Israel has been waging battle on Gaza since Hamas militants killed round 1,200 Israelis and took one other 250 hostage on October 7 final yr. Israeli assaults within the Palestinian-held area have killed no less than 35,000 folks, in accordance with figures from the Hamas-run well being ministry in Gaza, which supplies separate casualty figures for fighters and civilians.
The dying toll has sparked worldwide concern, with South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide in a case being heard by the Worldwide Court docket of Justice, additionally primarily based in The Hague.
Nadav Shtrauchler, a former Netanyahu marketing campaign strategist, informed POLITICO that Khan's assertion would solely assist his former boss by forcing opposition politicians and critics to rally to his protection. Most Israelis will see Khan as focusing on Israel and never simply Netanyahu, he warned. “Folks don't see this as one thing that's simply in opposition to Netanyahu — it's in opposition to the state and his protection,” he stated.
Strauchler predicted that the Israeli public's response to Khan's announcement would mirror its response to efforts by US President Joe Biden and different US Democrats resembling Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer to assist Israel's management to have interaction for a two-state answer for the Palestinians.
“Democrats and the administration tried to drive Netanyahu in a sure route, but it surely had precisely the alternative consequence,” he stated. Whereas the ICC prosecutor could not have had politics in thoughts, “the consequence will probably be precisely the identical: it should strengthen Bibi's place.”
Family of some Israelis nonetheless held captive by Hamas in Gaza, who’re additionally energetic within the Hostages and Disappeared Households Discussion board that has been more and more crucial of Netanyahu, applauded the difficulty of arrest warrants in opposition to senior Hamas officers. , however gathered from “the equivalence being drawn between the management of Israel and the terrorists of Hamas.”
“Bibi's connection to Sinwar — that's one thing that's very laborious for Israelis to swallow,” Ehud Olmert, a former Israeli prime minister and fierce critic of Netanyahu, informed POLITICO. It will solely encourage Israelis to really feel extra anxious, he defined.
“You are taking a assassin, a assassin, a person who sends his sons to slaughter harmless Israelis, and also you join him to the prime minister of Israel who’s accountable for a counterattack, I imply, that's one thing Israelis can't settle for it.” Olmert stated. “That is in favor of Netanyahu. The Israelis are already saying, 'Look, they're all anti-Semites. They’re all in opposition to us.”