Special Edition: The Attack on Israel

Normally I would not post to this blog over the weekend. But, it is clear that the most active thread this weekend is going to be the thread titled, "Looks like a new Gaza war has started" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. So, I may as well address that thread now. As some readers of this blog are aware, I originally came to Washington, DC in order to study at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. I devoted a number of years of my life to studying the Middle East and have lived and traveled in the region. That part of the world remains one in which I have a particular interest.

As I often do, I am not really going to discuss the thread itself, but rather use it as a jumping off point for my own thoughts. Writing about Israel and the Palestinians is like walking through a minefield. One wrong step and you blow yourself up, or at least upset a lot of people who are unlikely to be shy about expressing their displeasure. So, if I in anyway offend anyone, I apologize in advance.

Needless to say, I do not believe that there is any justification for killing innocent people, particularly children and the elderly. There is no excuse for desecrating the bodies of the dead. There is no excuse for kidnapping innocents. So, I condemn the actions of Hamas unequivocally. But, I am compeled to point out that Israel is also guilty of these actions — notwithstanding the country's supporters' denials — and I condemn its actions as well. But rather than go into a tit-for-tat about who did what when, I am going to provide my thoughts on what may have led up to the Hamas attack.

The clearest and most obvious point is that this was a huge intelligence failure on Israel's part. Somehow this massive operation was organized without Israel's vaunted intelligence services catching wind of it. Palestinian groups are notoriously riddled with informants, but for once they were kept in the dark. Moreover, despite the tight blockade Israel has imposed on Gaza, a significant stockpile of weapons have clearly been smuggled into the territory. While nearly everyone seems to have been taken by surprise, in retrospect, this defense and intelligence failure may not be as shocking as it seems.

Like former US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu has been indicted and is currently on trial. The wheels of justice in Israel move incredibly slowly, but they have been moving inevitably towards Netanyahu's conviction. As a result, Netanyahu has single-mindedly focused on removing the legal threats he faces, often by means considered undemocratic by his opponents. This eliminated the possibility of his forming a broad coalition government that would include figures who wouldn't countenance threats to Israel's legal system. Instead, he was forced to join with some of the most extreme figures that have ever participated in Israel's political system. For instance, Netanyahu's Minister of National Security is a guy named Itamar Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir has a history of defending anti-Palestinian terrorists and was himself convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization. That's right, a convicted terrorism supporter is Netanyahu's Security Minister. Another Netanyahu coalition member recently praised and defended an Israeli convicted of burning to death a Palestinian family, including an infant child, in an arson attack on their home. In short, in his eagerness to get away with corruption, Netanyahu made bedfellows with those who were willing to let radical Israelis get away with murder.

Netanyahu has waged a war against Israel's legal system — prompting nation-wide demonstrations. Israelis took to the streets in historic numbers to protest Netanyahu's attacks on their democracy. One tactic employed by protesters was to refuse their military reserve duties. Significant numbers of members of key services have sat out their service in protest of Netanyahu. Israeli reporter Noga Tarnopolsky has been reporting for weeks that the Israeli army has given repeated warnings to Netanyahu that his policies were putting Israel at great risk of a multi-front attack. Rather than listening to their advice, Netanyahu accused the military of joining the protesters. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's cabinet either condoned or outright instigated attacks and other provocations against Palestinians. For instance, Ben-Gvir and several members of the Knesset led a group of Israeli settlers who stormed the al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan, preventing Muslims from observing prayers. Increased violence between settlers in the West Bank and Palestinians required the deployment of additional Israeli military forces to provide security to settlements. According to Israeli sources, almost all active Israeli battalions were deployed to the West Bank at the time of the Hamas attack. This created a defense vacuum along the borders of Gaza.

Clearly Hamas saw the same weakness in Israel's defenses about which the military had been warning Netanyahu. It is reasonable to conclude that this weakness existed because of Netanyahu's preoccupation with his legal troubles and the reliance this caused on radicals who themselves were preoccupied with expanding settlements in the West Bank. I don't think that it is too far of a stretch to say that the history of the region has been changed simply because Netanyahu has been busy trying to keep himself out of jail rather than addressing the interests of his country.