For eleven days now, the war between Israel and Hamas (in the Gaza strip) is raging and both sides claim they have had considerable success in hurting the other side. Simple fact is that in Israel, many thousands of citizens have lived under the constant fear of rockets that are flying all over (including Tel Aviv and beyond), in the Gaza strip tens of thousands of citizens have had their houses destroyed and on both sides there have been casualties. (A significant higher number of dead on the Hamas side, but that is not very relevant).
How did we (again) get to this violence? Apart from the fact that it is a recurring disaster that, as many in the know have already claimed, is purposely orchestrated by Israel and readily accepted by Hamas, there were a number of new elements in the “decision process” that led to this latest flare-up, that should worry both the Israeli government as well as all Israelis, in particular those that are in reach or will be in reach of Hamas rockets.
The hostilities this time were preceded by a week of unrest in Jerusalem, which at least in the beginning centered around the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. A long standing dispute about ownership of houses is the ostensibly obvious reason for the tensions, with Arabs living in houses that apparently belonged to Jews before the establishment of the State of Israel. The case is being handled by the Supreme Court and a judgement was expected last week (but was postponed by the court because of the violence). The real reason for the riots of course is the fact that the Israeli government has long had a policy of moving Jews into Arab neighborhoods and pushing the original inhabitants out (just like was done on a large scale in 1948).
The riots quickly moved from Sheikh Jarrah to the Temple Mount, where the Israeli Police used extremely violent means to control the crowd that had assembled there and remove them from the Mount. With these events, Hamas saw its opportunity to present itself as the protector of Jerusalem, and they shot a few rockets in the direction of Jerusalem, which fell in the outskirts of the city. From there the escalation to a full-scale war between Israel and Hamas was only a matter of time, and we are still not seeing the end (even though President Biden has apparently lost his patience with Netanyahu and demanded a stop to the violence).
However, this round, just like the previous rounds, is not going to solve the problem. Not for Israel and not for Hamas. The countdown to the next round starts with the cease fire of the current one. Hamas may need more time than the previous round to reestablish itself, but basically the situation has not changed and undoubtedly history will repeat itself, in three months or three years.
Israel politicians, also do not appear to be able to look beyond the narrow road of repeated rounds of hostilities and some even claim that this is “the best” we can get. (they will stop short of saying that as long as it is in the south only it is OK, but you can almost see them think it).
So when a man like Giora Island, a retired IDF general and former Head of the National Security Council, appears on television (May 17th, Channel 13 News) and comes forward with (for Israel) rather revolutionary ideas, it must be hoped that at least some of our ordinary politicians were listening.
Island talked about what started this latest violence and he focused on Sheikh Jarrah. He agrees that what is happening there, is apparently according to Israeli law. (which is the reason the courts until now have justified the actions of the Jewish extremists). The courts, will act only on what the Law says, and not come out with their own legislation. The law, Island says, originates in the Israeli Knesset, but in this case, the law is stupid (Island’s words!) and encourages exactly the problems we are seeing now in Sheikh Jarrah and the rest of Jerusalem. In addition, he says, it creates a much more serious issue, because it allowed Hamas a foothold in Jerusalem and with that in the Occupied Territories, and it seems, even with Israeli Arabs. Hamas has for a long time strived to obtain power in the Occupied Territories and neutralize the PLO and its leader Abu Mazen, and Israel has given him this on a silver platter. (Some will claim this is simply Israeli policy running out of control but that is another story).
Then, Island was asked about the on-going hostilities in Gaza and he presented a revolutionary hypothesis. Why, Island asked, does Hezbollah not attack us and there is already 15 years of quiet on the Northern border? Hezbollah surely hates us like Hamas hates us and probably even more. They are much stronger than Hamas, have much more weapons and rockets than Hamas, and are supported much stronger by Iran than Hamas. The difference is, that Hezbollah is part of the political power in Lebanon, a country that has an Airport, an electricity grid, stable water supply etc. etc. Hezbollah is very much aware that all that infrastructure is in danger and will most likely be destroyed in a war with Israel. (the last two rounds of fighting convinced them very strongly of this).
Gaza, on the other hand is a wasteland. In the best of cases, four hours of electricity a day, sewage flowing in the street, limited water supply, a failing health system etc. etc. The people there have nothing to lose, because they have nothing. And Hamas is their only glimpse of hope.
Island calls the Gaza strip a country. A de-facto independent state which is failing to give its inhabitants what it needs, but nevertheless a nation. If, after the present round of fighting stops, a different attitude can be realized, whereby money supplied by Arab countries (in particular Qatar) will be used in a way that will support the development of the garbage heap that Gaza currently is, the population will be enabled to make their leaders do what is best for them instead of doing what they have always done.
Of course, the idea of Hamas in a neighboring country called Gaza will not be easy to swallow for Israel, but it represents a new approach to a problem that has been clearly demonstrated to be unsolvable using the current tactics. So why not give it a try? Hamas, or the current leadership of Hamas will find this probably a very bitter pill to swallow but in the end, they will be replaced and a new era for Gaza may begin.
The interview with Giora Island showed that (unexpectedly) there still are intelligent people in Israel who may have the capability and influence to change the attitude in Israel as well and start the country onto a new road, a road that is not only built on violence and will have longer lasting results that any war has had.
Let’s see Israeli politicians pick up the gauntlet on this one!
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