In any other country, news of a ceasefire after a long year of war would bring feelings of joy and relief.


But not in it Israel.


Anger, bitterness and unease have become typical of the national mood after the Israeli cabinet last week’s ceasefire agreement of Lebanon.


When the news broke, it could have been thousands of Lebanese seen they rushed to their homes and celebrated, while huge traffic jams blocked the roads to the south of the country.


“We are especially happy about ending the war and returning home,” a Lebanese journalist told Middle East Eye. “We wish the same for Gaza,” they added.




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In Israel, the response could not have been more powerful different.


Mayors from northern cities flooded the media with threats to protest the decision.


Meanwhile, displaced Israelis said they could not return to their homes because the government had not kept its promise: total victory.


Little clarity


Of the more than 70,000 Israelis who fled Israel’s northern cities, few have returned. Many claim that the security situation has not improved since Israel launched its attack on Hamas in Gazaleading to an escalation of the conflict with Hezbollah, following the October 7 attacks on southern Israel.


MEE asked some Israeli residents and analysts what a total victory would look like. For them, one of the most important demands was the introduction of an official buffer zone in southern Lebanon under Israeli security control, together with a disarmed Hezbollah.




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“(Israel’s Defense Minister) Israel Katz said just ten days ago that the goal is to disarm Hezbollah and that there will be a buffer zone,” Israeli political analyst Meron Rapoport told MEE.


“That’s what they told us, and it’s clear that’s not happening. It’s a very big gap.”




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For over a year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had claimed that Hezbollah was planning to invade the Galilee.


Although this is a far-fetched claim, an invasion of the Galilee is a very plausible possibility for ordinary Israelis, as long as Hezbollah is armed and there is no buffer zone.


So why did Netanyahu agree to the ceasefire?


His television speech on November 27 offered little clarity.


Netanyahu tried to frame the deal as a temporary ceasefire, with some seeing it as a 60-day truce rather than a definitive end to the war.


That vagueness may have been intentional, as most residents of northern Israel and most local mayors are Likud voters who support Netanyahu.


New elites and the old guard


Since the announcement, Israeli media have been forced to wonder why the country can sign an agreement with Lebanon but not one involving Gaza.


“The new elites are interested in Gaza,” Rapoport said, “so it was easy for Netanyahu to give up Lebanon and focus on Gaza.”



According to Rapoport, the war against Lebanon was a war of the old Israeli elite and its deep state security establishment: a war of the Mossad and the Israeli army, which are behind the assassination of Hezbollah leaders.


Meanwhile, the new elites, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, are more interested in Gaza resettlement.



It appears that Netanyahu is mainly trying to preserve his coalition, as the ultra-Orthodox threaten to topple the government.



According to Rapoport, it appears that Netanyahu’s government has more obligations to the new elites than to the old guard.


Nehemiah Shtraslera former Haaretz columnist, has also since analyzed what likely prompted Netanyahu to sign the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.


According to Shtrasler, the reasons Netanyahu gave in last week’s speech were not the real ones.


It appears that Netanyahu is mainly trying to maintain his coalition, as the ultra-Orthodox threaten to topple the government if the conscription exemptions they demand are not quickly legislated.


So the ceasefire in Lebanon may have given Netanyahu some leeway on the domestic political front.


Netanyahu’s trick


Yossi Verter from Haaretz emphasized the differencesWhile Netanyahu gave the green light to a ceasefire with Lebanon just weeks after launching a ground operation, he is not even considering ending the war in Gaza after fourteen months.


Ben Caspit similarly asked in Maariv why it was possible to make an agreement with Hezbollah, which is much better equipped to continue the fight than Hamas, and why an agreement in Gaza seems somewhat impossible.




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Yair Golan, leader of the New Democratic Party (a merger between Meretz and Labor), joined the hostages’ families in making similar comments about the “missing” ceasefire in Gaza.


While coalition interests may help shape Netanyahu’s decisions on Gaza, Shtrasler claims the prime minister is also concerned about his personal safety.


The French Foreign Minister’s promise not to enforce the law The ICC arrest warrant suggests that signing the ceasefire in Lebanon is a ploy to avoid his own arrest and outmaneuver international sanctions.


Protests continue to take place every week in Tel Aviv by the families of those kidnapped on October 7, raising questions about why Netanyahu has not shown the zeal for a deal to return the hostages as he has for a ceasefire the firing on the northern front.


The bottom line is that the government appears to be in no hurry to end the war in Gaza.


Instead, what will most likely determine the next phase of the broader conflict is Netanyahu’s desire to warn Syria’s Bashar al-Assad against aiding Hezbollah and countering the threat posed by Iran.


The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.



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