Worlds away from the public outrage and cries of protest echoing through Tel Aviv’s packed streets on Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu beamed from the podium in Jerusalem, his words greeted with laughter and applause.

The contrast was unmistakable.

In Tel Aviv, tens of thousands of protesters demanded a ceasefire and the return of the hostages held in Gaza. In Jerusalem, Netanyahu spoke of “the unity of the people.”

On the streets, mothers and fathers of hostages cried for their release, begging the government to take the ceasefire deal on the table. But at a posh restaurant outside the Old City of Jerusalem, Netanyahu promised Israel was on “the path to victory” with a plan to widen the 22-month war in the battered enclave.

Protesters spoke of a country that need

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