In Israel, Zionism is fractured into two political realities with opposing visions
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from Washington earlier this month, his political rival, former Defence Minister Benny Gantz, launched a campaign supporting a strike on Iran.
This came at a time of growing social unrest in Israel over the prolonged war in Gaza and the increasing burden on exhausted reserve forces.
While the parliamentary opposition follows Netanyahu’s lead, refusing to acknowledge the illusion of “total victory”, a strike on Iran would risk igniting chaos across the region. Simultaneously, Israeli military operations in Syria are deepening the strategic confusion, pushing the country into another quagmire.
These aggressive moves highlight the limits of Israeli military power, while a deeper conflict simmers under the surface: the identity crisis between “the state of Tel Aviv” and "the state of so-called Judea and Samaria”, the Israeli name for the occupied West Bank.
This internal rift is increasingly visible. A Shin Bet internal intelligence official was recently arrested for leaking classified materials to a government minister and journalists in an unprecedented breach. Even more shocking, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich refused to attend a war cabinet meeting this week because Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar would be present.
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At the same time, the Shin Bet is investigating security leaks from the prime minister’s office and the infiltration of police by Kahanist activists.
Intelligence agencies are split. Police, under a messianic-right national security minister, refuse to restrain settler violence in the occupied West Bank. In contrast, the Shin Bet remains aligned with the state apparatus and Netanyahu’s opponents. These divisions also play out across the media landscape.
Ultimately, Zionism today is fractured into two political realities with opposing moral visions - now institutionalised within the state itself.
Dissenting voices
Criticism of Netanyahu has begun to emerge from within the right. Former allies - including senior officials such as Moshe Yaalon, Dan Meridor and Dan Halutz, all known for their hawkish views - are now breaking ranks. Unlike the passive parliamentary opposition, they recognise that the threat lies not only in the war but in the broader societal transformation Netanyahu is pushing.
Yaalon, who commanded deadly operations in the occupied West Bank during his tenure as army chief, shocked Israeli audiences in a prime-time interview when he said he expected Israel “not to send soldiers to kill babies” in Gaza. He has also acknowledged that Israel is conducting ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza.
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Meridor, the former justice minister, has confronted Israeli media about rising racism in politics, reminding viewers that Israel once disqualified Rabbi Meir Kahane’s party from elections over its racist platform. He urged the Shin Bet to investigate settler pogroms in the occupied West Bank, while acknowledging that demographic realities make annexation of Gaza and the West Bank impossible.
Halutz, the former commander of the Israeli Air Force, has also publicly opposed the Gaza war, warning it would only deepen hatred and empower enemies. In a recent Haaretz interview, he expressed concern that his children and grandchildren may choose to leave Israel altogether, fearing that Netanyahu’s social-engineering project is disrupting the delicate balance between the occupation and liberal life in Tel Aviv.
Even in their criticism, they remain trapped in a familiar failure: they still do not centre Palestinian humanity
These officials grasp what many on the left still deny: the Zionist right is not just continuing a war. It is preparing for cultural domination. And while the left avoids proposing real alternatives, the messianic right is laying the groundwork for a long ideological battle that could redefine Israel’s identity.
If Israel has succeeded at anything during its war on Gaza, it has been to maintain “normalcy” while carrying out genocidal violence. Tens of thousands of Palestinian and thousands of Lebanese people have been killed. Yet, Israeli life continues uninterrupted. Despite genocide accusations at The Hague, international protests and economic boycotts, Israeli society marches on unfazed.
The real issue is not ignorance, but a psychological ability to dissociate. Despite instant access to information, Israelis continue life as usual - even as the booms from Gaza and Beirut echo across their cities.
Claims of “we didn’t know” no longer hold. Thousands of Israeli soldiers have filmed and shared footage of their roles in the war. They know. Everyone knows. The fear is not of ignorance, but of indifference. The true danger lies in a society capable of committing genocide while maintaining its daily comforts, justifying the deaths of babies and asking no questions.
Equilibrium under threat
Netanyahu’s former allies now recognise this threat to the equilibrium that once allowed Israelis to enjoy prosperity while dominating another people. This balance between comfort and control created a public willing to serve in the military without asking questions. Israeli soldiers, perhaps uniquely, return from war to spa vouchers, gym discounts and social media posts that seamlessly shift from Gaza to Paris.
But the messianic right demands more. Its vision is of a militarised society engaged in religious warfare and limitless territorial expansion. It ignores the limits of power and recklessly threatens wars with neighbouring Arab states. And it seeks a cultural transformation for which many Israelis are simply not prepared.
Central to this balance is Israel’s middle class - the economic backbone of the country, largely based in Tel Aviv. This group tolerated a formula: occupation over there, liberal lifestyle over here. But as they remained silent, especially after the 2005 Gaza disengagement, the religious right launched strategic projects to plant religious academies and communities in secular cities and to slowly infiltrate institutions of power.
Over time, the chaos of the occupied West Bank was imported into Israeli civic life, escalating cultural tensions and reshaping national identity.
One concern shared by Netanyahu’s former allies is that the Tel Aviv middle class, with its wealth and mobility, could simply leave. That would devastate Israel’s economy and dismantle its liberal image abroad.
Perhaps, these figures now feel free to speak because they are not seeking re-election or a return to service. This gives them space to speak honestly about what they once enabled. They know they helped Netanyahu rise, and they must now live with that legacy.
Yet, even in their criticism, they remain trapped in a familiar failure: they still do not centre Palestinian humanity. For them, Palestinians remain a side story. Until the Palestinian right to freedom and equality is recognised as the moral compass, they are not an alternative. They are merely mourning the Israel they once knew.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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