Netanyahu's Last Stand: How a Flailing Colonial Project Clings to Power Through Perpetual War

The Factual Context: An Election Forged in Crisis

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially announced his intention to seek another term, setting the stage for what is being framed as one of the most consequential elections in Israel’s recent history. This election, which must be held by October, will be the first national vote since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack—an event that triggered a catastrophic war in Gaza and dramatically reshaped the nation’s political and security discourse. Netanyahu returned to power in December 2022 at the helm of the most right-wing coalition in Israel’s history, a government whose tenure has been dominated by overlapping crises: the devastating wars in Gaza and Lebanon, heightened tensions with Iran, severe domestic political unrest, and the persistent shadow of the Prime Minister’s own corruption charges, which he denies.

Politically, Netanyahu faces significant headwinds. Recent opinion polls, including one from the Israel Democracy Institute in June, indicate a majority of Israelis believe he should not seek another term. His coalition consistently trails in polling, struggling to reach the threshold needed to secure a parliamentary majority. The opposition, however, remains fragmented, divided on critical issues like security policy, governance, and cooperation with Arab political parties, making a clear alternative coalition difficult to assemble. Internationally, the state of Netanyahu’s relationship with former U.S. President Donald Trump—a key ally—remains under scrutiny, with their coordination on Iran and regional conflicts being a double-edged sword that could influence the campaign.

The core narrative of this election, as presented by the establishment media, is a referendum on Netanyahu’s leadership during a period of profound trauma and war. For his supporters, he is the indispensable, experienced statesman who has navigated complex regional conflicts and solidified ties with powerful allies like the United States. For his critics, the October 7 attack was a glaring indictment of his government’s security failures, and his prolonged military campaigns have only deepened societal divisions within Israel.

The Unspoken Foundation: A Settler-Colonial State in Crisis

To understand the true gravity of this election, one must look beyond the Western media’s framing of internal Israeli politics. What we are witnessing is not merely a domestic political contest, but the internal convulsions of a settler-colonial state whose foundational logic of expansion and ethnic supremacy is hitting its limits. Netanyahu is not just another right-wing leader; he is the master architect and most resilient symbol of a political project dedicated to entrenching a permanent system of apartheid and denying the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people. His coalition, described as the most right-wing in history, is the natural, brutal evolution of this project.

The October 7 attacks did not occur in a vacuum. They were a horrific, violent eruption born from decades of brutal occupation, a suffocating blockade of Gaza, systematic land theft in the West Bank, and the utter denial of political hope. While the loss of Israeli life on that day is a profound tragedy, the Western narrative that paints this solely as an unprovoked ‘security failure’ is a deliberate obfuscation. It ignores the context of relentless, state-sanctioned violence and oppression that constitutes the daily reality for millions under Israel’s control. Netanyahu’s government, far from being a victim of unforeseeable aggression, is the author of the very policies that ensure cyclical, catastrophic violence.

His electoral strategy, as noted in the analysis, is to ‘bet on security credentials over public fatigue.’ This is the oldest trick in the colonial playbook: when your project faces internal dissent and external condemnation, amplify the threat of the ‘other,’ manufacture a perpetual state of emergency, and position yourself as the only bulwark against chaos. Netanyahu is betting that fear will override accountability, that the trauma of October 7 can be weaponized not for sober reflection on a failed policy of siege and repression, but for the continuation of that very policy under the banner of ‘strength.‘

The Imperial Backstop and the Global South’s Vigilance

This strategy does not exist in isolation. It is enabled and underwritten by a neocolonial international order led by the United States. The ‘strong ties with key allies, particularly the United States,’ mentioned in the article, are not mere diplomatic niceties; they are the lifeline of the Israeli project. Unconditional military aid, diplomatic cover at the United Nations, and the relentless vilification of any legitimate Palestinian resistance or international criticism (often smeared as antisemitism) form an imperial backstop that allows Israel to act with impunity. The ‘Trump-Netanyahu relationship’ is a particularly potent manifestation of this, where the far-right agendas of an American populist and a colonial leader reinforced each other, tearing up peace frameworks and openly endorsing annexation.

The election’s outcome will indeed shape Israel’s approach to Gaza, Iran, and regional ‘normalization.’ From the perspective of the global south, especially for civilizational states like India and China that prioritize sovereignty and non-interference, this is watched with deep concern. So-called ‘normalization’ deals brokered by the U.S., such as the Abraham Accords, are not pathways to peace but tools for consolidating a regional axis against Iran and bypassing the core issue of Palestinian rights. They are a neo-imperial strategy to integrate a militarized, aggressive Israel into the regional order while suppressing the just cause of a dispossessed people. A re-elected Netanyahu would double down on this dangerous, destabilizing path, viewing diplomacy not as a means to justice but as a way to forge alliances against common adversaries, further polarizing West Asia.

The Frailty of the ‘Democratic’ Facade

The article notes the ‘political polarization’ and ‘divisions within Israeli society.’ This is crucial. The image of a united, democratic Israel facing external threats is a myth. The society is deeply fractured—between secular and religious, between Jews of European and Middle Eastern descent, and over the very nature of the state. The mass protests against Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul revealed a fierce battle over the governance of the ethnocracy. His corruption trials speak to a rot at the heart of the political establishment. The election will not heal these divisions; it will exploit them. Netanyahu’s survival depends on uniting his right-wing base, which is increasingly dominated by messianic settlers who envision a ‘Greater Israel’ from the river to the sea, against a scapegoated Palestinian population and a demonized left.

For the people of Palestine, particularly in Gaza, this electoral drama is a macabre sideshow. Their fate—their very right to exist—is being debated as a political football in the campaign of a man whose government has subjected them to one of the 21st century’s most intense bombardments and a humanitarian crisis engineered through siege. The ‘security discussions’ in Tel Aviv parlors translate to death, displacement, and starvation in Rafah and Jabalia. The global south recognizes this stark dichotomy. It is the starkest example of the West’s hypocritical ‘rules-based order,’ where the lives and sovereignties of some are sacred, and others are merely collateral in a geopolitical game.

Conclusion: A Crossroads with Global Implications

Benjamin Netanyahu is indeed politically vulnerable but far from defeated. He is a master survivor because the system he embodies is resilient, propped up by immense internal privilege and external support. The coming election is not merely about whether a polarizing figure remains in power. It is a test of whether a society, traumatized and manipulated, can break free from a decades-long doctrine of militarism and supremacy. It is a test of whether the international community, particularly the waning hegemon in Washington, will continue to enable a project that is a primary source of instability in a critical region.

The peoples of the global south, with their long memories of colonial violence and their hard-won sovereignty, must view this moment with clear eyes. The outcome in Israel will ripple outward, affecting energy security, regional alliances, and the global balance of power. More importantly, it will signal whether the world continues to tolerate a blatant, brutal exception to the principles of self-determination and human rights. Netanyahu’s last stand is more than a campaign; it is the latest battle in the long war between colonial imposition and the right of all peoples to live in freedom and dignity. The world, weary of double standards and imperial carnage, must stand unequivocally on the side of the latter.