Netanyahu and the limits of military power

ToI’s David Horovitz posts an op-ed on Netanyahu’s press conference last night and waning popularity. He writes: “The popularity of Benjamin Netanyahu, seen by most Israelis until a few short weeks ago as the only credible prime minister, is nose-diving. A snap opinion poll for Israel’s Channel 2 on Wednesday night showed only 32% of Israelis happy with his stewardship of the war against Hamas. Barely a month ago, at the start of the ground offensive on July 23, his approval rating in a similar poll for that same TV station was 82% — a full 50% higher. Even in war, there can be few precedents for a decline of that magnitude in a leader’s popularity in the space of five weeks.

“Plainly Israelis are deeply dissatisfied with the conduct of the latter stages of the war with Hamas — the fact that there were latter stages in a war people wanted to see won definitively and quickly; the fact that residents of the south were assured that they could come home safely in early August when they all too evidently could not; the fact that Hamas was firing merrily and murderously to the end. And they are deeply troubled by the ambiguous conclusion.”

Read the full op-ed here.