The events in the Gaza Strip are inevitably bringing Benjamin Netanyahu closer to full responsibility in the eyes of the world community for the crimes and atrocities he has committed against Palestinian civilians. The actions of the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, the recognition of the State of Palestine by Spain, Ireland and Norway are all proof of this. A total of 147 countries now recognise the State of Palestine. All of these events have literally shaken the entire international community.
Netanyahu is in constant fear and anxiety
Reports from the Israeli Prime Minister’s security service cause him even more fear and concern. Israel has never before been drawn into an eight-month war of attrition, which has morally devastated its soldiers and the entire Israeli people, completely tarnished its image and, as both the world and Israeli media were forced to admit, it seems that Netanyahu is increasingly unable to steer the outcome of the battle in Israel’s favour. Not only does he have to handle the war against Hamas, but also against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as well as dealing with sensitive strikes on Israeli territory by certain Iraqi groups and Yemeni Houthi strikes on shipping in the Red Sea.
Netanyahu can order more Palestinians to be killed, but he cannot put an end to the war and the growing wave of hatred that Palestinians feel against the Israeli occupiers. The invasion of Rafah will cost Tel Aviv dearly and has already triggered many calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Even the United States, which has always been generous in providing support, has now changed its mind and believes that Israel will never be safe unless the Palestinians get their own state.
Netanyahu mistakenly believes that the Palestinians have never believed in peace with Israel. He believes that Yasser Arafat, who shook hands with Yitzhak Rabin in the White House, was simply looking for a foothold in the Palestinian territories from where he could begin the expansion of his state. Netanyahu has long and, again mistakenly, believed that the ‘State of Palestine’ was a long-term project aimed at destroying the State of Israel.
This is why he spent most of his many years in power trying to destroy everything that could serve as the basis for this state to become a reality. He launched a large-scale settlement campaign to overtake Palestinian territories and used all the means at his disposal to undermine the authority of the Palestinian Authority and prevent it from taking advantage of the legitimacy it enjoys in the world. He relied on the split between Fatah and Hamas and on strengthening Israel’s position in the region without having to accept the bitter pill of recognising a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu is not the only one who is wrong about the solution for the Palestinians; Ariel Sharon, the former Prime Minister of Israel, never abandoned the criminal dream of exterminating the Palestinians. He took advantage of the global upheaval after the 9/11 attacks (the true culprits of which have not yet been found or identified) to besiege to the headquarters of the Palestinian president, as if he had never forgiven Arafat for leaving Beirut alive and returning to live in the Palestinian territories.
The Prime Minister is pathologically against a ceasefire
Netanyahu is well aware that a cease-fire would be a fatal blow to him. He knows this from the protests of the families of the hostages and from the calls to bring him to justice and get him to court. That is why he continues this criminal war, which is accompanied by massive bloodshed of Palestinian children, women and elderly. Reports on the matter only reinforce his manic obsession with achieving victory, which would overshadow the attacks of local politicians, who are preparing to pounce on him from within his government and outside.
He has never previously experienced such a crisis. The US is still trying to indulge him, but it also sees him as a heavy burden for Israel, the Palestinians, the region as a whole and the US itself. He cannot refuse US support, but in order to continue using it a certain price must be paid and Netanyahu, who has lost all his bearings, is not yet ready to pay it. The US, at least formally, has only recently started to talk about the decision to create two states; at least the State Department considers it necessary to put an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, support moderates in Israel and beyond and deprive Iran of the opportunity to penetrate other Arab countries and exert pressure on them under the pretext of fighting for Palestinian rights.
Netanyahu also understands that moderate Arab countries, with Saudi Arabia at the lead, have played a crucial role in convincing Western capitals that there can be no stability in the Middle East without the creation of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Arab foreign ministers have stressed that the ceasefire must be accompanied by a political process that will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state within a given time frame.
The battle for the creation of a Palestinian state
The battle for the creation of a Palestinian state has started, but the path to achieving this goal is not easy. An Israeli government capable of making what Israelis consider ‘difficult decisions’ must be formed. The main one of these decisions is to accept the idea of a Palestinian state and return to compliance with international resolutions. The current far-right government led by Netanyahu is not capable of this and must leave, and the sooner, the better, first of all for the Israelis themselves.
The Palestinians must also unite to be on the crest of the wave of support for the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Palestinians are calling on the world to defend their rights and are doing the right thing, but the world also has the right to call on the Palestinians to consider that the creation of their own state should be conditional on the recognition of Israel and the State of Palestine should provide international guarantees to Israel.
Will Hamas be able to accept this, even if it is done through the Palestine Liberation Organisation? What would be the position of the so-called Axis of Resistance, in particular of Iran, especially since a Palestinian state can only be born – and we must bitterly admit this –with the approval of the US? And, finally, the US must take a firm stand to force Israel to accept a two-state solution, as there is no other viable option.
In a recent introductory speech at the West Point Military Academy, US President Joe Biden stressed the importance of his country. He pompously said: “Thanks to the US Armed Forces, we are doing what only the US can do as an indispensable nation, the world’s only superpower”. This statement underlines the US’ responsibility to end the injustice against the Palestinian people and to terminate the chronic inferno that has depleted the Middle East. Given the recent despairing events in the Gaza Strip, the US is urgently required to hold consultations to develop a serious and guaranteed mechanism because the vast majority of the world now believes that a Palestinian state is absolutely necessary for the Middle East to get a break.
Victor MIKHIN, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”