Despite deep unpopularity outside his rightwing base, Israel’s leader continues to use war and political divisions to his advantage

• Middle East crisis – live updates

At the beginning of September, the discovery that six Israeli hostages had been killed by their Hamas captors as troops operated near the tunnel where they were being held propelled huge crowds into the streets of Tel Aviv and other cities.

The focus of the dismay and anger: the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel’s main trade union, the Histadrut, called a short-lived but significant strike. Opposition politicians spoke of their dismay at the prime minister’s handling of the hostages-for-ceasefire negotiations he has widely been accused of undermining.