Photo via middleeasteye.net
Israel launches massive West Bank op as election looms
After two Israeli soldiers were killed near Hebron, Netanyahu accelerates a military campaign days before a tight election race.
What happened
Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others at a checkpoint near Hebron on October 23, prompting an immediate and sweeping Israeli military response. Israeli forces pushed into the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, displacing approximately 2,000 residents and conducting operations in more than 400 separate locations over the weekend, arresting roughly 40 Palestinians the military said were affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to exact a heavy price for the attack and announced a major operation, saying Israeli forces would conduct "house-to-house" searches in the neighborhood where the suspected attackers came from. Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that displaced residents "will not be allowed to return... until we've finished dealing with all the Hamas issues in Hebron." Netanyahu pledged an operation on a scale not seen since Israel first occupied the West Bank in 1967.
The military operation coincides with Israel's general election on October 27. The government approved a full closure of the West Bank, banning Palestinian workers from entering Israeli settlements and closing all land crossings on election day. The operation has displaced households for a third consecutive day, with Hebron's mayor reporting that "people cannot reach or enter the city, and they cannot leave it," affecting businesses, mosques, and access to medical care.
Netanyahu's re-election campaign faces headwinds. Recent polls show Eisenkot's opposition Yashar party holding roughly 22 seats to Likud's 20, with neither major bloc commanding a clear path to the 61-seat majority required to form a government. The election largely hinges on Netanyahu's security-first reputation, which has been damaged by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. The timing of the military escalation so close to election day adds both a security and political dimension to the operation.
Chanakya's Move
Netanyahu is making a high-risk political bet. By escalating the Hebron operation immediately before a tight election, he frames himself as the security-first leader after three years in which his October 7 intelligence failure shattered that reputation. The operation is massive enough—house-to-house sweeps, 2,000+ displaced, 40+ arrests across 400 locations—to signal to right-wing voters that he will act without restraint. But the bet is that showing strength now outweighs the risk that a visible campaign of displacement and lockdown alienates centrist or undecided voters. The timing also constrains his opponents: Eisenkot, the main challenger, cannot credibly attack the operation without appearing soft on security just before voting. The counter-move would be either a ceasefire that looks like capitulation to Palestinian violence, or a longer, costlier campaign that makes Netanyahu look reckless—neither helps the opposition.