Israel and Moving Forward in Gaza

Israel is a complicated thing to talk about as the daughter of an Israeli immigrant and American Jew. I don’t say that because I feel I am a sympathetic figure, but more because two things can be true: I can love Israel and believe completely in its need to exist for Jewish survival and be completely fed up with Netanyahu, his corruption, authoritarianism, and flawed logic for the continuation of the war.
At this point, it seems that Netanyahu sees his political fortunes tied to the destruction of Hamas, and honestly, like cockroaches, these Hamas guys aren’t going to go away quietly. They will rebirth and regenerate in ways we can’t plan for. But, at this point, as the IDF reports war weary soldiers, trauma from continued war, and a 74% bloc of public support against the continuation of war, maybe Netanyahu’s fortunes shouldn’t be tied to Israel’s anymore.

Netanyahu, for most of my life, has been a figure of great respect. He grew the Christian Zionists who support Israel, however misplaced that seemed. He spoke eloquently in English, which gave him even more credibility in American politics. In the last couple of years, Netanyahu has fought to create authoritarian power in Israel that has provoked the ire of many Israelis. He is not a sympathetic figure, nor a solid example to me of Jewish ethics. He is someone, much like Trump, connected and invested in his own political fortunes and not in the interest of Israel or what’s best for the Israeli people.

We can’t discount how anti-Semitism has played a role in the pressure on Israel to be perfect, but we can say definitively that Netanyahu is really about his own interests and political fortunes and no longer is this a justified war. As Americans, we saw a twenty year war in Afghanistan that bore no fruit and eventually led to the Taliban re-controlling that country after Americans lost interest in the protracted war.

Netanyahu may have, according to Thomas Friedman outmaneuvered Trump, but as international public support against the war continues, Netanyahu should see the writing on the wall: this war needs to be over. We need a logical solution to Hamas-as Arab countries call for the demilitarization and rejection of Hamas as leaders of Gaza, rather than more hard power and continuous barrage of bombs on a hungry, deflated populace, we need a diplomatic solution. I understand Hamas is not a trustworthy partner, but Israel has long since been an innovative technology center and needs to bring that innovation into politics rather than the same stale two state solution. To be frank, I don’t know what that is, but we are all really struggling with how to defend and support Israel at a time when we can’t agree with its government. We are at an important impasse where Jews may start breaking with Netanyahu and pressuring for the end of the war.