TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, a main street in Israel has been lined with billboards preaching national unity and a ubiquitous war slogan: “Together we will win.”

But recently, those billboards have been replaced by a very different message: a call for immediate elections.

The mood of the Israeli public is changing after more than 100 days of war in Gaza – and the trigger is a dispute over the polarizing leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israelis, stunned by the brutal Hamas attack, initially put aside their differences and rallied behind the war effort. Now old divisions are resurfacing that could change the course of the war.

As the death toll among Israeli soldiers continues to rise and dozens of hostages are still held in Gaza and Hamas, more and more Israelis are vocally opposing Netanyahu and his government. There is also increasing public disagreement over whether the military can simultaneously achieve Netanyahu’s stated goal of destroying Hamas and freeing all hostages.

“The Israeli public is rediscovering its political tribalism,” said Nadav Eyal, a commentator for the newspaper Yediot Ahronot. “It inherently limits the decision-making process when you don’t have the trust of the public.”

Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving leader, still heads a coalition that is clinging to power despite criticism. But opponents say he lacks a clear vision of how to get Israel out of Gaza. They believe that political and personal motivations cloud his decision-making.

The prime minister’s opponents say he is beholden to ultranationalist supporters in parliament, many of whom have called for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza or Israel’s resettlement in the region. And they point to the corruption allegations hanging over him as evidence that it is in his self-interest to delay the war.

Netanyahu says he has the country’s best interests in mind and will answer difficult questions after the war ends about October 7 – when more than 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

The devastating war has already killed more than 25,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, and has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe due to widespread destruction and displacement and limited supplies of food, water and medicine. International criticism has sparked a trial at the UN World Court over claims that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, an accusation the country vehemently denies.

Netanyahu, who has so far evaded responsibility for Israel’s military and intelligence failures on Oct. 7, vowed again on Tuesday to continue the fight “until absolute victory,” even after 24 soldiers were killed the previous day, the deadliest since the war began. He says intense military pressure led to the first hostage release agreement in late November and is key to securing another agreement.

However, several hostages have died or been killed in captivity, including three who were accidentally shot by Israeli troops. The families of the hostages in Gaza say time is running out and another ceasefire agreement is urgently needed.

“When the prime minister says ‘absolute victory’ and ‘war until 2025,’ he knows that in this case the hostages will die and return in coffins,” said Eyal Ben Reuven, an Israeli reserve general. “A long war in enemy territory is not a good thing.”

While military experts say Israel has made progress in Gaza, these may be harder to understand for a public still reeling from Hamas’ onslaught. What the public sees most clearly are rising soldier casualties, rocket fires into Israel – albeit fewer than at the start of the war – and dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.

Internal criticism received a prominent voice last week.

Gadi Eisenkot, a member of the influential War Cabinet and a former military chief whose son and nephew were killed in the war, told the prominent Israeli news program Uvda that only a negotiated deal could free the remaining hostages.

This was a direct challenge to Netanyahu’s claim that sustained military force was the best way forward. Eisenkot also called for elections to be held soon to restore public trust.

Before the war, Netanyahu endured a period of political turmoil that included five elections in less than four years. Each was a referendum on Netanyahu’s fitness to serve during a corruption trial.

The nation became even more fractured last year when Netanyahu and his religious nationalist government launched a plan to reform the judiciary that sparked unprecedented protests. Opponents said the plan, if implemented, would deal a fatal blow to the country’s democratic foundations; Scores of military reservists vowed not to serve, prompting senior defense officials to warn that Israel’s security was at risk.

Critics of Netanyahu say Hamas’ attack and Israel’s failure to anticipate it or promptly contain it are a direct result of the divisions sowed by Netanyahu and his government. Polls show his coalition would not be re-elected in today’s elections.

Patience is running out for the growing chorus of voices opposing the government.

A protest rally calling for elections last week drew thousands in Tel Aviv, the largest anti-government rally since the start of the war.

A group of 170 former commanders and other senior defense officials signed a letter earlier this month calling for immediate elections. Some of these commanders have been outspoken opponents of Netanyahu’s reforms, an indication that the disagreements over the war have in many ways fallen along the same fault lines as the disagreements over the law changes.

A recent survey of Jewish voters by the Israel Democracy Institute found that only 10% of respondents from Israel’s left wing believe Israel has had much success in toppling Hamas. The share of the pro-Netanyahu right was 35%. The survey surveyed 756 people and had a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.

Those who oppose elections say they will reopen old divisions.

“The very discussion of elections will halt military momentum, portray every strategic decision as a political ploy and call into question the legitimacy of the fighting,” wrote Eithan Orkibi, a professor at Ariel University in the occupied West Bank, in the conservative newspaper Israel Hayom.

But public anger, often embodied by the families of those killed or abducted on October 7, is growing.

At a recent protest outside the Knesset, or parliament, a man who said his brother had been killed in the Hamas attack was caught on video being dragged away by police as he shouted: “I will not despair “Until this whole government gets the fuck out of here.” He was wearing a black T-shirt that said “Elections!” in yellow.

The mother of a soldier who was taken hostage and then died in captivity under mysterious circumstances has launched a public battle against the government. She wrote on his tombstone that her son was “kidnapped, abandoned and sacrificed by the failed government in Gaza.”

The families of the hostages have also stepped up their campaigns for the release of their loved ones. They have protested outside Netanyahu’s private residence, invaded a parliamentary committee meeting and blocked a highway in recent days.

“Right now the most urgent thing – and there is nothing more urgent – ​​is to return the hostages alive,” said Gil Dickmann, whose cousin is being held in Gaza.

Yaacov Godo blames the government and Netanyahu for the death of his son Tom, who was killed in his home in front of his family during the Hamas attack. He has been camping in front of the Knesset in protest since the beginning of November.

“It will take time, but I believe the day is not far when we will overthrow the government,” Godo said.