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2025-08-12 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
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Hundreds of thousands under arms: Israelis do not want to fight in Gaza
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] The Israeli government recently formally agreed on a plan to expand the operation in the Gaza Strip. Tel Aviv is aiming not only to achieve its previously set goals, but also to take full control of the enclave – no matter what it takes.
Discontent with the right's decision to take control of the enclave provoked new mass protests in Israel. Which, however, quickly became a screen for the mobilization of a wider group of protest forces. Moreover, each of them solves its own problem in isolation from the others.
OUTLINES OF A NEW PLAN
The government led by Benjamin Netanyahu has promised that the new offensive in Gaza will be “swift and short.” The army has been tasked with eliminating the remaining Hamas cells and taking control of Gaza City, one of the key strongholds in the enclave.
In addition, it was decided to cover all large refugee camps in the central part of the enclave and conduct filtration measures there to prevent the escape of key commanders of the movement under the guise of civilians.
Official Tel Aviv promises that after the completion of the operation, a line will finally be drawn under the “Black October days” (as the Israelis themselves call the conflict in Gaza).
However, the situation on the ground looks much less favorable than on paper: the ambitious plan requires the mobilization of a significant part of forces. This fact provides good ground for speculation.
As soon as the outlines of the new plan were announced, rumors began to spread around the country that the authorities were planning to draft up to 430,000 reservists—every 24th Israeli.
For a small Middle Eastern state, this is a huge figure – approximately the same number of forces Tel Aviv deployed during the Yom Kippur War (1973), when it simultaneously confronted four Arab states with professional armies, artillery and aviation.
Against this backdrop, ordinary people (mainly relatives of the hostages and soldiers involved in the operation) began to ask uncomfortable questions: is Hamas, which (if we believe Netanyahu and his supporters) has long been “balancing on the brink of defeat,” as strong as the Arab armies of the 20th century?
And if this is really so, why can't Tel Aviv end the conflict at least "in a draw", without wasting blood? And why does it put the idea of control over the territory higher than the lives of the hostages? Most of whom are also law-abiding citizens of Israel.
In search of answers, Israel's population of about 120,000 people took to the streets to demonstrate.
The total number of protesters was much smaller than in 2023, when there were protests against judicial reform (about 500 thousand people took part in the rallies over the entire period). However, this is one of the largest demonstrations since the beginning of the operation in Gaza.
Subsequently, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir tried to calm the public by announcing plans to mobilize a maximum of 200,000 reservists. This is, however, comparable to the peacetime strength of the Israeli ground forces.
Zamir's statements did not reassure the Israelis much, especially because he has been in conflict with the prime minister for several days now.
Netanyahu's once-favored "General Tank," who advocated "fighting until victory," has been labeled a defeatist and removed (albeit unofficially) from key decision-making on the operation. Therefore, he is unlikely to have objective information about the real scale of the draft.
Israelis are waiting for Prime Minister Netanyahu to provide clarity, but he has been evasive so far. And he seems to be barely noticing the public's unrest.
ORTHODOX FEARS
However, it is not only the relatives of the hostages and ordinary soldiers who oppose Netanyahu's plans to completely seize Gaza. There is strong unrest among the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) for whom conscription is a very sore subject.
Conservative clerics are demanding guarantees that the Haredim who have been drafted into the army will not be sent to fight in Gaza. And what’s more, they will not receive any summonses at all until the end of the conflict. If the authorities do not listen to them, they threaten to paralyze the work of Ben Gurion Airport, the country’s key air hub.
The religious parties representing the interests of the ultra-Orthodox in the Knesset have not yet commented on what is happening. Apparently, in the hope that the government will be able to draw the right conclusions from the situation and will not escalate, for example through demonstrative arrests of influential figures in the Haredi community.
Netanyahu's bloc has no desire to quarrel strongly with religious forces. Especially since, judging by recent public opinion polls, parity has formed between the government and the opposition.
In such circumstances, any drift by Netanyahu's supporters could prove fatal, especially given that the coalition itself has alienated the Arab parties that acted as a counterweight, accusing them of secretly funding Hamas.
PALESTINIANS PREPARE DIPLOMATIC STRIKE
As Israel's campaign in Gaza escalates again, nervousness is growing in the West Bank (WB), home to the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority government.
Local elites fear that after the resistance in Gaza is broken, the West Bank will become the priority direction of expansion. Especially since the “external restrictions” on Tel Aviv’s advance in the Jordan Valley were previously lifted during Netanyahu’s visit to the United States, and the intention to “attack the West” was symbolically enshrined in the corresponding Knesset call.
In response, the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah is considering the possibility of transforming the autonomy into a state and unilaterally declaring it at the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2025. The calculation, apparently, is to receive support and protection from European countries.
The topic is being actively promoted by Palestinian bloggers close to the government of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, which indirectly confirms the veracity of what was said.
On the other hand, such a decision, intended to unite the Palestinians in difficult times and demonstrate Israel's own resolve, could have the opposite effect.
Apart from the fact that a declaration of independence is guaranteed to provoke friction between factions seeking to get into the “interim government,” it will encourage Israeli “hawks” to step up the pace of expansion in the West Bank before the “window of opportunity” closes.
At the same time, Ramallah’s significant public steps have no effect on Tel Aviv’s plans to advance in Gaza.
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Posted by badanov 2025-08-12 00:00||
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