Israeli polls reflect growing criticism of Netanyahu

80% of Israelis believe that the current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, bears a share of the responsibility for the security gaps that "allowed" the deadly attacks of October 7, according to a poll published in the newspaper Maariv.

Indeed, criticism of Netanyahu is intensifying as time goes on, as the war continues without the release of all the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

According to new revelations, Israel knew a year earlier that Hamas was planning an unprecedented attack but failed to take the necessary steps to prevent it, which obviously adds to the criticism of the current Prime Minister.

The 'percentage of responsibility' is now politically unbearable for the 74-year-old Netanyahu, who, among other things, has to face not only rivals such as Benny Ganz (who is now considered more suitable for prime minister by the majority of Israelis, according to the polls) but also corruption charges related to other legal 'wounds' from the past that remain open.

Corruption trial 'reopens'

Benjamin Netanyahu's trial on corruption charges, which was temporarily suspended along with all other "non-urgent" cases after the October 7 attacks, resumes today in a Jerusalem court, with the Israeli Prime Minister facing a possible sentence of several years in prison if he is eventually convicted...

An excerpt from a report in the New York Times said, "Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has overcome much in the past. But now he faces the biggest crisis of his political career.  In recent days and weeks, vigils for murdered Israelis have turned into protests against Netanyahu's leadership. Calls for him to take responsibility for the intelligence failures that preceded the Hamas attack have now turned into a campaign calling for his resignation. Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician who is part of the ruling coalition, has threatened to overthrow the government. Members of Mr Netanyahu's Likud party have spoken of the possibility of defecting. And the United States, Israel's closest and most important ally, has begun pressuring the Israeli prime minister to limit the number of civilian deaths in Gaza".

With information from Gzero