JERUSALEM: Inside Israeli defence headquarters, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu monitored the first release of Hamas-held prisoners while outside, their families in a Tel Aviv square gathered around Benny Gantz, his leading challenger for the top job.

On camera Gantz, a former army chief and opposition leader who joined Netanyahu’s war cabinet last month, pointedly asked a TV crew to leave him alone with the families. Photos published later showed him hugging individuals in the crowd.

Facing a huge wave of criticism over his failure to prevent the Oct 7 raid, at least three of his ministers were subjected to derision and abuse when they appeared in public, underscoring the scale of public fury over the failures that paved the way for Hamas to carry out the raid.

Over the weekend, his office issued videos showing him in the defence ministry situation room. On Sunday, Netanyahu visited Gaza. His office issued photos afterwards showing him in a helmet and flak jacket meeting soldiers and commanders.

Known by his nickname “Bibi,” Netanyahu stands to gain from ongoing crisis that further delays his 3-1/2 year-old corruption trial and puts off an expected state inquiry into why Israel under his leadership was caught off guard.

But his biographer Anshel Pfeffer said: “No matter how long Netanyahu manages to hold on to power, he won’t salvage his reputation.”

Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu has survived many a political crisis, staged several comebacks, and need not face another election for three years if his coalition remains intact.

“I know him very well and he concentrates on what he is doing, he is really a very hard-working person” and he is holding, like a juggler, half-a-dozen balls in the air — and to keep them only in the air he must concentrate, said Abraham Diskin, professor emeritus of political science at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.

Slim, tall and blue-eyed with an easy way about him, Gantz, 64, joined an Israeli war cabinet that Netanyahu formed days after the Oct 7.

He, Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of Likud have together held press conferences. A photo of one such event that went viral on social media captured Netanyahu alone, and Gallant and Gantz standing together off to the side.

A Nov 16 opinion poll found the Netanyahu-led coalition that won 64 seats in a November 2022 election would garner 45 in the 120-member Knesset today compared with 70 seats of parties led by Gantz’s National Unity Party, enough to assume power.

The survey for Israel’s Channel 12 took place a week before Qatar announced the prisoner deal and was conducted among 502 respondents by pollster Mano Geva and the company Midgam and had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

Gantz has little of Netanyahu’s experience or flair on the world stage, and critics say his laid-back manner shows indecisiveness and a lack of principles. Gantz has described himself as having more grit than varnish.

Often perceived as being every bit as hawkish on Palestinians as Netanyahu, Gantz has stopped short of any commitment to the statehood they seek, but in the past backed efforts to restart peace talks with them.

Israelis have gone to the polls five times in the last five years. No single party has ever won a simple parliamentary majority, and a coalition of parties has always been required. With an unrest on, no one is suggesting holding elections again.

But two weeks ago centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid said it was time to replace Netanyahu without going to elections. He suggested there would be broad support for a unity government led by Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, but no one within Likud has emerged to challenge Netanyahu.

“We can’t afford another election cycle in the coming year in which we continue to fight and explain why the other side is a disaster,” Lapid wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2023