The causes of the Palestinian problem have been discussed ad nauseum, but the facts remain: Israeli government policy over the years has created a great swelling of resentment in the Palestinians. More and more rebellious governments in Gaza and the West Bank have made the situation worse, and the final straw came three months ago when the present Hamas leaders attacked Israel, killing 1200 or so and kidnapping a couple of hundred others.
This was what Israel’s Zionist prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was waiting for. He declared total, unrestricted war on Hamas, and went after its members, disregarding the collateral damage in Gaza.
The severity of the effects on the civilian population has created a worldwide outcry, but Netanyahu remains firm, supported only by President Biden of the US, who needs Jewish support at home but can’t be seen by the rest of the world as a war monger.
The Bad News
Biden has no motivation to lighten up his support of Israel.
The Democratic Party has a lot of support from Jewish people in the States, some of them very wealthy. They are crucial to his re-election. As far as the rest of America is concerned, the enemies of Israel are the enemies of US; he doesn’t lose any votes in the general public by condoning attacks on the multinational terrorist organizations in the Middle East, especially those openly supported by Iran, Iraq, and Syria. In this election year, he’s doing everything he can to appeal to the moderate Republicans and Independents.
He knows that he is vulnerable to suggestions that he is supporting a regime involved in war crimes, and his only excuse is that he’s trying to guide them into better actions through friendship. A rather lame reason, but it’s been used before.
So, Biden is sending a constant stream of diplomats into the area, with the express purpose of calming things down. Which actually means, bolstering US support. These peripheral meetings seem about as useful as hockey parents discussing the game in the bleachers, with no control of what the coach will do next.
Of course, this is just the latest in a string of incidents — stretching back to Viet Nam and before — where US cosied up to regimes committing all sorts of atrocities, simply because those people were standing against America’s larger enemies, like USSR, Communism, and China.
The Good News
Israel is scaling down its operations in northern Gaza, saying it has “completed dismantling Hamas’s military infrastructure there.” Which is probably diplospeak for “we’ve done as much as we can get away with.” This may mean a change in tactics, hopefully towards what Biden has been asking for: more targeted attacks against specific leaders, and less widespread bombing of the civilian population. This is the first evidence of any de-escalation on the part of the Netanyahu government. A hopeful interpretation of this is that Netanyahu is smart enough to know when to back off. Financial support is waning in the US. The Israeli economy can’t afford to have all of its people out of work and on the battle lines. Peripheral wars with Hezbollah and other Arabic terrorist organizations are heating up.
The Bottom Line
Now would be a good time for Israel to fold its cards, total up its winnings, and go home. Is Netanyahu a good enough gambler to recognize this?
No, he’s a fanatic trying to keep the support of fearful people. If I was a betting man, I’d give 4-to-1 against peace happening any time soon, but we can always hope.