Israel is heading to a ‘constitutional crisis’, possible regime collapse, says Israeli politician

Israeli politician Mossi Raz has suggested that Israel is heading towards a “very deep constitutional crisis” and a possible collapse of the entire regime as a result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies. “The division in Israel is not related to the Palestinians,” Raz, a former Knesset member from the left-wing Meretz Party, explained to Anadolu.

“The split is between Netanyahu’s supporters, who support everything he does to weaken democracy, promote corruption and violate people’s rights, and his opponents, whose lack of sufficient resistance against the [Israeli] occupation I’m not satisfied with.”

This, said Raz, is the main issue in Israel. “This is the battle. Israel has never seen demonstrations of this magnitude before.”

He was referring to the mass protests that have erupted across Israel in recent days against the government’s decision to fire the Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and withdraw confidence in Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, moves seen widely as attempts to consolidate Netanyahu’s control over state institutions. Protesters also demanded a halt to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip to avoid endangering the lives of Israelis held captive in the enclave. The Supreme Court has rejected Netanyahu’s request to “unfreeze” the dismissal decision.

“Half of the nation rejects the protests, and the other half supports them,” Raz pointed out. “It is perilous. It is not healthy.”

The Israeli politician, however, ruled out the suggestion that Israel is heading towards civil war.

“The bonds between Israelis are very strong, so I don’t think Israel will face a civil war, but a portion of the Israeli right will attack Palestinians and Israelis, and that is very dangerous. However, I don’t see most of the right wing joining in any attacks on Israelis.”

He then suggested that Israel is heading for a constitutional crisis. “If the [Supreme] Court refuses to dismiss the head of a security agency, and the government attempts to dismiss him, we will enter a very deep constitutional crisis.”

Israel’s Supreme Court is set to review petitions challenging the government’s dismissal of the Shin Bet chief on 8 April.

“I think the government will do what the court decides. Of course, they will say that it has no right and that this is a dictatorship, but I think they will do what the court decides. Otherwise, it will be worse than a constitutional crisis; it will be a collapse of the entire system,” said Raz.

On Tuesday, the Knesset [Israel’s parliament] passed the 2025 state budget, in a major victory for Netanyahu’s government. The Israeli government had to pass the budget before the end of March or it would collapse automatically and face an early election.

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This, said Raz, means that it is unlikely that there will be an election this year, but “anything” is possible. “The government is still suffering from internal crises, most citizens do not support it, and the protests are very active. People have put their lives on hold and are taking to the streets to demonstrate.”

Netanyahu has rejected calls by the Israeli opposition for his government’s resignation and to hold an early General Election. How does the former MK feel about this?

“The question that is more important than the date of the election is whether we [the opposition] are preparing for the polls and ensuring our victory. There are differences, and the opposition can win, but they have to do many important things that are not happening now,” added Raz, without elaborating further.

When asked about the Gaza Genocide, the left-wing politician expressed his belief that the parties are now moving in the wrong direction, both in Israel and in Gaza. “Neither the Israeli government nor Hamas wants a solution,” he opined.

The first phase of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement ended in early March, but Netanyahu refused to enter negotiations for the second phase of the three-phase agreement. Instead, he wanted to extend the first phase of the deal so that he could get hostages released without having to withdraw Israeli troops from Gaza and end the war.

Hamas refused to proceed under these conditions.

The movement insisted that Israel abide by the terms of the original ceasefire agreement and immediately start negotiations for the second phase, with a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a complete halt to the war.

The ceasefire deal had already been violated by Israel when, on 1 March, it announced that it would not allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Israeli army then launched a surprise bombing campaign on 18 March, and has since killed nearly 800 Palestinians and wounded over 1,600 others, shattering the ceasefire that took effect in January.

“The confrontation continues, and more Palestinians and Israelis are being killed,” said Raz. “This is a real danger, because one day, something even more horrific could happen here, in the West Bank and Jerusalem, in Israel, and elsewhere.”

The Israeli politician reiterated his support for the Gaza ceasefire deal, claiming that “the majority” in Israel supports it. “But the government in Israel represents the extremists. They believe that they can use their weapons to destroy Hamas, and they don’t care about the prisoners or the hostages.”

Israel estimates that there are 59 Israeli captives in Gaza, 24 of whom are still alive. More than 9,500 Palestinians, meanwhile, are languishing in Israeli prisons, facing torture, starvation and medical neglect. Many of them have died in Israel’s jails, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups.

“The only thing the government cares about is destroying Hamas and disarming it, which I believe is possible, but only from a political, not a military, perspective,” said the former parliamentarian. “But they still believe in this military option, which has not been destined to succeed. There have been many years of conflict between Gaza and Israel, and what happened on 7 October, 2023, did not improve the situation.”

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The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war against the Palestinians in the enclave.

Last weekend, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the formation of an agency to encourage what it called the “voluntary departure” of Palestinians from Gaza.

Is ethnic cleansing the solution? 

According to Raz, most Israelis back the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. “Unfortunately, I think most Israelis would be very happy to wake up one morning and see the people of Gaza somewhere else, in Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia, the US, or anywhere else,” he said. “However, I think most Israelis realise that this is not possible and will not happen, and that Palestinians and Israelis must live here together. Even if they fight, both peoples will survive.”

On 4 March, an emergency Arab summit in Cairo adopted an Egyptian plan worth $53 billion for Gaza’s reconstruction without displacing its Palestinian inhabitants, in a counterproposal to US President Donald Trump’s plan to “take over” Gaza and resettle Palestinians and develop the enclave into what he called the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Trump’s plan for Palestinian displacement was rejected by the Arab world and many other nations, who say it amounts to ethnic cleansing.

What about the two-state solution? Is that viable given the number and size of illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory?

“Yes, I believe so more than ever, because both countries have realised that if one of them doesn’t have security, neither will the other,” said Raz. “The more the fighting intensifies, the more we see that the problem cannot be solved by military means. If 2,000 Israelis are killed, Israel will remain. If 50,000 Palestinians are killed, the Palestinians will remain. Therefore, if the Palestinians have security, Israel will have security, and vice versa.”

Raz opined that most Israelis will not accept the annexation of the occupied West Bank and understand the need to make concessions. “Perhaps they don’t realise that the two-state solution must be based on concessions, and perhaps they don’t yet realise that the two-state solution means the 1967 borders, but the majority will not allow the government to annex the territory. In fact, the government is not even trying. It has not brought the issue of annexation to the Knesset.”

In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories to be “unlawful”, and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem within 12 months. Israel has approved plans for more settlement housing units in the past three months than it did in the whole of 2024. Its contempt for international laws and conventions appears to be undiminished.

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