Israel’s Breaking Domestic Political Consensus is a Result of Overplaying their Hand
When a national strike erupts in Israel over frustration with ongoing military action and diplomatic inertia after the brutal terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7th, 2022 — it makes clear that it isn’t just the United States that has severe concerns with the Israeli government strategy and actions in Gaza.
It is now the Israelis themselves who are so fed up they have had mass demonstrations and a national strike to try and force the Israeli minority government to agree to a diplomatic solution.
As Reuters reported on Monday:
The strikes follow months of protests and underscore the deep divisions that have opened up in Israel over Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to securing a ceasefire deal.
The shattering of the domestic political consensus in Israel is a far more significant loss and defeat for the Israeli people than any military loss from the original terror attack or any military loss from not completing every possible Israeli military objective in Gaza.
The lack of a domestic consensus on the use of force could easily hamstring Israeli military operations for the next decade.
This is the most significant Israeli defeat since the Oct. 7th invasion, and they have no one to blame but themselves.
How did Israel turn the sympathies and support of the world for the brutal and inhumane Oct. 7th attack into its leaders being charged for war crimes in the Hague, a broken domestic consensus on military actions, and the lack of diplomacy that spurs a national strike?
I’m sure a wide range of the 138 countries that have diplomatically recognized Palestine will also weigh in.
As far as I can tell, this is a classic case of overplaying your hand.
For those not familiar with the phrase, here is how chatGPT describes it:
“Overplaying your hand” is a phrase borrowed from card games, particularly poker, where it refers to a player misjudging the strength of their cards and making bets that are too aggressive for their actual hand. In a broader context, it means someone is overestimating their position, power, or advantage and taking actions that may backfire as a result. The phrase suggests that the person is acting too confidently, pushing too far, or making demands or moves that are more than their actual situation can support, leading to potential negative consequences.
It is series of fundamental miscalculations on the part of the Israeli government, that has had and will continue to have extremely serious and negative repercussions for the people and the state of Israel.
They had the world firmly onside, and now, they are not, nor is a politically significant portion of the Israeli population.