A poll
published by the non-partisan Israel Democracy Institute on January 02
showed only 15% of Israelis want Netanyahu to remain in office after
the war on Hamas ends, in line with previous surveys that have shown his
popularity sharply down.
The embattled leader, who for years has brandished a Mr.
Security image, shows no sign of wanting to leave.
"He's defiant.
He's apparently taken a strategic decision to survive politically even this. I
think it's a quixotic aim and sooner or later I believe that his own colleagues
will tell him that his time is up," said political analyst Amotz Asa-El.
Political change
looks unlikely in the near term while fighting in Gaza still rages.
Netanyahu meanwhile, has vowed to pursue war until complete victory over Hamas
with security chiefs warning combat will run through 2024. There are signs within Netanyahu's government
that some are jockeying for position.
Reports of
wrangling within the security cabinet have been leaked to the Israeli press and
far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, largely cut out of any war
decisions, has taken swipes at Benny Gantz, Israel's former centrist defence
chief who has joined Netanyahu's emergency government and war cabinet.
Anti-government street
protests that had swept Israel for almost a year until the attack have
been rekindled in recent weeks, calling for elections to be held. But those are
still relatively small compared with the mass demonstrations of 2023.
"It's time for him to go home, said marketing
manager Noa Weinpress, in Tel Aviv. "It should have happened on the eighth
of October and if not, definitely now, after a hundred days."
Even some of
Netanyahu's biggest fans seem resigned to the inevitable departure of a leader
they still admire.
"I think he'll
win the war and step down, with dignity," said Yossi Zroya, a member of
Netanyahu's Likud Party and Shawarma stand owner in Ramla.
It was here
Netanyahu was greeted with cheers of "King Bibi" 15 months ago at an
election campaign event where he pledged to return security to the streets.
The sentiment was echoed by other supporters
strolling through Ramla market. "Netanyahu is a genius. He's not to blame
for what happened," said Rafi Kimchi, a diamond dealer visiting from
nearby Herzliya. "But I think he's done. It's finished."
Eyeing
disillusioned Likud voters, Ben-Gvir could be looking to set himself apart and
leave the government ahead of a campaign, said Asa-El, who is research fellow
at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
Gantz, meanwhile,
has seen his popularity soar in the polls, seen as a responsible man of the
people. Numerous Likud veterans have long been vying to succeed Netanyahu,
including Foreign Minister Israel Katz and lawmaker Yuli Edelstein.
Yossi Cohen,
Israel's former spy chief and a frequent commentator on news shows in recent
weeks, has also been floated as a successor, with some polls giving a party led
by him around 12 of the Knesset's 120 seats.
"Nothing is
out of the question," Cohen told N12's Uvda television show on Jan. 4.
"I have not decided yet."
Asa-El predicted a
"political bang" once fighting subsides, possibly a premature
election. "There will be vast, big and multiple demonstrations if the
politicians will try to drag their feet," he said.
