War deepens Israel divides

AS IT grinds on well into its twenty-second month, Israel’s war in Gaza has set friends and families against one another and sharpened existing political and cultural divides.

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The families of hostages and peace activists want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to secure a ceasefire with Hamas and free the remaining captives abducted during the October 2023 Hamas attacks.

Right-wing members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, meanwhile, want to seize the moment to occupy and annex more Palestinian land, at the risk of sparking further international criticism.

The debate has divided the country and strained private relationships, undermining national unity at Israel's moment of greatest need in the midst of its longest war.

“As the war continues we become more and more divided,” said Emanuel Yitzchak Levi, a 29-year-old poet, schoolteacher and peace activist from Israel’s religious left who attended a peace meeting at Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square.

“Its really hard to keep being a friend, or family, a good son, a good brother to someone that’s - from your point of view - supporting crimes against humanity,’ he said.

“And I think it’s also hard for them to support me if they think I betrayed my own country,”

As if to underline this point, a tall, dark-haired cyclist angered by the gathering pulled up his bike to shout ‘traitors’ at the attendees and to accuse activists of playing into Hamas's hands.