From Hezbollah Attacks to Gaza Ground Op: What Challenges is Israeli Unity Government Facing?

In the aftermath of Hamas' October 7 assault on Israeli cities and civilians, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz agreed to form a unity government. Former Netanyahu adviser Aviv Bushinsky discussed the development with Sputnik's Final Countdown podcast.

The brutal Saturday attack by Hamas prompted Israeli society to unite and mobilize its resources in both military and political terms. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on the Islamist group and its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades; on October 11, he announced the formation of an emergency unity government with Benny Gantz of the National Unity party, while the next day Israel's Knesset approved its creation.

"We define it as an emergency coalition," Aviv Bushinsky, a former media advisor and chief of staff for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Sputnik. "And we had initially the same practice in 1967, five days before the Six-Day War broke in 1967. And then everybody remembers in Israel history that this was […] a successful war. So, first of all, in this case today, after the horrific events that we experienced in the last couple of days, this thing, the unity government is inevitable, is something that, first of all, the Israeli people need not necessarily because of operational reason, more of a moral reason that everybody is united. You put aside all the political conflicts, all the different political approaches, even the different approaches of how to cope with the Palestinian issue on the one hand and the Hamas and [Palestinian Islamic] Jihad terrorist organizations on the other hand. So as I said, it was something that everybody expected to happen."

Another reason for forming the unity government is that Israel is facing a serious challenge from Hezbollah in the north. Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shiite group which has both political and military wings. Since the 1980s, Israel has been repeatedly attacked by Hamas and Hezbollah over what they call the "occupation" of Palestine.

"We don't know if and when Hezbollah will start their assault on Israel, because as we know, their major or main profession is rearm themselves and get ready to hit Israel or to a right or to diminish Israel. And they have further longer distance with missiles, with heavier warheads. And in some aspects, they're very well or better trained, even in comparison to the Hamas and [Palestinian Islamic] Jihad, since they all get direct training in direct armament from Iran. So this is a huge, huge challenge that we have to get ready for, because if they join this war, then it'll be a real large-scale war."

In addition to that, the Israeli military is bracing for a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, Bushinsky pointed out. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops will have to physically go into Gaza, "and we all know that Gaza has been transformed as a death trap or a big swamp of detonation," the Israeli commentator continued. He expects that Israel's war against Hamas will turn into a "fierce battle" with "numerous IDF casualties."

Finally, even though Israel enjoys huge support from the Western allies, Bushinsky does not rule out that at one point the US and Tel Aviv's other partners could start criticizing the nation or twisting its arm over its methods of waging its military operations, or holding talks, as has happened many times before.

"So you need a unity government in order to sustain this and in order to operate," he said, referring to all of the challenges listed by him above.

Addressing the already rising criticism of Israel's airstrikes against Gaza, Bushinsky pointed out that it's necessary to distinguish between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US and EU. Per the former Netanyahu aide, Israel is not at war with the PA or Palestinians. At the same time, one should also keep in mind that Hamas is not observing the rule of law: during its Saturday assault, it shelled mostly civilian areas, killed and abducted women, children, and elderly people, the former Netanyahu aide argued, stressing that Hamas should be stopped.

"So I think that it's all unfortunately, the people have the tendency to make the comparison. So now they saw that, okay, this was a savage attack, something that a human being doesn't do. Killing kids of the ladies, a woman that some of them are even Holocaust survivors, youngsters that went to a party, really a nature party and people from all over the world, by the way, from Canada, from Australia, from Thailand, you name it. And the Hamas and [Palestinian Islamic] Jihad came and killed or slaughtered or even raped victims. Now, I don't think that this is how you practice war. This is against all the definitions of limitation according to the Geneva Convention."

Aviv Bushinsky

former media advisor and chief of staff for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

"But [as the Israeli operation will go on], people in the world will be asking: 'Okay, you know, let's compare the numbers. You have killed too many in comparison to only 1,300 [Israeli] people that were killed on your side. And so, you know, there's a humanitarian crisis there, but you have to deal with that.' […] So we know and unfortunately, under the experience and also when I served in the government, we saw it after several days of sympathy. Suddenly everybody turns around and says: 'Look, guys, you have to get it over with, enough is enough, etc., etc.' So, I know that this day will come, unfortunately, and the people will be indifferent to the fact that the Western world defines Hamas and the [Palestinian Islamic] Jihad as terrorist organizations."