How not to fight ‘populism’: Passionate advice from ambivalent Netanyahu supporters amid unprecedented crises

This article offers a real‐time ethnographic analysis of why Israel's massive anti‐government protest movement has hitherto failed to unseat Netanyahu's coalition despite widespread criticism from his own voters. Drawing on extensive fieldwork among working‐class Mizrahim (Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent) who ambivalently support Netanyahu, it shows how they condemn government failures – especially following Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack – yet refuse to join the protesters, whom they feel treat them with disdain. Their reflections reveal that opposition efforts do not falter primarily over policy disagreements but over perceived symbolic and social exclusion, the refusal to recognize the political legitimacy of working‐class Mizrahim and their sensibilities. Unusually, these supporters offer concrete advice on how – and how not – to challenge right‐wing ‘populist’ politics, guidance that has implications for understanding the conditions sustaining the Gaza war and for opposition movements elsewhere.