it appears that the israeli's may soon be in a civil war amongst themselves;

Although “Israel does not have to hold elections until 2026,” write the Financial Times’s James Shotter and Neri Zilber, “the country’s political class is positioning itself for a vote much sooner — as the veneer of unity that has covered Israeli politics since the outbreak of the war begins to fade.”

With polls seeming to show them benefiting from Netanyahu’s state of disgrace, centrist figures like Gadi Eisenkot and Yair Lapid are calling on Netanyahu to set a date for elections now. No one believes he will.

But in the current situation, horserace polling is almost worthless as a guide to the future. The outcome of the next election will be decided by whatever momentous developments end up triggering a vote; but no one today knows what those developments will be.

For a taste of how volatile the atmosphere is, consider the following quote, attributed by the Financial Times to “a person familiar with Netanyahu’s thinking”:

Either Netanyahu secures an achievement on the battlefield and himself initiates snap elections, or elections will be forced in the coming months, including because of mass demonstrations and the fact that many of the security chiefs will have resigned by then.

In a similar vein, a recent edition of Haaretz carried an article by one of its senior political columnists headlined: “Israel is heading towards street battles between the far right and families of hostages.”

A countdown has begun. It was triggered last week by murmurings from the multinational consortium of spooks that has been negotiating with Hamas over the release of the Israeli hostages. The spy leaders put Netanyahu on notice that he would soon find himself facing an offer — his last, best offer — to free the captives.

The price will be steep. There will need to be a ceasefire agreement substantial enough to at least grind the war’s momentum to a halt. Israel will need to release hundreds or even thousands of Palestinian prisoners, many of whom will be Hamas militants, some of whom will be suspected of armed attacks against Israelis, and a few of whom might even have participated in the October 7 attacks.......more.......