Tornado Alley (PROG)

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brooklyn13, You, Netanyahu and Israel's far-right. See - Israel Must Decide Where It’s Going—and Who Should Lead It There

"Just caught one episode of The Narrow Bridge on tv. A top-notch doc.
of four people working for peace in Israel Palestine. It was excellent"

Related: Ehud Barak: the military mastermind Israel loves to hate
[...]Israel's yearning for experienced military leaders brought him back to political life after the 2006 Lebanon war and he became minister of defence. He seems to have a feel for what motivates his enemies and was widely quoted as saying: "If I were a Palestinian I would have joined a terrorist organisation." Barak also stated during a US television interview last year that he would "probably" strive for nuclear weapons if he were in Iran's position.
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The Case for Early Elections

[...]

The leadership crisis has reached an acute stage. The Biden administration has presented Netanyahu with a proposal for a new postwar regional order that would end Hamas’s ability to threaten Israel and rule Gaza, place control of the territory in the hands of a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority (with the assistance of Arab governments), normalize Israeli-Saudi relations, and establish a formal U.S.-Saudi defense alliance. All this would be conditioned on Israel agreeing to a political process with the long-term goal of a two-state solution, with the backing of Arab governments friendly with the United States and opposed to Iran and its partners and proxies. The vision is of a process that would eventually produce a strong and secure Israel living side by side, behind agreed and secure borders, with a viable, demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

Since 1996, Netanyahu has accepted that goal, in principle, on four occasions but has always torpedoed it when the time came to act. Biden has now presented Netanyahu with a stark choice. He can get on board with the U.S.-backed plan for “the day after” in Gaza while still expressing Israeli reservations. Or he can capitulate to his racist, messianic far-right partners in his governing coalition, who seek to annex the Palestinian territories and thus reject any proposal, however conditional and long term, that involves the creation of a Palestinian state.

If Netanyahu acquiesces to Washington, he risks losing the support of those far-right figures, which would spell the end of his government. If he continues to reject Biden’s approach, Netanyahu risks dragging Israel deeper into the mud in Gaza; sparking a third intifada in the West Bank; entering another war with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militia; deeply damaging relations with the United States, on which Israel relies for munitions, financial support, and crucial diplomatic backing; jeopardizing the so-called Abraham Accords that normalized Israel’s relations with Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates (and the hopes of Saudi Arabia joining the club); and even casting doubt on Israel’s long-standing peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan. Any one of these outcomes would be dreadful; any combination of them would be a historic disaster.

Biden is waiting for an answer.

[...]

The results of this failure are clear in two crucial areas: negotiating to secure the release of the hostages Hamas took on October 7, and controlling the border between Egypt and Gaza, both at the crossing point at Rafah and in the strip of land that runs along the border, which the Israelis refer to as the Philadelphi Route. On both issues, the war cabinet should have determined a course during the first week of the conflict. The IDF chief of staff and some members of the war cabinet repeatedly demanded deliberation, decisions, and guidance. But Netanyahu refused—not because of any national security considerations but because of his need to preserve his fragile governing coalition with the fanatical far right, which prioritizes the full conquest of Gaza ahead of hostage deals, seeks to transfer Gazans out of the territory, and even wants to restore settlements for Jewish Israelis there.

[...]

For several weeks now, Biden’s proposal for “the day after” has been in front of Netanyahu’s government. Most observers assume that, given the realities of the U.S. electoral calendar, the offer may expire in a couple of months. There is no guarantee that the rest of the players in the region will accept the proposal; it is not even clear whether Biden can win support for it in the U.S. Senate, which would have to approve a treaty with Saudi Arabia. It is also possible that, just as the Hamas attack on October 7 was intended to thwart an emerging trilateral deal between Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States, the new Biden initiative could eventually spur Iran to consider urging its proxies, including Hezbollah, to step up their attacks on Israel or initiate a wider scale war in a bid to derail any progress.

A deal like the one Biden has proposed might have been happily embraced two years ago by an Israeli government led by Lapid or the conservative leader Naftali Bennet, but it would be a tough sell now for the Israeli public, which still feels sharp pain, enormous anger, humiliation, vengefulness, and a sense that “all Palestinians are Hamas.” These are understandable human reactions. But in time, Israelis must move past them. Recall that we once thought this way about Egypt and Jordan. An entire generation of Israelis (of which I am a member) fought bitter wars against those countries. But an effective (if cold) peace with those countries has now lasted for nearly 45 years and nearly 30 years, respectively. Imagine how much worse Israel’s situation would be today if those agreements did not exist—and consider how important it is not to undermine them as part of an ill-considered response to the events of October 7.

But instead of urging Israelis to overcome their fears, Netanyahu is exploiting them, playing into the hands of his extreme right-wing allies, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir (the minister of national security) and Bezalel Smotrich (the finance minister). If they get their way, the result would be a disaster. Netanyahu knows this but believes he can placate and outmaneuver them, avoiding the worst-case scenario by avoiding a decision altogether.

[...]

Public resentment, the rage of the families and communities of the victims of the October 7 attacks, and frustration among many of the IDF reservists are all growing. Netanyahu is focused on his political survival, and he will never step down willingly. The time has come for the people of Israel to stand up and bring about a change of course. Eisenkot, Gantz, and Lapid should lead this effort and demand general elections so that the Israeli people can decide where we are heading and who will lead us there. This is a crucial moment. It calls for leadership and action, before it is too late.

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