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Shift in Israel as public mood turns against ‘moral failure’ of Gaza war
Israeli commentators and human rights groups are questioning the war amid images of emaciated children, even prompting criticism from Donald Trump
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The news on Israel’s main TV channel had just finished a segment on how hunger in Gaza is portrayed around the world when the anchor looked up and said: “Maybe it’s finally time to acknowledge that this isn’t a public relations failure, but a moral one.”
Whether it was a Walter Cronkite moment, when the US broadcaster declared on live TV in 1968 that the Vietnam war was unwinnable – a turning point in public opinion – it seemed significant in a country that’s been steadfast in its defence of the war against Hamas in Gaza for 22 months.
There are other indications – from WhatsApp group chats to new reports by Israeli human rights organisations – that the mood is shifting away from a robust embrace of the conflict.
Some commentators are announcing a change of heart about the war, triggered when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250. The subsequent Israeli offensive has killed more than 60,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, and left much of the Palestinian territory in ruins.
The United Nations World Food Programme has warned for weeks that Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people faces crisis levels of food insecurity, with scores of aid groups reporting widespread starvation.
What was a just war two years ago is now an unjust war and must be ended
“After the massacre, it was imperative to strike at Hamas with all our might, even at the cost of civilian casualties,” wrote Nahum Barnea, a columnist for centrist newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. But “the damage – in military casualties, Israel’s international standing and civilian casualties – is growing worse. Hamas is to blame, but Israel is responsible.”
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