Netanyahu
There is no doubt that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is among the most controversial world leaders today.
As Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister, he is on trial for accepting gifts in exchange for political favors. The only thing standing between him and a possible jail sentence is his position as Prime Minister, which shields him from sentencing as long as he remains in office.
Additionally, an unrelated International Criminal Court warrant, stemming from his defense of Israel against Hamas after the October 7 terror attacks, prevents him from traveling to countries that would enforce the warrant and apprehend him.
To maintain power, he must secure the support of small, far-right parties that hold the balance in his coalition. These parties, like many Israelis, demand the complete destruction of Hamas and oppose any negotiated settlement that would allow Hamas to remain in power in Gaza.
The attack on October 7, 2023, by Hamas against an Israeli settlement, along with the massacre of around 1,200 men, women, and children, and the capture of over 300 hostages, has sparked an ongoing war that continues today.
Mr. Netanyahu has called for the removal of Gazans from the territory in accordance with the goals of his extremist allies in government, as well as the destruction of Hamas.
I agree with the need to rid the world of Hamas, a terrorist organization determined to wipe Jews off the face of the earth.
But is the right way to do this to eliminate all Gazans from a territory in which they and their families have lived for generations?
Tens of thousands have reportedly lost their lives in this specific phase of the ongoing war between Israelis and Palestinians—women and children, as well as Hamas fighters and leaders.
Can this be sustained in a world where the media reports every action in real time, and the tide is turning against Israel on all fronts—even in the United States, where the Trump administration is distancing itself from Mr. Netanyahu and moving toward Arab states like Saudi Arabia (which financed 9/11) as it seeks a new alliance that will bring substantial investments to help achieve its economic goals?
According to a March poll by The Times of Israel, most Israelis express distrust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. A poll aired Friday on Channel 12 indicates that many in the public oppose the government's policy on hostages. But what about Hamas’s policy on the hostages? This is also a significant concern for the Israeli community and people globally.
When asked if they trust the current Netanyahu government, 70% of respondents replied that they do not, while 27% said that they do. Even among coalition voters, only 51% expressed trust in the government, compared to 36% who do not.
When asked whether they support a deal to return all the hostages in exchange for ending the war, 69% responded positively, compared to 21% who opposed and 10% who were unsure. Among coalition voters, 54% supported the deal, while 32% were against it. Among opposition voters, 86% expressed support for the deal, in contrast to 9% who did not.
Meanwhile, many former Israeli military and intelligence officials have reported that Israel supported Qatar's funding of Hamas to create a rift between this terrorist group governing Gaza and Fatah, the PLO government in the West Bank.
Eyal Hulata, Israel’s national security adviser from July 2021 until the beginning of this year, stated, “The conception of Netanyahu over a decade and a half was that if we buy quiet and pretend the problem isn’t there, we can wait it out and it will fade away.”
Yossi Kuperwasser, a former head of research for Israel’s military intelligence, stated that some officials recognized the advantages of maintaining an “equilibrium” in the Gaza Strip. “The logic of Israel was that Hamas should be strong enough to rule Gaza,” he said, “but weak enough to be deterred by Israel.”
Shlomo Brom, a retired general and former deputy to Israel’s national security adviser, stated that an empowered Hamas allowed Mr. Netanyahu to circumvent negotiations regarding a Palestinian state.
“One effective way to prevent a two-state solution is to divide between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” he said in an interview. This division gives Mr. Netanyahu an excuse to disengage from peace talks, Mr. Brom stated, adding that he can say, “I have no partner.”
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wrote in Haaretz that: “What we are doing in Gaza is a war of extermination: indiscriminate, unrestrained, brutal, and criminal killing of civilians. We are doing this not because of an accidental loss of control in a particular sector, not because of a disproportionate outburst of fighters in some unit — but because of a policy dictated by the government, knowingly, intentionally, maliciously, with reckless abandon. Yes, we are committing war crimes.”
Yet, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated at a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting last week, “We are demolishing more and more homes; they have nowhere to return to. The only natural outcome will be a desire among Gazans to emigrate. Our main problem is finding countries willing to take them.”
Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician and currently Mr. Netanyahu’s finance minister, stated it bluntly in 2015, the year he was elected to Parliament: “The Palestinian Authority is a burden,” he said. “Hamas is an asset.”
And yet, Hamas refuses to release the remaining hostages and the bodies of those whom it has murdered while in captivity. Hamas continues to call for the extermination of Jews everywhere and the destruction of the State of Israel as do their Islamist brothers.
Hamas rejects any recognition of Israel’s right to exist, while Mr. Netanyahu seeks to eradicate Hamas.
Hamas has also been stealing much of the food aid and selling it to Gazans at high prices in contravention of rules governing these products. They also execute those who try to access aid directly or who protest Hamas rule.
Hamas continues to hide weapons and command posts in schools and hospitals, thus leaving Israeli forces with no option but to attack them, with the tragic number of Gazan deaths that we have witnessed.
Finally, Hamas continues to reject ceasefire proposals accepted by Mr. Netanyahu’s government because it sees no moral obligation to spare Gazans from further suffering. This is not a party that can be trusted.
This is the tragedy facing the region. The Israeli Prime Minister is determined to cling to power at any cost to avoid incarceration. However, a majority of the Israeli public has lost confidence in Mr. Netanyahu and his government. They demand immediate negotiations to resolve the hostage crisis, but Hamas refuses to release hostages or agree to a two-state solution.
Considering the characteristics of the Israeli electoral system, extremist religious and secular parties will likely maintain the balance of power in any future government.
Consequently, can any Israeli prime minister diverge from Mr. Netanyahu’s absolutist stance if they aim to eliminate Hamas from the equation and provide Gazans a chance to negotiate a two-state solution and live in peace, considering the region’s recent history?
No one can "eliminate" an idea. Now there has been bred one at least one more generation of hate.
The hostages must be returned today. Then a discussion can begin. Bring them Home.