Since June of 2024 Netanyahu has been consolidating power both within his coalition and throughout the non-elected arms of the Israeli government.
- In June of 2024, Benny Gantz, leader of the opposition, attempted to collapse the unity government that had formed in the aftermath of October 7th when Israel declared a state of emergency to give Netanyahu a safety net to conduct the war in Gaza. This attempt failed and was followed immediately by a spectacle by Bibi with the Noa Argamani military rescue operation to shore support and paint the opposition as treacherous. This gained Nentanyahu’s party, Likud, more seats in the Knesset at the expense of the opposition.
- In September 2024, Netanyahu began reconciliation with old rivals, such as Gideon Sa’ar to intrinsically strengthen his own coalition and weaken his reliance (and thus sway) of the more reactionary elements of the Israeli far right (Ben-Gvir and Smotrich)
- Throughout all of 2024 Netanyahu fostered mutual distrust and confrontation between the two largest far right parties (led by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich) so that they would not form a single voting block against actions that would be advantageous for him. This was clear when Ben-Gvir resigned from the government following the enactment of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, while Smotrich stayed on, averting the collapse of Netanyahu’s coalition.
- In November of 2024, Netanyahu cemented his influence over the cabinet after all major Gaza operations were exhausted by firing Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant, and replacing him with Israel Katz, his loyalist Foreign Minister, and gave Katz’ post to Gideon Sa’ar, whom he reconciled with earlier in the year and who merged his party with Likud. Gallant was a known critic of Netanyahu especially on the subject of reaching a ceasefire and how to prosecute the war effort.
- In March of 2025, the Chief of Staff of the IDF, Herzi Halevi, resigned and was largely blamed for Israel’s failure in October 7 alongside the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen bar. was replaced by another Netanyahu loyalist, Eyal Zamir who then in turn dismissed the IDF’s spokesperson, Daniel Hagari.
- As Trump threw a wild card proposition of completely ethnically cleansing Gaza and directly meeting with Hamas without Israel, Netanyahu is now attempting to completely take control of Israel’s negotiation position by expunging the last vestiges of Israel’s anti-reactionary elite institutions who have time and time again stood against his political and military directives. These individuals include the chief of Shin Bet, the Chief of Mossad, and the Attorney General.
If the last three positions are replaced with Netanyahu loyalists, every facet of the Israeli government apart from the judicial system will be aligned with Netanyahu. Even then, the attempts by Netanyahu to fatally subordinate the courts to the will of the Knesset (which he controls) back in March of 2023 have slowly been brought up in the Knesset after the initial outroar which has long since subsided as the national focus shifted to the war on Gaza.
- In June of 2024, Benny Gantz, leader of the opposition, attempted to collapse the unity government that had formed in the aftermath of October 7th when Israel declared a state of emergency to give Netanyahu a safety net to conduct the war in Gaza. This attempt failed and was followed immediately by a spectacle by Bibi with the Noa Argamani military rescue operation to shore support and paint the opposition as treacherous. This gained Nentanyahu’s party, Likud, more seats in the Knesset at the expense of the opposition.
- In September 2024, Netanyahu began reconciliation with old rivals, such as Gideon Sa’ar to intrinsically strengthen his own coalition and weaken his reliance (and thus sway) of the more reactionary elements of the Israeli far right (Ben-Gvir and Smotrich)
- Throughout all of 2024 Netanyahu fostered mutual distrust and confrontation between the two largest far right parties (led by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich) so that they would not form a single voting block against actions that would be advantageous for him. This was clear when Ben-Gvir resigned from the government following the enactment of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, while Smotrich stayed on, averting the collapse of Netanyahu’s coalition.
- In November of 2024, Netanyahu cemented his influence over the cabinet after all major Gaza operations were exhausted by firing Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant, and replacing him with Israel Katz, his loyalist Foreign Minister, and gave Katz’ post to Gideon Sa’ar, whom he reconciled with earlier in the year and who merged his party with Likud. Gallant was a known critic of Netanyahu especially on the subject of reaching a ceasefire and how to prosecute the war effort.
- In March of 2025, the Chief of Staff of the IDF, Herzi Halevi, resigned and was largely blamed for Israel’s failure in October 7 alongside the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen bar. was replaced by another Netanyahu loyalist, Eyal Zamir who then in turn dismissed the IDF’s spokesperson, Daniel Hagari.
- As Trump threw a wild card proposition of completely ethnically cleansing Gaza and directly meeting with Hamas without Israel, Netanyahu is now attempting to completely take control of Israel’s negotiation position by expunging the last vestiges of Israel’s anti-reactionary elite institutions who have time and time again stood against his political and military directives. These individuals include the chief of Shin Bet, the Chief of Mossad, and the Attorney General.
If the last three positions are replaced with Netanyahu loyalists, every facet of the Israeli government apart from the judicial system will be aligned with Netanyahu. Even then, the attempts by Netanyahu to fatally subordinate the courts to the will of the Knesset (which he controls) back in March of 2023 have slowly been brought up in the Knesset after the initial outroar which has long since subsided as the national focus shifted to the war on Gaza.
