Quite a dramatic show of unity from Israel, where political differences abound and coalitions routinely fracture over esoteric policies. After the invasion from Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu declared war for the first time in decades — and now has shared power with his opposition to form a unity government. CNN covers the move as it broke, as did the Jerusalem Post:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader form emergency government as border buildup ramps up.

Follow live updates: https://t.co/xYVxuFIDiN pic.twitter.com/Adgz40iwJP

— CNN (@CNN) October 11, 2023

An emergency government was formed on Wednesday afternoon after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Unity leader Benny Gantz met at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv earlier in the morning.

The meeting lasted half an hour after which lawyers representing the Likud and National Unity stayed behind to finalize the details.

As part of the deal, Gantz and fellow party member Gadi Eisenkot will be sworn in as ministers and will join a war cabinet with Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. …

Gantz was immediately joined by opposition leader Yair Lapid and Yisrael Beyteny leader Avigdor Liberman in saying that they would be willing to join an emergency government. Coalition members also expressed support for the move.

CNN reports that this is supposed to bring in more “experience” to Israel’s war cabinet, but it seems doubtful that any of these officials would have withheld the benefit of their counsel under the circumstances. This looks aimed more at bolstering confidence in the war effort and to reduce any divisions among Israelis at a time when their security faces its biggest test in decades. When you mobilize 360,000 troops in a country Israel’s size, you have to make sure that the nation has as much confidence as possible to lead those armed forces.

Almost as importantly, this also sends a signal to Israel’s enemies that Hamas has accomplished the kind of unity and terrible resolve that Israel has not been able to muster for a very long time — perhaps since the Yom Kippur War. That message will be heard loudly and clearly by Hezbollah in the north, which is also mobilizing but pointedly is not yet testing the Israelis in any significant way. Secondarily at best, this also allows Israel’s allies to feel more comfortable with its leadership in this war. It’s no secret that Netanyahu isn’t the most popular figure in Israel with the US especially, although that didn’t stop Biden from offering full-throated support yesterday afternoon (belatedly, after nearly four days).

Let no one doubt that Israel really means to conduct and win a war. Netanyahu and Gantz would never collaborate on anything else. Working together, as long as they do work together, they can end Hamas as an entity on their soil and force Gaza to either submit or get crushed.

And let no one doubt that the Gazans under Hamas committed to war, either. The IDF now says that the Hamas terrorists intended to conquer and hold territory in southern Israel, only to get surprised by how quickly Israeli forces recovered from their surprise and disarray:

The IDF on Wednesday announced that intelligence collected from the battle with Hamas on the Gaza corridor proves that the terror group’s plan was to conquer the area and hold it for an indefinite period.

Equipment, logistical items, and other data show that the terrorists expected to stay in the area and came prepared for such an operation, before facing a faster and more powerful counter-attack than what they had foreseen.

If Hamas succeeded in surprising the IDF and Israel completely at stage one of the invasion, clearly the IDF’s second round response, as opposed to a longer period of shock, waiting, and negotiation over hostages, took Hamas by surprise.

The IDF has found Hamas terrorists as far north as the outskirts of Ashkelon. Over 1500 Hamas terrorists got killed, a far greater number than would be normally deployed in small raids. Apparently they hoped to seize ground, stall Israel over hostage negotiations long enough to end the containment of Gaza, and then flood the area in a campaign of conquest.

Even without that knowledge, of course, their butchery more than justifies the declaration of war on Gaza. And the formation of the unity government and war cabinet spells out just how badly the Gazans may have miscalculated.