Angst over Gaza set aside as Netanyahu's critics back him over Iran

By Emily Rose

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel's military assault on Iran has united much of the nation after a period of bitter divisions over the war in Gaza, transforming the political landscape overnight as even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's foes close ranks behind him.

Most Israelis support using force to destroy Iran's nuclear programme, polling shows, despite retaliatory Iranian missile strikes that have killed 24 civilians and put normal life on hold.

"Netanyahu took a really difficult decision. On the topic of Iran, right now he is doing the right thing," Avigdor Lieberman, a legislator and hawkish former defence minister who fell out with Netanyahu and quit his government in 2018, told Reuters.

Netanyahu would ultimately be judged on whether Israel succeeded at removing Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, but for now things were going well, he said.

On a different section of the political spectrum, centrist former defence minister Benny Gantz, who walked out of Netanyahu's war cabinet a year ago over disagreements about Gaza, was similarly supportive.

"On the Iranian issue, there is no right or left. There is right or wrong. And we are right," he told broadcaster CNN.

Israel says Iran seeks to build nuclear weapons that could hit its territory, which Tehran has always denied. In six days and nights of attacks, Israel has killed senior Iranian military leaders and damaged military and nuclear sites, as well as killing at least 224 civilians, according to an Iranian toll.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for unconditional surrender and said Israel had made a "huge mistake" in starting the war.

NORMAL POLITICS SUSPENDED

But in Israel, support for Netanyahu's decision to attack was paying political dividends for him. The main opposition parties in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, on Monday voted against a motion of no confidence in the government.

Just a week ago, and only 24 hours before the first strikes on Iran, those same parties voted for the Knesset to dissolve itself, which had it succeeded would have been a first step towards early elections that polls suggest Netanyahu would lose.

"There are those who say Netanyahu chose this time to attack because of the political situation but that doesn't interest me. I think this is the right decision," said Meirav Cohen, a member of the Knesset from the centrist Yesh Atid party, which leads the official opposition in the chamber.

Netanyahu's political rivals and a large proportion of the public accuse him of prolonging the war in Gaza to stay in office and avoid a corruption trial, to the detriment of the hostages still held by Hamas and of Israel's moral standing.

The Gaza war was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Many Israelis blame Netanyahu for the security failures that allowed it to happen.

Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, while displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million and causing a hunger crisis.

Netanyahu has been unpopular throughout the war, and polls suggest he would not be able to put together a ruling coalition if elections were held now.

GREAT SURVIVOR

But on Iran, 83% of Jewish Israelis support his decision to attack, according to a poll by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem conducted on Sunday and Monday.

"In contrast to the ongoing war in Gaza, which is perceived by many of us as a cynical move designed to serve political purposes, the Iranian story is far above any dispute," wrote columnist Ben Caspit, a fierce Netanyahu critic, in the newspaper Ma'ariv.

Netanyahu, often called the great survivor of Israeli politics after bouncing back from numerous crises and ruthlessly crushing a long list of adversaries, seems to be in an equally conciliatory mood.

Appearing on Tuesday night on Channel 14, a television station that strongly supports him, he was asked about longtime critics now lauding him over Iran.

"I don't view it as personal. They are rising to the occasion. There really is such a thing. I wouldn't be cynical about it," he said. "This is not a political matter. It is an existential matter."

However, the Hebrew University poll revealed a profound fault line between Israel's Jewish majority and its Arab minority, who make up about 20% of the population. Only 12% of them support the assault on Iran.

Aida Touma-Suleiman, an Arab member of the Knesset from the left-wing Hadash party, told Reuters the Iran operation was aggressive and reckless.

"We think this is another disaster that is being inflicted on two people, the Iranian people and the Israeli people," she said.

(Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell, Maayan Lubell and Crispian Balmer; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)