The mismanagement of the war Gaza for political motives seems more like a satirical musical than real life. Israel clearly needs to get the hostages back - even if it means ending the war before Hamas is destroyed. Partial deals for a handful of hostages in return for a 50-day ceasefire is the equivalent of a death sentence to those left behind - so a full-scale military operation ramped up faster than Netanyahu is willing to do is the best option until a deal can be made - but Bibi won’t allow that either. He chooses slow death and threats over action (either making a deal or full-scale military action).
In the meantime, the government is doing everything it can to distract the Israeli public from the most important existential issue - the hostages. He is allowing Yariv Levin to move forward with the divisive “Judicial Reforms” that are designed to subjugate the judicial branch to the whims of the politicians. Although he publicly supports ending UNRWA’s mission to perpetuate the “Palestinian conflict”, the government quietly refuses to implement the new laws to end UNRWA’s presence inside Israel’s border and prevent the government institutions from cooperating with them in any way.
The list of crisis headlines that Netanyahu’s coalition has managed to create this week is too long to list, but the most significant is the 2025 budget that the Knesset recently passed just before the deadline. It is not just because failure to pass the budget would have resulted in long overdue elections, but the budget raids the public coffers so deeply that those who serve are left behind and the sectors that refuse to serve are rewarded. The communities of the war-ravaged north and south of Israel are left to fend for themselves, the crime wave in the Arab communities that threatens to spread to nearby Jewish communities is left unchecked, the education and health systems are being starved in order to provide billions for useless ministries whose sole function is to provide patronage.