Almost half of Israelis 'worried over erosion' of Jewish state's standing on international stage
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00:00 During the last 24 hours, Israel has seen some of the largest anti-government protests
00:05 in months.
00:06 Tens of thousands of people gathered in central Jerusalem on Sunday, calling on the government
00:09 to reach a ceasefire deal and free the dozens of hostages who are still being held in Gaza.
00:14 They also called for early elections.
00:16 Bras 24's Emerald Maxwell filed this report for us.
00:21 Nearly six months into the war, Israeli protesters have lost patience with their Prime Minister.
00:27 They're camping out in front of the Knesset for four days, after taking to the streets
00:32 on Sunday in the largest anti-government protest since the start of the conflict.
00:36 "Bibi, it's your time, we don't want you."
00:42 "I'm doing what I've been doing for the last four months.
00:48 I'm asking politely to Mr. Netanyahu to go away."
00:54 "We cannot imagine him not being replaced because he is driving us to the abyss.
01:02 If good leaders or a new coalition is not taking over, we are doomed."
01:10 After putting up a united front following October 7th, cracks in Israeli society are
01:15 re-emerging.
01:16 Benjamin Netanyahu has not delivered on his promises of destroying Hamas and bringing
01:21 all the hostages home.
01:23 Some 100 Israelis and the remains of 30 others are believed to still be detained.
01:28 Many hostages' families had refrained from publicly denouncing the Prime Minister and
01:32 the attack's aftermath, but now believe time is running out and are calling for a ceasefire.
01:39 "I'm in favour of a comprehensive deal, not just a humanitarian deal and stop at that.
01:44 I'm in favour of a deal that will free everyone, a deal in stages.
01:49 I'm happy for those who were released, yet my heart is broken that her daughter was murdered
01:53 and her body is still in Gaza and we're unable to bring her home to be buried in Israel."
02:00 Netanyahu is also facing a series of corruption charges which are slowly making their way
02:05 through the courts.
02:06 And protesters say his decisions appear to be focused on political survival over the
02:10 national interest.
02:12 Unless his government falls apart sooner, Netanyahu won't face elections until spring
02:17 of 2026.
02:18 Let's get some more analysis.
02:21 We can speak now to Arik Rudnitsky, who is project manager at the Moshe Dayan Centre
02:25 at Tel Aviv University, also a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem.
02:30 Dr Rudnitsky, just to quote one person in that report, "We are doomed," he said, referring
02:38 there to the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu.
02:40 How widely held is that kind of opinion?
02:44 Well, I think that the last two weeks actually witnessed two new developments that took place
02:51 that are not necessarily connected to one another, but they both have a profound impact
02:56 on the political stability and also on the public mood in Israel.
03:01 The one is the failure last month of the talks or the indirect negotiations between Israel
03:06 and Hamas in Qatar.
03:08 And the other is the internal political crisis of the government of Netanyahu as a result
03:13 of the failure or the ruling of the Supreme Court in Israel to recruit ultra-orthodox
03:22 religious young men.
03:24 Now, the first development actually took, it made many dozens of thousands of people
03:32 to go to the streets in protesting that actually Israel did not make all its or did not exhaust
03:39 all its efforts to fulfill and complete a deal with Hamas.
03:45 And the price, I think that the price is on the table, but the problem is that Hamas also
03:50 demands that a complete ceasefire and end of war.
03:55 But also within the protest movement itself, we can hear different voices.
04:01 Now, for instance, we hear a voice that actually represents the interest or the pure interest
04:07 of the families of the hostages themselves that say that we should not, we should not
04:12 put the politics into this game.
04:15 Our cause is humanitarian.
04:18 We want the consensus in the Israeli public.
04:21 And actually, they oppose those who actually have some political motives.
04:25 They're calling upon early elections that should take place in the next couple of months.
04:35 So I think that there are many voices, but no one can rule out that the amount of rage
04:43 among the Israeli public at large, I think that the pictures, what we see on the screen
04:48 right now actually tells a true story.
04:50 Yeah, I mean, Mr. Netanyahu faces a litany of corruption charges and some cynics say
04:57 that it's not in his interest to end the war because when the music stops, he'll go to
05:01 prison.
05:02 Is that a fair assessment?
05:05 I'm aware of such cynics' analysis.
05:09 Actually, I don't tend to accept such statements.
05:15 Of course, they are quite cynic.
05:17 And I don't believe that actually Netanyahu has an interest to prolong the war.
05:22 No prime minister in Israel has an interest to prolong the war.
05:26 The war is complicated.
05:28 And I think that this complex is also evident in the Israeli public.
05:33 So this is one thing.
05:36 Another thing is that the decision is not in the hands of Netanyahu alone.
05:40 With all due respect, Netanyahu is the prime minister, but he has a cabinet, he has a minister,
05:46 we have a wide cabinet today, including also Benny Gantz and Eisenhower.
05:52 So there are many opinions and the decision is not in the head, decision making is not
05:56 only in the hands of the prime minister.
05:59 So the divisions are evident and reflected in the public opinion.
06:04 Now, what we see according to recent public opinion polls by the Israel Democracy Institute,
06:10 we see, for instance, that 49 percent in the recent poll conducted two weeks ago said that
06:16 Israel should act according to its own interests, while 43 percent say that, well, Israel should
06:22 take into consideration the pressure or the interest, mutual interest with the U.S.
06:27 So the picture is complicated.
06:30 On another poll, we heard that some 70 percent of the general Israeli public support or understand
06:40 the need for a military campaign in Rafah.
06:43 So I think that the picture is complex, but the growing rage against the conduct of the
06:51 government is quite evident.
06:53 Yeah.
06:54 And I just want to ask you one last question.
06:55 I mean, how worried are the average people in Israel about the state of relations between
07:03 Israel and Washington?
07:04 Because it appears that things have got pretty antagonistic between Benjamin Netanyahu and
07:11 the president, Joe Biden, and his regime.
07:15 What do people there say about that?
07:19 I think this is one of the most complicated issues.
07:22 Of course, you will hear various opinions here and there.
07:26 It also depends on the political orientation.
07:29 For instance, voters who voted for the coalition, support for the coalition from the right wing
07:35 supporters actually justifies, they tend to justify Israel's stance and the attitude that
07:43 Israel should actually promote its own interests.
07:48 And the interest with the U.S. actually comes in second place.
07:51 But on the other hand, we see large proportion in the public, more than 40 percent, according
08:01 to the recent poll by the Israel Democracy Institute, are worried to some extent or to
08:06 a large extent from the erosion of Israel's position on the international level.
08:12 So the picture is complex.
08:16 Take all this into consideration with the calls upon to early elections.
08:23 And I think that many, many things are going to put on the table, to be put on the table
08:29 if or should early elections should be called here in Israel.
08:33 Okay, we're going to have to see if we're out of time.
08:35 Dr. Arik Rudnicki, thank you very much indeed for speaking to us on France 24.
08:39 [BLANK_AUDIO]