
The U.S is trying to put pressure on Netanyahu but it is yet to be seen how he is going to react during Blinken’s visit.
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