taz commentary: Netanyahu using West Bank offensive to project strength ahead of election, cycle of violence persists
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This taz.de commentary by Susanne Knaul argues that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using a major military offensive in the occupied West Bank to project strength ahead of Tuesday's parliamentary elections. The article states that the killing of two Israeli soldiers near Hebron was used to justify the displacement of over 2,000 Palestinians, who the author says are being collectively punished. Knaul contends that Netanyahu's promises—destroying Hamas in Gaza and toppling Iran's leadership—remain unfulfilled, and that Hezbollah, though weakened, still threatens northern Israel. She argues that military action has not solved any of Israel's fronts and that without a diplomatic perspective the cycle of violence will continue. The commentary notes that diplomacy is largely absent from the campaign, with security dominating, and criticizes Defense Minister Israel Katz for preemptively blaming opposition leaders for future attacks. The author attributes violence partly to the government's expansion of settlements and failure to stop settler violence.
Source report
Commentary by Susanne Knaul | October 25, 2026, 20:08
With a major offensive in the occupied West Bank, Prime Minister Netanyahu is hoping to score points before Tuesday's election — the outcome of which remains open.
Israeli soldiers on a street between residential buildings. Photo: Mosab Shawer/Zuma Press/imago
On the final stretch before Israel's parliamentary elections, "Mr. Security" — alias Benjamin Netanyahu, promoted on his Likud party's posters as "the man who fights for us" — wants to demonstrate strength one more time. To prove this once again with a major military offensive, the death of two Israeli soldiers near Hebron in the West Bank came — cynical as it sounds — at just the right moment. From Israel's perspective, the attack on the two men justifies the displacement of over 2,000 Palestinians, who — as so often before — are being collectively punished.
A new parliament will be elected this Tuesday. It could be close for the incumbent prime minister, who has led his country to anything but greater security. His promise to wipe out Hamas in the Gaza Strip once and for all has proven as empty as his aim to topple the Iranian leadership. The Lebanese Shia terror organization Hezbollah has indeed been significantly weakened, but remains a threat — especially to the population in northern Israel.
At none of the many fronts where this small Middle Eastern country is currently fighting has the military's massive action come anywhere near a solution — quite the opposite. Without a diplomatic perspective, the spiral of violence will continue to turn endlessly. One need only imagine what is currently going through the minds of the Palestinians forcibly driven from their homes.
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Diplomacy is hardly mentioned in the election campaign. In Israel, no election can be won with hope for peaceful coexistence and two states for two peoples — after the massacre of October 7, less than ever. Instead, security is the central issue. No longer merely following the motto "We can do better," but now under the slogan "You are to blame for the violence," Defense Minister Israel Katz (Likud) has summarily held the opposition preemptively responsible for future attacks. Katz names three party leaders from the so-called "block of change" who have allied against Netanyahu and his far-right ministers.
The accusation is absurd. For it is precisely the openly racist government that bears partial responsibility for the violence, by advancing Israeli settlement in the occupied territory, displacing the Palestinian population, and neither stopping nor prosecuting violent settlers. Palestinians will follow the election with apprehension — as will those Israelis for whom human rights still hold meaning.
Susanne Knaul — Opinion Editor
Born in Berlin in 1961, editor at the opinion desk since 2020. From 1999 to 2019, taz Middle East correspondent in Israel and Palestine.
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