This week's day of battle in the South was not much different from its predecessors. In Gaza, they determined when the shooting would begin and when it would end. Israel made sure to do the minimum that would allow it to act as a responder, without risking escalation.
This Israeli policy is not new. Nor is it unacceptable. The government has the right to decide, for a variety of reasons, that this is not the time to embark on a large-scale operation in Gaza. The public's stomach has weight, but it is not a substitute for orderly thought and decision processes. Decisions are made by the government, not by the street: this is true in combat, and it is true in legislation, provided that all the implications have been taken into account.
What is less legitimate is the sleight of hand. Today's government was yesterday's opposition. She vowed to do otherwise. Do not restrain, decide. Suppose it was done during an election season, so everyone lies. But it has also done so under fire, with the practice being to give backing and credit to the government. How ironic (and unfortunate) that four months into her term, it turns out that it was not quiet that brought the South but fire—and many times more than in the entire year of her predecessor's term.
Prime Minister Netanyahu. There are no satisfactory solutions, photo: Alex Kolomoisky
There are quite a few reasons for this. Not all of them are related to the government, although it is responsible for the outcome. The connection between Gaza and Judea and Samaria was not created by it, but by the previous Netanyahu government, the one that served during the Guardian of the Walls period. Since then, this phenomenon has only worsened and deepened and spilled over northwards as well. Today, every local incident – a violent arrest operation, a riot on the Temple Mount or the death of a hunger striker – has the immediate potential to disrupt the daily and night routine of the residents of the envelope.
This is especially true in Islamic Jihad incidents, but Hamas cooperates with them – by action or in silence. The fact that he absorbs most of the Israeli fire bothers him, of course, but not to the point of enforcing the lull in the Gaza Strip. In the dilemma between quiet and fighting, Hamas is currently choosing jihad on the back burner.
Crisnic and more exposed than ever
Admittedly, Israel has no solution to the Gaza problem. To be precise: it has a solution, but it is not practical. No one in Israel (except for a few Knesset members who have already realized that they have done much harm for their benefit) really believes in the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip and the establishment of Israeli settlements there. The price of such an occupation will be heavy in blood, money and international legitimacy, after which Israel will remain solely responsible for the Gaza problem, at all levels, from economy and infrastructure to education and health.
Islamic Jihad operatives, photo: AFP
In other words, anyone who believes that investing soldiers' lives and tax money will lead to a flourishing future with Gaza's two million Palestinians is living in an illusion. Just like those who believe it would be good if Israel stopped attacking, opened the crossings and allowed Gazans to leave and leave the Gaza Strip freely. Both imagine a great future, but one that exists only in their heads. The fact that their wares have buyers among the Israeli public is a wonder, worthy of in-depth research by sociologists and psychologists.
The unfortunate truth is that there are no satisfactory solutions of Zbang and we're done. It is possible to drop tons of munitions on Gaza, but when the attacks are over, reality will remain the same (plus the fatalities and destruction). It is also possible to return to the elimination of senior officials, but they too will always have a replacement, which will usually be more competent and extreme than its predecessors. It is also possible to deepen international involvement, but the solutions that Western and Arab mediators are able to provide are also very limited.
In recent years, Israel has tried to go for a slightly different mix. To give some horizon to the civilians in Gaza, who are groaning under the oppressive rule of Hamas. 15,<> workers received work permits in Israel to bring money home and inject life into the Gaza economy. The crossings were opened for more hours, and for more goods. Plans were drawn (mainly with Qatari mediation) for construction and infrastructure. This was supposed to push Hamas into a corner and force it to choose between fire and poverty and (relative) quiet and prosperity.
Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. When the attacks end, reality remains, Photo: IDF Spokesperson
In 2022, Hamas clearly chose the second alternative. Since early 2023, it has been trickling towards the first alternative. What has changed is not only the identity of the government that serves in Jerusalem, but its actions. The legal legislation that tore Israel apart signaled to everyone around it that it was more fragile and exposed than ever. This assertion is backed up in every possible way: by statements by senior and junior officials in enemy countries and organizations, by an analysis of public currents, and by endless increasingly sensitive intelligence materials, whose bottom line is disturbing and identical.
Had the other side not smelled the blood, it is doubtful whether it would have allowed itself to run wild like this – north and south – as it did during Passover. Had he not felt that Israel was fleeing confrontation, he would not have challenged it on a weekly basis from Gaza (and on a daily and hourly basis from Judea and Samaria). And had he not seen the amateurism of key elements in her government – chief among them the minister of national insecurity – he would not have dared to openly mock her in this way, from Tehran to Beirut and Gaza.
Wanted: New agenda
To these can be added, of course, the dangerous erosion of relations with Washington and with the Arab and Gulf states. Whoever wants to fight – in any arena – must prepare the global ground for the outcome of the war, so as not to find himself at the end paying a much higher price. In the current state of affairs, Israel has a very short credit rope in the world and in the region, and more question marks than answers. The American decision to withdraw weapons deployed in Israel for emergencies is only one warning light, out of several that are now flashing at the same time.
The positive side is that nothing ends. Everything is (almost) reversible and can be corrected with correct decisions and actions. The negative side is that the Israeli government is doing almost nothing in this direction. Not vis-à-vis Gaza, and not in other arenas. The most prominent of all is the Iranian nuclear program, in which the Israeli failure of recent months cries out to the sky.
When he formed his sixth government, Netanyahu pledged to focus on several main issues: Iran and its nuclear and terrorist ambitions, promoting normalization with Saudi Arabia, lowering the cost of living, and fighting crime and street violence.
In all four of them, he receives an insufficient grade. Iran is now largely dependent on itself and its decisions, with Israel's influence weakening in the absence of an orderly strategy from which clear plans of action are derived. Saudi Arabia not only distanced itself from Israel (which failed to bring Washington to it), but also drew closer to Iran at this time; The cost of living is soaring, this week against the backdrop of rising dairy prices; And about crime and violence everything has already been said - the government has no answers that will guarantee quiet in the near or distant future.
The President of Iran at his meeting with Assad in Syria. Tehran is independent in its decisions, photo: AP
But Netanyahu chose to throw all his hopes into the legal legislation. Four months were wasted on internal struggles with no result other than deepening polarization among the people. Under pressure from the street, the legislation has so far been halted in favor of dialogue, but this is not enough: the prime minister must finally set it aside and really focus on the principles he has set – which are critical to our lives here.
If he rearranges priorities, holds serious in-depth discussions, and sets a strategy, Israel will be able to successfully deal with each of these challenges, as it has done in the past. If it fails to do so, it could pay a much heavier price in the near future.
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