Ahead of September Elections, Israel’s Leaders Cynically Threaten a New Gaza War to Win Votes

• Ahead of September Elections, Israel’s Leaders Cynically Threaten a New Gaza War to Win Votes
  by https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english
  There’s less than one month to go before the upcoming snap Israeli vote to elect a new Knesset, the second time this year, but once again the threat of waging a devastating war on Gaza is being used as a voter mobilisation tactic by Israeli leaders.
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  It has been almost five years since Israel’s 2014 fifty-one-day all-out land air and sea offensive on the Palestinian coastal stip, but regaining the “power of deterrence” and maintaining “calm” in Gaza – is again a key rallying cry in the Israeli electoral lexicon used by both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponents in both the right and the left. 
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  Since 2014, many military escalations and tensions have erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza led by Hamas. Many calls were voiced by Israeli officials urging Netanyahu to launch a new “war” on Gaza and regain Israel’s deterrence.
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  But with advanced long-range rockets fired from Gaza in recent months, hitting Tel Aviv and other major cities, Netanyahu will think twice before agreeing to stage a new large military operation.
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  Unlike what happened during the April election, which resulted in Netanyahu failing to form a coalition government and ended in political paralysis, the security situation along the Gaza border fence has taken a back seat this time, raising questions about the logic behind threats against Gaza. Despite rounds of escalation in Gaza, tensions resulting from the Great Return March protests and recent attacks on Israelis in the West Bank, Netanyahu had shown restraint.
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  The Israeli prime minister had not given a green light for a new incursion into Gaza or even so-called targeted assassinations against Palestinian resistance commanders. Netanyahu has probably been concerned by the possibility of miscalculating and knows that the capabilities of the resistance groups have improved despite the ongoing 12-year blockade on Gaza.
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  But during a visit to Ukraine on Monday, Netanyahu claimed Israel is readying plans for a “forceful military strike against Hamas”. “I am preparing a massive campaign; it will be different than anything we have seen before,” Netanyahu claimed. “I cannot elaborate on the preparations but we are properly positioned for such a scenario”. Earlier on Monday, Israel’s energy minister said Netanyahu’s cabinet was planning a “widespread operation” on the besieged enclave.
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  This comes after Netanyahu’s opponent to the left, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, said that Israeli deterrence had been “weakened”. Gantz vowed that if he becomes prime minister he would move to pound Gaza, send ground troops into the enclave, and kill Hamas’ leadership in the event of another round of fighting. “The next time something happens here, we will make sure that it’s the final round. Another round of fighting would not end with just an agreement, but with an attempt to fully defeat Hamas militarily,” Gantz said.
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