It is a mystery to many of those who have witnessed the complete collapse of Israel’s strategy toward Hamas that its architect, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is still in office and being allowed to conduct the war against the Palestinian Islamist organization.
It is especially disturbing considering that, once again, he has proved to possess neither the judgment nor the leadership qualities that are required for the task. Every second that he remains the country’s prime minister compromises Israel’s interests, threatens regional stability, and risks prolonging the war, with enormous consequences for both sides.
In the months leading up to the horrific Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, Netanyahu was preoccupied with putting together the most right-wing, provocative and incompetent coalition government in Israel’s history. He did this with the sole aim of weakening the judiciary, in an attempt to ensure he could escape justice in his corruption trial.
Because of this he lost his focus, even his interest, in the issues that really matter for Israel, including its security. He surrounded himself in the political arena with inept individuals, as well as people unqualified to hold any senior civil service position, who were told to protect their master’s personal interests above all else and vitriolically attack anyone who opposed him. All the while, he was completely misreading the intentions of Hamas.
During the months of regular weekly protests by Israelis against the government’s assault on the system of checks and balances that is the core mechanism for protecting any liberal democracy, thousands upon thousands of reservists warned the government that they would not serve a prime minister and a government that attempted to lead the country down a path of authoritarianism. Many of them stopped reporting for duty, including critical air force, navy and cybersecurity personnel.
But instead of halting the judicial coup and entering into dialogue with the wider society to reach a consensus over judicial reforms, Netanyahu used what has become known as the “Poison Machine” to portray these long-serving reservists as traitors.
One of the more mindless ministers in his cabinet went so far as to argue: “There is a mutiny within the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and any military deals with insurgents as insurgents should be dealt with.” Another equally venomous minister wrote that the reservists could “go to hell.”
Such diatribes were directed at the very same people who were immediately called up for service after the Hamas atrocity of Oct. 7, and who joined their units without hesitation. One can, and should, severely question the missions to which they have been assigned, considering the unacceptable and unbearable death toll among civilians in Gaza. But questioning their loyalty was an act of self-harm dispatched straight from the Israeli prime minister’s office.
Anyone who tried to warn Netanyahu that his cynical and irresponsible approach was weakening the military’s preparedness, and signaling that message to the country’s enemies, was either disparaged or, as in the case of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, fired by the prime minister for the “offense” — only to be reinstated the very next day as a result of public pressure.
But the damage had been done, in terms of weakened deterrence and social cohesion, and this did not go unnoticed by Hamas, nor by Iran and Hezbollah.
Netanyahu’s political opportunism and corruption has caused great damage to Israeli society but his misjudgment of the state of relations with the Palestinians has been criminally costly. Instead of leading Israel toward a lasting peace with the Palestinians, based on a two-state solution, he gambled the country’s security on helping to sow the seeds of division in the Palestinian political system.
Divide-and-rule, which is second nature to him in domestic politics, was applied also to his relations with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and with Hamas in Gaza. The objective, as he put it, was to prevent a Palestinian state from ever being established. In his own words: “Whoever opposes a Palestinian state must support delivery of funds to Gaza because maintaining separation between the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
He was incapable of understanding that by “sowing the wind” through strengthening Hamas, he would “reap the whirlwind” of their distorted ideology. The idea of weakening the PA for the benefit of Hamas, as a strategy intended to ensure Israel’s security, collapsed in the space of a few dreadful hours on that October morning, to the extent that Israel suffered the worst single day of horror in its history.
It was an atrocity that will take years to come to terms with and has embroiled the country in a war that, even if it ends in a military defeat of Hamas, will still tarnish Israel’s reputation because of the huge human cost its army is inflicting on the people of Gaza. Netanyahu’s political opportunism and corruption has caused great damage to Israeli society but his misjudgment of the state of relations with the Palestinians has been criminally costly. Instead of leading Israel toward a lasting peace with the Palestinians, based on a two-state solution, he gambled the country’s security on helping to sow the seeds of division in the Palestinian political system.
This is the horrendous outcome of strengthening Hamas at the expense of the PA, and enabling the organization to arm itself, with the support of Iran, without ever changing its ideology.
Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House.
Source: Arab News