Uncertainty over a West Bank operation

Talk of further Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank has followed a deadly attack near Hebron, and it comes as Israel approaches a consequential parliamentary election amid renewed violence in the territory.

Ben-Dror Yemini, a senior journalist with Yedioth Ahronoth, said he was not sure such an operation would take place, because politically it would not help anyone.

A changed Israeli public opinion

Yemini pointed to a shift in how Israelis view Benjamin Netanyahu. In his assessment, the prime minister is no longer popular following the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, which he described as a decisive turning point.

There is a huge change in the Israeli public opinion, he said, framing the coming vote as a broader judgment on Netanyahu's leadership rather than a contest decided by any single event.

What decides the election

Even so, Yemini cautioned against reading the result as a verdict on the prime minister's personal standing alone. What matters, he argued, is whether Netanyahu's political bloc can put together a governing majority.

He also noted that Netanyahu has a record of prevailing against highly unfavourable polls, so current numbers may not settle the outcome. And he offered an ironic inversion of one of Netanyahu's claims - that every previous American president opposed him and he still won. With Donald Trump's endorsement behind him, Yemini observed:

Yemini's verdict

For all the uncertainty, Yemini was direct about what he hopes for. In his view, a defeat for Netanyahu would be for the benefit of Israel. The election approaches with the West Bank tense; whether any operation happens remains, he said, uncertain.