On Saturday, the Islamist movement Hamas fired thousands of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel, and also managed to enter Israeli territory. Many casualties have been claimed and several areas are reported to have been overrun by forces linked to Hamas.
Isabell Schierenbeck, professor of political science, believes that Israel has not been caught in the bed of an attack in a similar way since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. She sees it as a “failure” that the Israeli intelligence service did not succeed in predicting the attack, despite its massive surveillance of Gaza.
“Abysmal failure”
— It is a tremendous failure for Israel, and Israelis are shocked that this could happen. Hamas has thus managed to enter Israel both via the land barrier and the air, and planned this without being discovered by the Israeli intelligence service, says Isabell Schierenbeck.
During the year, large protests took place in Israel, which among other things criticized changes in the country’s legal system. According to Isabell Schierenbeck, several demonstrations – which are organized every Saturday – have now been canceled as a result of the attack. She believes that in the short term it may increase cohesion among Israelis.
— A conceivable scenario in the slightly longer term is that the eyes are turned to the internal political division that has been in the country, and that it is this that has made it possible for Hamas to mobilize. That the division simply undermined Israeli security and made the country weak.
— If that connection is made clear, it may become much more difficult for the government to continue with the legal reforms it has been pushing.
Stretched out his hand
Already on Saturday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud extended a hand to the opposition to form a unity government during the crisis. The two opposition leaders Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid were said to be discussing the proposal, several Israeli media reported.
— If Netanyahu forms a coalition government that includes parts of the opposition, he would get rid of the religious extremists on the right, who pushed the reforms, says Isabell Schierenbeck.
— The attack can thus be politically advantageous for Netanyahu. But of course it can also happen that he is held responsible for it. Much is now about who gets the blame.