‘Israel needs a dramatic change’: Northern voters turn against Netanyahu

A “dramatic change” is needed in Israeli politics, which includes removing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from government, people living in northern Israel have told The National days before the country goes to the polls.

Those who spoke included senior officers and soldiers who have been on active duty in Lebanon, who are angry over the damage caused by Hezbollah to the ecomomy and to Israeli communities.

They called on Mr Netanyahu to take responsibility for the security failures of the October 7, 2023 attacks. After nearly 20 years in office his time was over, critics said, especially in view of the right-wing coalition that had, in their eyes, caused the country great harm.

Show caption: Kibbutz Dafna is one of the communities where residents had …

“For me, this is one of the worst coalitions that we have ever had in Israel,” said Eyal Dror, a lieutenant-colonel reservist in the army who just returned from a tour of Lebanon.

“I pray and hope that there is a new government which makes this a very important election,” he said, speaking in Kibbutz Dafna, near the northern town of Kiryat Shmona.

He believes a new government is needed to rebuild the country’s economy, especially in the north where nearly 70,000 people were evacuated for almost two years after a war with Hezbollah that followed the Hamas-led attacks on Israel.

Opposition leaders Gadi Eisenkot and Naftali Bennett were “very professional people who might lead us to that road”, Lt Col Dror said.

A voter for the left-wing Democrats Party, Barry Praag, also from Kibbutz Dafna, said a coalition government was inevitable but it was vital for the new government to work with the Israeli-Arab parties to address the Palestinian question.

“I have no problem with the Democrats sitting with the Arab parties. It is a very complex problem but it must be tackled. We must face the idea of a two-state solution with the support of the surrounding Arab countries otherwise, it won’t work.”

He added that Mr Netanyahu had "a lot to answer” for and that the “buck stops with him”.

Lior Shelef, speaking at Kibbutz Shior, which is only about a kilometre from the Lebanese border, was on military operations in the north for much of the last three years.

He was still unsure who he would vote for – a position he believed was shared by many Israelis – but said the country certainly needed a new government.

“Israel needs a change, and I think this change should be very dramatic. There are quite a lot of things in the country now, the economy, the religious people not going into the army, that need to change dramatically.”

Anyone who was part of government on October 7, 2023 should “be honest enough to say it’s time for change and understand it”, he added.

Show caption: Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon in 2024. Getty

Hezbollah threat

To many in the north, the Hezbollah threat has not disappeared, and they fear that the Iran-backed group across the border in Lebanon is biding its time to attack again.

Lt Col Dror stated that for the Lebanese government to “get their own country back they need to do some more against Hezbollah” but it was only Israel that “can make them weaker”.

But like many in the north, he said he wants to live in peace so that tourism can return, the economy can be revived, and his children can be educated.

“As long as I have to send my son to the school, which is 600 metres from Lebanon and Hezbollah have the ability to fly a drone across the school I'm not feeling safe,” he said.

While he hoped that the politics and diplomacy of a new Israeli government might achieve that, he did not dismiss the possibility of further military action.

Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night as part of the latest anti-government demonstration, with protesters calling for an inquiry into the failures surrounding the October 7 attack. Mr Eisenkot, the main rival to Mr Netanyahu, was greeted with cheers and chants from the crowd at the rally.

Mr Netanyahu has refused to set up a commission of inquiry into the attack, arguing that it would be biased against his government.