Netanyahu buoyed by far-right support for Israeli land operations in Lebanon

Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing and far-right coalition allies have voiced strong support for the country launching ground operations in southern Lebanon, shoring up a key constituency of his government as he seeks to trumpet his recent successes against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

“The decisions we made in the last few days are important, correct and necessary decisions,” wrote Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister and a key far-right member of Netanyahu’s cabinet.

“At the same time, this is the time not to stop, to continue doing everything, with all our might, and crush the terrorist organisation Hezbollah, in order to return the residents of the north to their homes safely,” he continued. “I pray for the success of the IDF soldiers who are currently fighting in difficult conditions in southern Lebanon, the people of Israel stand behind them.”

Related: The domestic political objectives behind Israel’s incursion into Lebanon

Ben-Gvir had just a week ago threatened to withdraw his rightwing Otzma Yehudit party from Netanyahu’s ruling coalition if he agreed to a US-French proposed ceasefire in Lebanon. While Netanyahu would probably have found another party to prevent his government from collapse, the broad support for the offensive, buoyed up by a series of successful attacks against Hezbollah, has been reflected in the polls.

Israel’s Channel 12 released a poll on Sunday evening showing Netanyahu’s Likud party had rebounded in polls after a dip following the 7 October Hamas attacks, which were a serious embarrassment for the ruling government. Netanyahu has also strengthened his coalition by adding former rival Gideon Saar, a war hawk who had quit Netanyahu’s Likud party, as a minister without portfolio.

Naftali Bennett, another rightwing rival of Netanyahu’s who has feuded with the PM, has also written strong words in support of the operation.

“Israel, a Nation of Lions, has risen,” wrote Bennett, whose popularity rivals that of Netanyahu. “Over the past year, Hezbollah terrorists have murdered dozens of Israelis including 12 children on a soccer field, fired thousands of rockets at us, hit our villages of Metula, Shlomi and the kibbutzim, and forced us to evacuate the north of the country of its inhabitants. Enough is enough.”

“Every IDF soldier who crossing now the border fence into Lebanese soil knows that he is doing so to protect the citizens of Israel,” he said. “May Hashem protect our soldiers. The entire nation stands behind you.’

Domestic and western observers noted that Netanyahu’s position in Israeli politics, commonly cited as an important element of his support for military operations against Hamas and Hezbollah, appears at its most solid since 7 October. “Netanyahu is in an unprecedented position of strength” since 7 October, said a western diplomat.

More centrist politicians such as National Unity party chair Benny Gantz had also supported a potential ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, analysts noted, and the actions appeared to have broad support among Israeli voters.

“It seems like they have an ear to their base, and their base is saying, Oh, this is, this is a national kind of pride that we’re doing here, where we’re able to what we thought to rise from, you know, a very low point in terms of what happened on [7 October],” said Dr Yonatan Freeman, international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “And now we’re turning it around and we’re really leading the fight against Iran, on the world stage.”