Will Gaza Topple Netanyahu?

[Purveyor]

The few choices the Israeli prime minister faces will undoubtedly cripple his political fortunes.

Last updated: 27 Jul 2014 08:06

The current Israeli war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is a war of choice. It was declared by an Israeli prime minister who sought to undermine a Palestinian reconciliation deal that was never really a threat to his goal of permanent apartheid and Jewish rule in a Greater Israel.

Yet, despite the negligible chance that true Palestinian rapprochement would develop, the gambit's potential benefits still appeared to outweigh the costs. Striking the Palestinians in Gaza has always been a low-risk undertaking. However, the math that qualifies every Israeli attack against Gaza - dozens or hundreds of dead Palestinians for every Israeli casualty - is not immutable.

The Palestinians can extract their costs, both in Gaza and the West Bank, and those costs may be enough to alter the political landscape in Israel.

An unbalanced equation

The Jewish-Israeli public is highly resistant to arguments that humanise the Palestinians. The phenomenon is not particular to Israelis - plenty of societies and peoples have willfully ignored their victims' humanity during periods of mass violence or genocide.

In Israel it's partially the consequence of deliberate misdirection and the dissemination of propaganda by the government. In particular, the claim that militants in Gaza shield their weapons with the bodies of children and other civilians has been produced and reproduced to extreme effect.

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http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/07/will-gaza-topple-netanyahu-2014725144216942703.html

[BillZBubb]

1. Topple Netanyahu? No chance.

The majority of Israelis love nothing more than seeing their military slaughter Palestinians.

[KoKo]

2. Interesting read.

I thought that Israeli PR was hurting when ex-NYC Mayor Bloomberg decided to fly into Israel...and not on his private jet. It was such a show of support that it seemed he saw the pressure from all the demonstrations and was getting worried about public perception of Israel's actions taking a big hit.

-----from the article:

They also succeeded in demonstrating to the Israeli public that war carries an economic and psychological cost - something that became starkly apparent when international airlines interrupted their service to Tel Aviv for two days.

[geek tragedy]

3. Israelis don't want a ceasefire--polls

show that overwhelming majorities oppose a ceasefire and want more death and destruction in Gaza.

[dougolat]

4. Big PR damage, this time; it won't help him! ...nt

[hack89]

5. The tunnels changed every thing

The Israeli public is rightfully demanding their destruction. There is no possible justication for leaving them intact.

[Wolf Frankula]

6. No Gaza Won't

He'll survive a vote of confidence. His party Likkud, gaining less than a quarter of the vote, can always find enough small coalition whore parties to keep in power.

Wolf