Yet much of the opposition to Netanyahu is not opposition to Israel’s brutality against Palestinians, but anger over how he has managed it. The major anti-Netanyahu Zionist parties are themselves divided over leadership and coalition strategy, while a central line of attack against Netanyahu has been his responsibility for the October 7 security failure. Recent polling has shown both the Netanyahu and anti-Netanyahu blocs struggling to reach the 61 seats required to govern.

The sources warned that the combination of political fracture and a growing population of heavily armed, traumatized veterans has historical precedents. “Famously the Freikorps of Germany were PTSD-addled veterans with weapons and bloodthirst,” he said. “I’m not saying Israel post Gaza is Germany post-WWI but there are certainly aspects of this that ring similar to me.”