LONDON, April 21. /TASS/. Israel may face a severe political crisis due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions eroding the current system of checks and balances, Ami Ayalon, ex-director of the Israel Security Agency (ISA) and former Israeli Navy commander-in-chief, said.
"There is an identity crisis of the whole of Israeli society. And this is why, if you ask me, what we are facing now is an existential crisis," he told the Financial Times, adding: "I cannot describe what Israel will be four years from now."
According to him, Netanyahu’s most dangerous actions include a move to reform the country’s judicial system, which provides the government with more control over it, as well as the swift dismissal of ISA Director Ronen Bar and the launch of a procedure to replace Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara amid anti-corruption investigations into Netanyahu and his close circle. According to Ayalon, there is a clear trend toward an unprecedented consolidation of the government's powers at the expense of other institutions of the state.
Meanwhile, the former ISA director believes that the premier aims to exploit the war in Gaza in order to prolong his mandate because he understands that if peace is established, his right-wing coalition government will collapse.
"After October 7 (the 2023 Hamas attack - TASS), we did not have any other option [than to go to war with Hamas]," Ayalon noted. "But after five or six months it was obvious that we had achieved all the military goals. What we see today is totally a political war. Because the moment this war ends, Netanyahu will not have a coalition," he added.
On March 18, the Israeli military resumed military operations in Gaza, launching heavy strikes on the enclave, thus breaking the ceasefire deal that had been reached in January. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that the move was due to Hamas’s rejection of proposals put forward by mediators and US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff. According to the Israeli authorities, the goal of the operation is to ensure the release of all hostages held in Gaza. Hamas, in turn, blamed Israel and the US for the resumption of military activities.