Outside of his Cabinet and political base, one charge long leveled against Netanyahu is that he has prioritized his own political survival, playing to his right-wing base by launching wars that several erstwhile allies have described as lacking a detailed strategy.
Former Prime Minister Benny Gantz stepped down from Netanyahu’s Cabinet in June, accusing Netanyahu of standing in the way of “real victory,” while others have argued that killing Hamas’ leaders will not defeat the group.
Sinwar’s killing has only intensified the demands on Netanyahu to strike a deal. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in an X post on Thursday that “now, more than ever, we must act in every way possible to bring back the 101 hostages.”
Many ordinary Israelis are less than optimistic about seeing an imminent return of the hostages in the wake of Sinwar’s death.
“I fear that the motives of Netanyahu’s government are never entirely pure,” Hagay Keren, 52, an attorney from a town south of the northwestern city of Haifa, told NBC News. “And that the greatest interest of Netanyahu’s government is the continuation of the war, meaning that all possibilities for bringing back the hostages now might not be fully pursued.”
There is similar skepticism among many of the families of those still being held by Hamas militants.
Jonathan Dekel-Chen’s son Sagui, then 35, was taken hostage on Oct. 7. “There is no victory whatsoever in this war against Hamas without the return of the hostages,” he told NBC News. “I want to believe that Netanyahu and his government align with that understanding but their actions until now bring that… understanding into question.”
“Now that Sinwar has evidently been killed,” Dekel-Chen added, “there is zero justification for doing anything other than all means possible and necessary to get the hostages home.”
As for Netanyahu’s options from here, the seasoned political operator will be waiting to see what happens next for Israel’s most influential backer. American voters will pick their next president during the 30-day period that Israel has to comply with the demands laid out in this week’s letter.
But how seriously Netanyahu takes a lame-duck Biden presidency may well depend on the result of the election, says Chatham House’s Bronwen Maddox. “My guess is, like a lot of the world, he’s waiting to see what comes out of it, but reckoning he is not going to have substantial pressure until that election.”
