Israeli society split over hostage issue and continuation of Gaza operation - expert
Public attitudes in Israel toward the war with Gaza (GettyImage)
There is no unity in Israeli society regarding the continuation of the military operation in the Gaza Strip, as well as the methods of freeing the hostages, according to Arkady Mil-Man, former Israeli ambassador to Russia and head of the Russian Studies Program at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, in a comment for an RBC-Ukraine article "Trail of peace: Where Israel searches support and whether the Middle East faces another war."
Mil-Man said that Israeli society is not cohesive on this issue and has serious disagreements. The majority demands the release of the hostages, even if this release has consequences in terms of a complete cessation of hostilities.
At the same time, he noted that there is another part of the population that demands, despite everything, to continue the fighting and destroy Hamas until complete victory.
"This part of the population does not consider the release of hostages a top priority. This is a very serious crisis in society," the expert said.
Return of hostages and ceasefire
The day before, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a working visit to Washington, said that an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages is "becoming ripe."
Recently, the militant group Hamas approved a US-backed proposal for a phased ceasefire in Gaza, abandoning the demand for a complete cessation of Israel's war. The first peace plan failed due to Israel's unwillingness to stop fighting until the leadership of Hamas was eliminated.
