KINSELLA: Benjamin Netanyahu is not Israel

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Is Benjamin Netanyahu Israel? Is Israel Benjamin Netanyahu?

If you spend a few weeks there, talking to Israelis, the answer is pretty clear: No. To many Israelis, their prime minister no longer represents them. Israeli pollsters say around two-thirds of the country want him gone.

I came back from Israel a few days ago. I was there to film a documentary about the propaganda war against the Jewish state and the West. The documentary argues there is a coordinated, effective and well-funded campaign against the Jewish state, one that has unleashed a torrent of antisemitism around the world.

Official antisemitism has again reared its foul head in Canada, some claim. On Monday morning, Canada — along with Britain and France — issued a statement that said: “We strongly oppose the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable.” The statement warned of “targeted sanctions” against Israel, but also called for the release of the remaining hostages and an end to Hamas’ control of Gaza.

The day before, Netanyahu had already announced that trucks carrying food and aid would be permitted into Gaza. “We must not reach a situation of famine, both from a practical and a diplomatic standpoint,” the Israeli prime minister said in a video.

If you talk to people in Israel — and this writer did, with around 100 people from all walks of life, all over the country — you will find widespread disapproval of Benjamin Netanyahu, and somewhat less disapproval of his governing Likud Party. Israelis will tell you that Netanyahu facilitated Qatar’s funding of Hamas before its attack on Oct. 7, 2023; that he did not prevent the atrocities of Oct. 7; that he has not won the war against Hamas, after nearly 600 days of trying; and — most critically — he has shown too little interest in returning the remaining hostages to Israel.

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In Hostages Square in Tel Aviv — the longest-running anti-war encampment anywhere, located across the street from IDF headquarters — the anger against Netanyahu is palpable. With my American and Canadian camera crew, I spoke to dozens of people there, including many former IDF soldiers.

Two women carrying anti-war signs, and wearing anti-Netanyahu Y-shirts, were representative. “We are against the war!” one said. “I am so mad at our government!” The other woman nodded, and pointed at my reporter’s notebook. “Tell the world we are against the war! Tell them!”

Later, the brother of a slain hostage took to the stage located on the far side of the square: “Netanyahu has blood on his hands!” The mother of a young woman slain at the Nova Music festival site: “Netanyahu is a liar and psychopath!” Thousands then marched — as they have done every week since Oct. 7 — around the IDF headquarters, demanding an end to the war and the return of all the hostages.

All of that — the polling, the peace marches, the seething anger among the majority of Israelis — proves that Benjamin Netanyahu is in no way synonymous with the Jewish state. Israelis want him gone.

As long as the war continues, however, he won’t be. Some of his critics believe he is continuing the war to avoid three separate corruption prosecutions he is facing. Meanwhile, many Israelis are deeply despondent that so many allies — Canada, France and Britain, among them — have seemingly turned away from the Jewish state. They have seen the anti-Israel protests in the West, and the terrible antisemitic violence in those three countries, and they are disconsolate. “Why do so many hate us?” one woman said to me. “Why does the world not see that we oppose Netanyahu, too?”

Increasingly, the Israeli prime minister is isolated. His main ally, U.S. President Donald Trump, last week concluded a trip to the Middle East, and he did not once set foot Israel. Instead, he took the gift of a multimillion-dollar jet from Qatar — the dictatorship that has funded and shielded Hamas.

Can Benjamin Netanyahu continue in power, long-term? It’s now doubtful. With most Western leaders moving away from his administration, it is difficult to see how he can continue.

What he does to hold onto power is unclear. What is increasingly clear, however, is this: Benjamin Netanyahu is not Israel. And Israel — and Israelis — want change.