More of the Same in Israel
Successive Israeli governments, the writer says, have publicly reassured a trusting washington while quietly encouraging more settlements in the occupied West Bank-like Penelope’s daylight weaving and nighttime unravelling.
Hamas’s violent attack, intended to thrust the Palestinian cause back into the spotlight, spectacularly misfired. The U.S.views Gaza largely through an Israeli viewpoint-more so since Trump’s return-and Israel’s retaliatory campaign has been unusually brutal,with the author citing roughly 80,000 Palestinian deaths in response to about 1,200 Israeli fatalities on October 7,2023.
The Trump management’s team of business-oriented advisors offers little hope for Palestinians, and U.S. domestic politics have long stigmatized sympathy for Palestinians as antisemitic. That has allowed israel to keep expanding into the West Bank and border areas with Lebanon. Recent Israeli elections will likely change nothing; the only realistic pressure that could force policy change would be strong sanctions, but the author views that as improbable.
Having visited refugee camps and palestinian communities, the author testifies that brutality and illegal seizure of Palestinian property are central to Israeli policy. Even the New York Times has recently urged a tougher U.S. stance.
Even if Netanyahu where removed, his main rival shares many of his positions, and some Israeli politicians advocate abolishing the Palestinian Authority entirely. The Trump administration is unlikely to try to stop expansionist moves.
A former biden adviser suggested the U.S. should make Israel choose between its valuable relationship with America and policies that alienate societies. The author finds that idea implausible, given powerful pro-Israel lobby groups like AIPAC, though he acknowledges that U.S. pressure could force reconciliation with the Palestinians.
Realistically, the author believes Israel will not lift the gaza blockade, halt settlement growth in the West Bank, or stop settler violence. At best, Israel may adopt a more polished public-relations strategy to soften American criticism.
The author argues the only way to compel a real change would be hard measures: sanctions, cutting U.S. aid, and demanding removal of West Bank settlements. He doubts any American politician could survive pushing such a policy because pro-Israel lobbyists and donors are deeply entrenched in Washington. Israeli hardliners, he says, have turned the country into an occupying power, and Palestinians have paid the price. He urges the U.S. government to hold Israel accountable for alleged war crimes and expansionist policies.
The author won’t hold his breath for such a shift but hopes that America’s moral blindness toward Israel might one day end.
Like Penelope weaving Laertes’ shroud by day and unraveling her work by night, successive Israeli governments have paid lip service to the concerns of a gullible Washington while encouraging more and more Israelis to settle in the occupied West Bank.
Hamas’s brutal gambit, which aimed to put the Palestinian cause back on the front pages, spectacularly backfired. Washington has always seen Gaza through Israeli, not Palestinian eyes, and even more so since Trump returned to power. The years-long brutality and ruthlessness of Israeli occupiers is unprecedented. As is the killing of close to 80,000 Palestinians in retaliation for the 1,200 Israelis killed by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
The Donald’s collection of real estate tycoons dealing with the Palestinian problem does not exactly encourage optimism for the disenfranchised. Back home, the neocons have for a long time managed to paint anyone sympathetic to the Palestinian cause as virulently anti-Semitic. This has served Israel well, as it continues to expand into the West Bank and now Lebanese border villages. The recent Israeli elections will change absolutely nothing. The only way to force Israel to revise its policies of expansion and expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland is the application of sanctions. And severe sanctions to boot—a mid-autumn night’s dream, I’m afraid.
As someone who has visited the refugee camps and witnessed Israeli conduct towards Palestinians in the latter’s towns and villages, I can testify without prejudice that brutality and the illegal expropriation of Palestinian homes and farms form the basis of Israeli government policy—no ifs or buts about it. To its credit, the New York Times recently published an article asking for a tough approach to Israel.
Even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ejected from power—still far from certain—his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, agrees more than he disagrees with Bibi’s approach toward the Palestinians. Some Israeli lawmakers are calling for dismantling the Palestinian Authority altogether. In the meantime, the Trump administration will do nothing to halt the country’s expansionist moves.
Rather than offering Israel the benefit of the doubt, a former Biden advisor recently wrote in the Times, we should “make it choose between the abundant and irreplaceable benefits of the U.S. relationship and the indefensible policies that are driving a wedge between our societies.”
When I read that, I had to laugh. In this country we have AIPAC, the lobby group that will besmirch one as an antisemite if he so much as declares Tel Aviv to be too hot during the summer months, so taking a tough approach to Israel is not particularly realistic. And yet Uncle Sam would be doing Israel a favor if he forced a rapprochement with the Palestinians. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking.
As the wise men say, it ain’t gonna happen. The Israelis will not end the blockade of Gaza, nor will they meaningfully rein in the settlement of the West Bank. And no Israeli government will be able to end the scourge of settler violence against Palestinians. At best, we’ll get a new PR approach to the American public’s disapproval of the violence against unarmed Palestinians. I.e., less of the tough talk favored by Netanyahu, and more of a diplomatic approach aimed at softening Americans to Israel’s “plight.”
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What this writer thinks is that the only thing that Israelis understand is hard action and a fundamental reset. Sanctions, a total cut-off of the billions we give the country each year, and a demand for all settlements to be removed from the West Bank: This is the only way to convince Israel that the game is up.
Is there an American politician who can survive such a policy? All I know is that this is the right time, as Americans are finally coming around to what Israel has been up to these last 50 years. Any policy change even slightly approaching the above will have the usual suspects howling. Pro-Israel lobbyists and donors are embedded in Washington like monuments of past greats. Israeli hardliners have turned a once-promising nation into a brutal, occupying force. Innocent Palestinians have footed the bill for Israel’s birth and expansion, and continue to do so. It is up to an American president and the American Congress to reverse a great injustice by holding Israel responsible for its war crimes against Palestinians and its expansionist policies in the West Bank.
This writer will not be holding his breath for a sudden change of policy here, but will be praying that perhaps America’s moral blindness towards Israel might one day change.
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