Israel's Knesset Held Meeting To Mull Netanyahu Impeachment
Knesset members on Monday discussed the potential ousting of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once the war between Palestinian resistance factions and Tel Aviv comes to an end.
Israel’s Channel 13 reports that ministers and members of the Knesset from Netanyahu's own Likud party discussed impeaching the premier, saying that if he remains in the party and an election is held, most party members will give a vote of no confidence.
A reporter for the news channel said this motion against Netanyahu includes other parties who came together with Likud members to discuss plans for the end of the ground invasion after former war chief Benny Gantz leaves the emergency war cabinet.
Nonetheless, on Monday, people close to Gantz revealed he has rejected calls to replace Netanyahu, calling them "pure fantasy" and "nothing less than crazy."
Current opinion polls show that two-thirds of Israelis want an election once the war ends, as hundreds of thousands had taken to the streets before October 7 to express dissatisfaction with Netanyahu’s rule.
The anger against the prime minister has only increased as the Hamas-led front launched the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation against Israel, with large protests being held in Tel Aviv calling for the Israeli government to secede and comply with Palestinian demands so that Israeli captives in Gaza may be released.
Al-Aqsa Flood Operation "crushed the façade" of safety created by "Mr. Security," as former US ambassador to Egypt and Israel Daniel C. Kurtzer wrote in Foreign Policy.
Israelis continue to protest PM Netanyahu in Tel Aviv as they demand safe return of hostages in Gaza pic.twitter.com/MvPWH1ij69
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) November 11, 2023
Netanyahu tried to shrink responsibility several days ago by blaming the intelligence and military chiefs for the security failures that led to the Hamas attacks. "The angry backlash should have convinced him that Israelis will not let him off the hook,” Kurtzer wrote.
Writing that most Israelis trust the heads of the Israeli army than they do Netanyahu, Kurtzer continued that “having lost his aura as protector of Israel, and having failed thus far to define Israel’s war aims in Gaza beyond the hyperbole of destroying Hamas, Netanyahu is now clinging to power for the sake of power itself.”
Yesterday’s Knesset discussion wouldn’t be the first time impeaching the current Israeli prime minister was mentioned; sources recently told Rolling Stone that Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner ahead of next year's ballots in the US, held phone calls last month with multiple pro-Israel GOP allies and donors who wanted his thoughts on the current situation.
"[Trump] has expressed his strong desire for Netanyahu to be gone by the time Trump would potentially be back in office in 2025," the sources told the magazine. "Trump has said Netanyahu should be 'impeached' by the Israeli Parliament because of the assault," speaking about the Al-Aqsa Flood operation by Palestinian factions.
In recent days, two sources familiar with the matter tell Rolling Stone, Trump has had phone calls with various pro-Israel GOP allies and donors.
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) October 12, 2023
During these private conversations, Trump has spent an inordinate amount of time aggressively trashing Netanyahu.
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As the war nears its 40th day, the Israeli army has been conducting a scorched earth policy on the Gaza Strip, for one, to cause as much destruction to Palestinian-controlled land by exposing the paper tiger that is the Israeli army, and on the other hand, so that Netanyahu can keep his seat as the head of the nation.
