In the Tree brasserie off Herzl Street in Rehovot, there was much that almost everyone agreed on. Few contested that the ceasefire deal concluded by Iran and the US a few days earlier was very bad for Israel. “We were betrayed by President Trump,” said Avi Perez, 55.
They believed, too, that Israel, more than ever, was surrounded by danger that it would have to confront alone. “It is strange. One day we were in the [bomb] shelters with our children … The next day, everything is supposed to be normal. But nothing has been resolved,” said Shaham Nowick, 35, as he studied the menu.
Rehovot, 12 miles from Tel Aviv, has long been held up by pollsters as the epitome of “middle Israel”, if such a thing exists in such a diverse and divided country. Rows of Israeli and pride flags flew on major streets, loud rave music blasted on one street corner, Orthodox Jewish men gathered on another, and weekend traffic built up around construction sites for a new bus system.
Some had come to the brasserie for a break from the news, which on Friday morning was dominated by headlines about renewed fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces had launched waves of airstrikes, killing 18 people and wounding 33, after Hezbollah, which has close links to Iran, had killed four Israeli soldiers, including a senior officer, in an attack on a tank.
Many Israelis believe the deal negotiated by the US with Iran is a betrayal. Commentators have condemned the deal as a surrender and a humiliation that was “even worse than Israel had feared”.
There widespread concern not only that will Iran be able to rebuild stronger than before the conflict, but also that the agreement imposed in Lebanon will restrict Israel’s ability to combat Hezbollah, which is seen as a major threat to the Israel’s north.
“Israelis believe that the war in Lebanon is a just war,” said Udi Tenne, a political strategic adviser and international campaign manager in Israel. “Everyone living in Israel understands that Iran and Hezbollah are one and the same.”
In Metulla, a northern town metres from Lebanon, there was anger. “Everyone was very pleased with the war [against Iran] but the US agreement is really not good for Israel … It’s a big mistake,” said Daniel Dorfmann, a restaurateur.
Others spoke of the “abject failure” of Israel to achieve its war aims of regime change, the destruction of Iran’s nuclear programme and the elimination of its ballistic missiles.
Worse, after starting the war “shoulder to shoulder” with the US, Israel had ended the conflict marginalised by Washington and dismissed as “a small power” by Donald Trump last week.
Instead of being invited to the White House to advise Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu has received expletive-laden tirades and criticism over the civilian casualties caused by Israel’s relentless offensive in Lebanon, where more than 3,900 people have been killed.
Nadav Eyal, a columnist in the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, wrote: “The words ‘shock’ and ‘grief’ fail to describe the feeling in certain parts of the establishment in Israel. A lot of salt is being poured into their wounds now.”
Netanyahu, who is 76 and on trial for corruption, now faces the difficult challenge of convincing voters that only he can keep Israelis safe.
Prof Tamar Hermann, a specialist in public opinion at the Israel Democracy Institute, said: “Netanyahu showed a kind of hubris in defining his aims so clearly. When you fail to achieve them, you are thought of as incapable of fulfilling your promises.”
Rehovot, where there are very few Palestinian citizens of Israel, is also a bellwether town for Jewish voters, who comprise three-quarters of the electorate in Israel. National polls are now expected in October. “The coming election will be a major turning point,” said one opposition party senior official last week. “It’s hard to exaggerate how important this will be for the country.”
Faith in Netanyahu was deeply shaken, even among supporters, by the failures that led to the October 2023 attack by Hamas, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and about 250 abducted. Israel’s relentless and bloody war in Gaza, which killed more than 73,000 people, mostly civilians, brought international isolation. Israel now controls 70% of Gaza but Hamas still rules over most of the 2.3 million population. Successive offensives in Lebanon against Hezbollah have proved inconclusive.
Despite the backlash, there are some who remain loyal to Netanyahu. When undecided voters were asked last week who would best stand up to Iran, 43% said a Netanyahu-led coalition.
At the brasserie, Perez, an engineer, said: “Netanyahu is human, so he makes some mistakes, but he knows how to fix things. He knows what Israel needs. He speaks for his country. Trump speaks for his businesses.”
Such sentiments mean the coming election is likely to be closely fought. Netanyahu, a veteran of such struggles, may still outmanoeuvre all rivals, analysts say. Hermann said: “I think he is in trouble but I’m not sure what he might have up his sleeve. He is a political Houdini.”
Lee Novick, 34, a doctor in Rehovot, said Israelis were more divided on many issues than ever before. “Netanyahu has been trying to divide us and it has worked. This has been going on for years. And in the meantime, no one cares about the basic stuff – house prices, for example, or inflation,” she said.
“I believe Iran when it says it wants to destroy Israel. Why wouldn’t I? But this government is exploiting the war [to get] divisive laws through and just to stay in power.”
Officials in opposition political parties also said Jewish Israelis were more divided than ever before. “Israelis are talking past each other. The common ground isn’t there,” one said.
Harmann disagrees, however, and pointed out there had been other moments of extreme polarisation in recent decades, such as the 1990s. Instead, she said, most Jewish voters share more than divides them: a belief in an economically liberal model but a strong welfare state funded by progressive taxation, a tough line on security, Israel existing as a Jewish state and a belief that any two-state solution to the conflict with Palestinians is unrealistic.
More immediately, most support the war in Lebanon and fiercely oppose laws giving Israel’s orthodox communities exemption from conscription.
“All the talk of polarisation is possibly a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Harmann said.
In Rehovot, Dahlia Perez, 55, said last week’s events had taught her that “peace will never come”.
“I was hoping for an end to wars but I think we are always going to have to live by our swords,” she said. “We understand now that we have no friends and we cannot trust anyone.”
