By Brigitte L. Nacos
The U.S. government continues to support Israel’s fight against the terrorist entity Hamas and its mission to destroy the state of Israel. In response to Hamas’s unspeakable assault on and brutal killing spree against Israeli civilians on October 7, the United States along with other Western countries recognized and supported the right of Israel to defend its people and its very existence—including militarily.
I agreed right after the attack. And I agree today. However, there are troubling caveats concerning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and extremists within his cabinet.
In their private and public appeals President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have been tireless in asking Netanyahu to change the IDF’s conduct of war to prevent or at least minimize the killing and suffering of Gazan civilians as required by international law.
There are no signs that Netanyahu and his cronies in the cabinet give a damn about Washington’s plea. Nor do they respond to the outcries of fellow-Israelis whose family members are still held hostage somewhere in Gaza. The longer these children, women, and men are held by terrorists, the more likely it is that they will be killed or maimed.
After Biden called repeatedly for a two-state post-war solution, Netanyahu countered with the declaration that Gaza will remain under Israeli military control after the war ends.
The refusal to agree to a two-state solution and thus Palestinian self-rule has been part and parcel of Netanyahu’s and his extremist government’s open and hidden decisions. Among the most questionable policies was according to the New York Times the following:
“For years, the Qatari government had been sending millions of dollars a month into the Gaza Strip — money that helped prop up the Hamas government there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel not only tolerated those payments, he had encouraged them…
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambled that a strong Hamas (but not too strong) would keep the peace and reduce pressure for a Palestinian state.”
When the Israeli intelligence community got hold of Hamas’s detailed plan to invade Israel and kill citizens and IDF members months before the actual attack, higher ups called the plan “utopian” instead of hardening their defensive lines. They also ignored intelligence reports of military exercises on Gazan territory. Obviously, they were guided by their government’s conviction that Hamas was busy with governing and not with plotting big time terrorist violence. The money flow from Qatar into Gaza, blessed by Netanyahu, financed Hamas’s military hardware.
These failures on the highest level of the government led to the death of more than 1,330 Israelis on October 7, hundreds of injured persons, and the captivity of 200 victims. It led to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas that killed and injured thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians and displaced millions.
In the weeks and months before October 7, Netanyahu and his government were the targets of massive protests because of their efforts to weaken the Israeli Supreme Court and make more room for their authoritarian designs. Since then, opinion polls show that the prime minister’s disapproval increased.
The war gives Netanyahu a protective shield. It should not.
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