By Rabia Ali
ISTANBUL (AA) — A year into the war in Gaza, Israeli society is showing deep fractures, as radicalization, political polarization, economic instability, and military strains intensify.
Former senior adviser to the Israeli government, Daniel Levy, characterizes this situation as “an element of decay,” highlighting the growing fragility within the society.
“It’s not that the country is about to collapse, but it is showing elements of threads unravelling, elements of decay … It is a society that the fragilities and vulnerabilities are being exposed is what we see,” he told Anadolu.
For Miko Peled, an Israeli American activist and writer, Israel remains in a “state of chaos” after Oct. 7, when Israel commenced its war in Gaza, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and widespread destruction.
“Law enforcement is in chaos, the judicial system, the legislative bodies body is in complete chaos. The government, the army, I mean there’s like complete dysfunction in all areas of the state,” says Peled, adding that the functioning of the state has been severely impacted.
“It’s in a state of paralysis or almost paralysis.”
- Narratives at play
According to Levy, Israeli society was deeply polarized on domestic issues before Oct. 7, gripped by widespread protests against a judicial overhaul initiated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
However, since the onset of Israel’s war in Gaza, Levy believes Israelis have largely united in their stance against Palestinians.
“Israelis have accepted a narrative that what is being done in Gaza is deserved … legitimate, it’s us or them. The Israeli media has pumped one narrative into Israeli homes.”
Levy also points out that despite this “consensus around the acceptability of immorality and criminality towards Palestinians,” Israeli Jewish society feels increasingly fragile and split into opposing camps.
One faction, according to Levy, believes that the “calamity of Oct. 7 is the price to be paid for ushering in an era of redemption where the Palestinians can finally be destroyed, ethnically cleansed, displaced permanently from the land.”
This group, he says, views the Nakba, a series of forced displacements of Palestinians in 1948, as “unfinished history, and it can be finished now.”
Peled, whose grandfather, Avraham Katznelson, was one of Israel’s founding fathers, believes that Israeli society has never been cohesive, held together by “scotch tape” from the very beginning.
“There are huge rifts within that society. It’s not a single society. It’s a bunch of different groups artificially being held together. And so there have been rifts for decades.”
He links the ongoing protests, including the 2023 judicial overhaul protests and the massive hostage protests, to the most privileged segments of Israeli society, which are demanding changes to preserve their status.
“And we’re seeing that scotch tape being weaker, particularly because the segments that are protesting now are the most privileged ones.”
According to Peled, these protests have little impact on the government. “The government has the support of the parliament, and they’ve got a majority so they’re not in any danger.”
He also points out the widespread support for “sadistic violence against the Palestinians” within Israeli society, but adds that internal divisions are growing.
“The rifts are clear, the society itself is ripped apart. And even people within that society who disagree are calling each other traitors and are getting into fights and then getting into these very deep divisions that becoming almost unbridgeable,” he says.
- Military strain
Experts have also highlighted how Israel’s war on Gaza has affected its military. Levy notes that the Israeli military is “under severe strain,” with ground forces struggling in urban combat.
“The fact that they destroyed Gaza means that the military didn’t feel it could fight in an urban landscape. Everything had to be destroyed and the military after a year.”
Levy also mentioned a growing sense of fatigue among Israeli forces.
“It’s not that so many Israeli troops have been killed, but many have severe injuries, and many are no longer showing up for reserve duty.”
He highlighted that while there was widespread support for the war at its onset, with many reservists reporting for duty, this has changed over time.
“The numbers that I am being told is that more than 50% aren’t showing (up). Units in the army are saying we do not want to continue fighting for an illegitimate political leader pursuing illegitimate ends.”
However for most Israelis, this illegitimacy does not stem from the war crimes committed against Palestinians, Levy explains, but from internal political considerations, such as hostage and cease-fire talks and other political decisions by Netanyahu.
“So, you have certain units in intelligence, in the Air Force, some of the special operations units where you have real discomfort.
“On the flip side, you have some units who, when they’re being told, ‘Hey, don’t destroy that humanitarian convoy,’ are still going ahead and destroying it. So, this is an army where these tensions are dangerous.”
- Economic impact
The Israeli economy is also suffering from the war’s effects, with inflation, unemployment, and a decline in investments.
“Prices have gone up significantly. There’s under-reported inflation. There’s under-reported inability to get stocks of everything. But if you go bigger picture on the economy, of course this places a strain,” says Levy.
He also notes a significant out-migration of Israelis, with many making extended stays abroad or acquiring second passports, especially those wealthy enough to buy homes overseas.
Peled points to how Israel’s main international airport, located in the city of Lid, is barely operational.
“Major airlines refuse to land there. The port city in the south, the port city of Eilat has completely been stopped, is not functioning.”
Emphasizing how the shutdown of Eilat’s port is a major economic blow, as car sales, a large industry in Israel, have come to a halt due to the lack of imports.
Former Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin also believes Netanyahu’s government is destroying the economy.
“Many young Israelis are saying, ‘What am I staying here for? What is my future in this country with this leadership running us?’ Netanyahu is destroying this country, and he has to go.”
- Shifting global image
Levy argues that the war on Gaza has “undoubtedly” changed Israel’s global image, with unprecedented mobilization around the Palestinian issue.
“This is change. This is not going away, Jewish voices coming out and saying, ‘Not in my name,’ ‘Don’t call this antisemitism’.”
Peled agrees that Israel’s global standing has severely deteriorated.
“There’s no question about that really. Any talks of normalization with any of the Arab countries is off the table. The true face of Zionism being exposed now to people who haven’t seen it yet.”
He underscores that the mass killings of civilians in Gaza are being broadcast live on social media, exposing the brutality of the conflict in real-time.
Levy also mentioned the significance of rulings from international bodies like the International Court of Justice, the revival of Palestine as a central issue within the Non-Aligned Movement at the UN, and the popular boycotts as signs that “we are in a new reality.”