Despite decades of alliance and deep dependency, “Israel” now faces a new and potentially destabilizing challenge: a shifting public mood in the United States, sharpened by the war on Gaza.

The decision to impose Israeli control over Area H2 of the 1997 Hebron Agreement, replacing the role of the Palestinian Authority, marks the latest step in a long series of moves to entrench Israeli Occupation rule over the West Bank.

The clash between the Haredim and Netanyahu goes beyond politics, exposing a deeper structural contradiction within the Zionist project between a militarized state reliant on conscription for prolonged war and an ultra-Orthodox camp seeking to preserve its privileges.

The Israeli Knesset recently passed a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks, a measure sharply criticised as discriminatory by European countries and rights groups.

Itamar Ben-Gvir has massively expanded gun rights for Jewish settlers in Jerusalem and the West Bank, fueling settler violence and endangering Palestinians.