Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was already under pressure for other problems. Now, a recent poll says 76% of Israelis want him to resign.
Noam Tibon was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea on Oct. 7 when he heard sirens, followed by an alarming text message: Hamas militants had infiltrated his son’s community in southern Israel.
He told his son to lock himself in a safe room. Then Tibon, a retired major general in Israel’s army, grabbed his pistol, hopped in his car — and drove south from Tel Aviv, making phone calls along the way.
„I tried the chief of staff, the southern commander and the division commander — I know all of them — but nobody responded to me,“ Tibon, 62, tells NPR.
When he finally encountered Israeli soldiers, Tibon asked them to continue south toward the front line with him.
„But their commander said, ‚No, I need permission, I need orders,'“ Tibon recalls. „At that time, I knew: This is chaos. Nobody’s giving orders.“
Tibon says he’s never been a political man. But he calls what he witnessed that day a „colossal breakdown“ of the Israeli security apparatus to which he devoted his career. And there’s one person he blames.
„Benjamin Netanyahu cannot stay even one more day on the chair of the prime minister,“ Tibon says. „He is a failure and he must go.“A majority of Israelis want Netanyahu to go
In Israel, grief and anger are raw after Hamas militants stormed into parts of the country on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and kidnapping more than 240. In response, the Israeli military has unleashed more than a month of heavy attacks and a total siege on the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas. Israel’s offensive has left more than 11,000 Palestinians dead in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry there.
But a growing number of Israelis are blaming their own prime minister for security lapses that may have made the country more vulnerable.
A Nov. 3 poll found 76% of Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. On Nov. 7, a leading pro-Netanyahu newspaper reversed its stance and ran an editorial calling for his ouster after the war. Polls taken last month show Netanyahu would lose if elections were held now.
In power for most of the past 16 years, Netanyahu has long portrayed himself as tough on security. But critics say he strayed from that focus, and gambled with it.
Last year, he invited far-right religious parties to govern with him.
