💧News of the Crisis💧July 14, 2025
The New York Times weekend exposé on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime decision-making did not come as any surprise in Israel’s protest circles. Based on interviews with over 100 officials, the investigation alleges that Netanyahu’s key decisions during the war were driven by personal political survival rather than national security. Cue the shocked emoji.
According to the report, U.S. officials from President Biden’s administration presented Netanyahu with polling data showing that a majority of Israelis favored a hostage release deal over continuing the war in Gaza. Netanyahu’s response? “Not 50 percent of my voters.”
One particularly striking example occurred on June 9—just days before Israel launched strikes on Iran and two days ahead of a critical vote that could have dissolved the government over the conscription bill. Netanyahu reportedly showed a confidential document to a senior ultra-Orthodox lawmaker, hoping to shore up coalition support. It worked.
Meanwhile, the coalition’s aggressive push to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara—one of the last institutional checks on executive power—sparked alarm even from President Isaac Herzog. Known for his measured, nay - phlegmatic, tone, Herzog described the situation as “utter chaos,” likening it to “a roller coaster that’s lost its brakes.” In a video statement released Monday, he warned: “The role of attorney general is so sensitive in a democracy that every step must be measured and considered a thousand times before being taken.” He also condemned attacks on civil servants, noting that many “even support the coalition, as is fitting in any democracy.” His plea: “We must stop. Stop before we collapse under the avalanche. Truly. It’s that dangerous.”
Former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit—once seen as a Netanyahu ally—also issued a stark warning. Speaking to Kan public radio, he said the government’s plan to oust Baharav-Miara could lead to the “complete destruction of democracy and the rule of law in the State of Israel.” Mandelblit, who delayed indicting Netanyahu in corruption cases and declined to investigate him over the submarine affair, now appears deeply alarmed as well. “Increasingly large segments of the government say you don’t have to honor a High Court decision,” he said. “That… will tear down the country.”
A Channel 12 poll aired Friday revealed that 74% of Israelis—including 60% of Netanyahu’s own coalition voters—support a comprehensive hostage deal with Hamas in exchange for ending the war. Only 8% backed Netanyahu’s phased proposal, while 12% opposed any deal that included a ceasefire. Nearly half (49%) said Netanyahu’s position was politically motivated. In a meeting with hostage families, he reportedly said a full-release deal was “never an option.” Overall, 55% of respondents rated his handling of the war as poor.
Former Prime Minister, and convicted felon, Ehud Olmert—speaking to The Guardian on Sunday—slammed Defense Minister Israel Katz’s proposal to build a “humanitarian city” on the ruins of Rafah. “It is a concentration camp. I am sorry,” Olmert said. “If Palestinians are deported into the new ‘humanitarian city,’ then you can say that this is part of an ethnic cleansing.” He added that such a plan would inevitably be interpreted as a mass expulsion. After months of incendiary rhetoric—including calls to “cleanse” Gaza and plans to build Israeli settlements—Olmert dismissed the government’s claim that the city is meant to protect Palestinians as “not credible.”