- Next month, it will be one year since the daredevil day-time attack perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on Israel leading to a protracted war that shows no signs of abating despite the global leadership making fervent appeals to stop the madness at once. The loss of lives and properties of innocent civilians across the two nations must be sickening to fathom the futility of war in this era. When the global communities are making every opportunity count to advance riding piggyback on the revolutionary technological developments, it’s sad to observe Israel and Hamas continuing with their respective tirade against each other with nary a care for ushering in much-needed peace and harmony. The onus rests more on the Israel PM rather than the Hamas leaders.
PC: eNewsroom
- Several peace overtures and initiatives have yielded little cheer for the civilians as the elephantine egos of the leaders at the helm have overshadowed such efforts. Notably, the Gaza conflict is piling economic and diplomatic losses on Israel from which it may never recover. A massive general strike crippled large parts of Israel recently as anger and grief poured out over the discovery of six dead Israeli hostages in Gaza. The strike, called by Israel’s largest umbrella trade union, aimed to press Netanyahu’s govt to seal a hostage-ceasefire deal. But Netanyahu and his political supporters have been adamant that they will continue the war until Hamas is eliminated – a very ambitious goal that’s not going to fructify anytime soon.
- Yes, Netanyahu is the main obstacle to a ceasefire today. He figures the longer the conflict drags on, it will turn more Israelis against the idea of any kind of deal with the Palestinians. It’s also a pretext to delay pending corruption cases against him. Undoubtedly, the Oct 7 brutal terrorist attack by Hamas last year deeply impacted Israeli society. This has drowned out rational voices for peace or a Two-State solution. Note that the current protests are focused on getting Israeli hostages back, not stopping the massive damage being inflicted on Palestinians – more than 40,000 have been killed in Israeli strikes. The count will only go up in the days ahead. This othering of Palestinians only fuels the conflict further.
PC: CSIS
- Noticeably, the US also hasn’t used its full leverage to rein in Netanyahu with an eye to its own elections in Nov. But Israel too is suffering. The cost of war could be as much as $120 billion or 20% of the Israeli economy. Israeli ports have seen a 16% drop in shipping, thousands of Israelis in the country’s north have been forced from their homes, and start-ups have taken a huge hit. Plus, Israel’s sheen as the only functioning democracy in West Asia has been stripped bare. Thus, the only victory for Tel Aviv here is a Pyrrhic one. But Netanyahu doesn’t care. The citizens must force the intransigent PM to yield to their demands for a ceasefire through consistent building of pressure. Otherwise, Israel is in danger of collapsing economically via unsustainable war.
