Gaza’s peace appears to be around.
The truth is that the seeds of the renewed crime are found in Jewish local politics, not least of which is the one that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pressed for to chastise Hamas for the continuation of fighting that killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18, 2025.
Israeli politicians experts, including myself, have identified a good overwhelming issue ever since the first stage of the ceasefire’s first phase, which took effect in January. And that’s a problem because the second phase of the plan, which would see the complete removal of Israeli military troops from the Gaza Strip in exchange for the launch of the remaining victims, is a nonstarter for far-right extremists in the Israeli ruling coalition, who Netanyahu rely on for his social life.
Withdrawing from the Gaza Strip contradicts the realist ideas of important people of Netanyahu’s administration, including those in his own group, Likud. Instead, their stated goal is for Israel to maintain its hold on the region and to expel as some Palestinians as possible from it. Why did many members of Netanyahu’s state cheer when President Donald Trump said Palestinians should be expelled from Gaza to make room for a sizable restoration job led by the United States.
As a teacher of harmony studies and an expert on Israeli history, I think the far-right vision of post-conflict Gaza shared by some of Netanyahu’s government is inconsistent with the peace plan. However, it increasingly seems to align with the opinions of some members of the US leadership, who de facto were the only ones who could have held the Israeli government to its words.
Efforts to change the courts
It is accurate to say that Hamas was in charge of difficulties and rigging the peace agreement’s initial stages. Has even tormented a large portion of Israeli society as a result of his turning captive releases into advertising.
However, in my opinion, home Jewish currents are at the heart of the resumption of conflict that date back as far back as the September 7, 2023 attack, which sparked the deadliest conflict between Israelis and Palestinians since 1948. It can be traced to Netanyahu’s efforts to reform Israel’s political system, strengthen the executive and legislative branches, and stifle the courts.
By attempting to put government hardliners in charge of both, Netanyahu’s hard-right government has made important efforts to transform independent institutions like the attorney general’s office and the police into obedient arms of the government since taking office in January 2023.
prolonging the conflict
A sustained and extensive protest movement in 2023 slowed Netanyahu’s attempt to reform the nation’s court.
The Hamas slaughter on October 7 followed, and finally came.
Some Israeli critics hoped that the harm may prompt the authorities to reevaluate its efforts to carry out what some people referred to as a legitimate revolution.
However, Netanyahu and his administration had different ideas.
People gradually began to question whether Netanyahu’s main concern was to prolong the war in the belief that doing so might get the best way to keep his political career and resurrect his abuse on the court after an initial prisoner package in November 2023 failed to offer a wider discovery.
Such a viewpoint has solid foundations. Netanyahu had the chance to muddle the logic of the protracted legal proceedings because he had been charged with breach of trust, fraud, and corruption in November 2019 and could steadfastly stand trial while defending a nation at war. Although the prosecution is still in progress, Netanyahu has once more had to give reason to delay his testimony.
In addition, the war gives Netanyahu cover to disarm some of his stooges. In the months following the October 7 attack, Netanyahu consistently removed from office antagonistic members of the political and security leadership, claiming they were to blame for the Hamas attack or the conflict’s mismanagement.
In recent months, Netanyahu and his allies have been attempting to oust Ronen Bar, the head of the powerful security agency Shabak, or Shin Bet, which has been conducting sensitive investigations into Netanyahu’s closest aides.
boosting the coalition
The ceasefire’s apparent breakdown also coincides with growing pressure on Netanyahu from the political right in his ruling coalition.
The government must approve its annual budget by the end of March in accordance with Israeli law, which would trigger fresh elections.
However, Netanyahu is battling resistance from ultra-Orthodox parties regarding the issue of army drafts. The wider Israeli public has been under enormous pressure since the start of the conflict to end the draft exemption for ultra-Orthodox men, who, in contrast to other Israelis, were not required to serve in the military. However, ultra-Orthodox parties are urging the opposite: passing legislation that would formally exempt them from serving in the military.
Netanyahu needs support in order to secure the vote for the annual budget and fend off elections, and he needs to bolster far-right coalition members if it isn’t going to be from the ultra-Orthodox parties.
Otzma Yehudit, the far-right organization that left Netanyahu’s government in January to protest the ceasefire agreement, has since resurrected. This results in significant budget votes for Netanyahu. In reality, it indicates that the coalition isn’t planning to put the second phase of the ceasefire plan into practice by leaving Gaza. It has, in effect, ended the ceasefire.
The resumption of fighting is not solely due to Israel’s domestic politics. There is also a changing position of the US administration.
The timing of the ceasefire agreement in January 2025 was a key factor in the transition of Joe Biden to Donald Trump as president.
However, it seems as though the administration is reluctant to compel Netanyahu to continue with the second phase. Trump’s most recent statements suggest that he is in favor of putting more military pressure on Hamas in Gaza. Trump is also tacitly backing the Israeli government’s position by blaming Hamas for the resumption of the conflict.
Hamas is actually more interested in putting the agreement into practice. Doing so would give the Palestinian militant group the best chance it has of retaining control of Gaza, as well as gushing that it was to blame for the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Protests are gaining traction.
The majority of Israelis support the ceasefire agreement, a resolution, and Netanyahu’s resignation.
And the anti-government protest movement is gaining ground again, as evidenced by the resounding protests in Israeli cities against both the attempted ouster of security chief Ronen Bar and the resumption of fighting in Gaza.
The resumption of bombing in Gaza can only add to the internal conflict that predated the war and has flowed and blasted ever since because the Israeli people appear to be pulling in different directions.
However, Netanyahu appears to have a skewed belief that a further bloodshed will give him the best chance to carry out his plan to reform the nation’s political system. I would argue that Israel’s own prime minister has become the biggest threat to stability in a situation that has never before existed.
At the University of Notre Dame, Asher Kaufman is a professor of history and peace studies.
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