The attacks by Hamas to Israel on Saturday may have surprised Israelis but unfortunately it was just a matter of time when this kind of escalation would take place. USA condemned the attacks and said that they were “unprovoked” (1). However, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran pointed out that Israel has only itself to blame for the Hamas attacks. Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia issued a statement where it said, “The Kingdom recalls its repeated warnings of the dangers of the explosion of the situation as a result of the continued occupation, and deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, and the repetition of systematic provocations against its sanctities.” (2)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition government have provoked the situation in many ways in Israel and internationally. The internal political turmoil in Israel has continued ever since Netanyahu’s far-right government came to power. There have been weekly demonstrations against the far-right government and its judicial overhaul and other actions that are seen as threat to democracy. The situation has been worrying many Israelis. According to a poll in July, 28% of the respondents considered leaving Israel because of the judicial overhaul, 54% feared that the judicial overhaul is harming Israel’s security and 56% were worried about civil war (3).
As the Zionist far right has become more emboldened, it has been easier to see the ethno-nationalist, supremacist and expansionist aspects of this political ideology. It is worth remembering that Israeli parliament Knesset passed already in 2018 the controversial “nation-state law” according to which Israel is Jewish state where only Jewish people have “the right to exercise national self-determination” and Hebrew is Israel’s official language. Arab Israelis and their language Arabic were not treated equally in the law. (4) In 2019, Netanyahu referred to that law when he said, “Israel is not a state of all its citizens. According to the basic nationality law we passed, Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people – and only it.” (5) In an annual survey published at the beginning of this year, 49% of Jewish Israelis believed that they “should have more rights than non-Jewish citizens.” (6)
The Zionist supremacism and expansionism has become wider threat. The Palestinians have naturally been the main target of far-right Zionists and the Zionist regime. Attacks by Jewish settlers have risen sharply. In the first eight months of 2023, an average of three settler-related incidents happened every day. That is the highest daily average of settler-related incidents affecting Palestinians since the United Nations started recording this data in 2006. (7) Last week EuroMed Rights, a network of 68 human rights organizations, institutions and individuals based in 30 countries across Europe and the Mediterranean, warned about the “sharp increase” in settlers’ attacks in the occupied Palestinian territories. According to the organization, number of settlers’ attacks in the first half of 2023 reached 1,148 which was nearly the same as during the whole year in 2022 (total of 1,187 attacks). Representative of the organization said that Israeli government ministers’ “provocative rhetoric” is a “major contributor to the significant increase in settler violence, as the government supports settlers in various ways, including protecting them from security or judicial prosecution.” (8)
Deadly violence had also increased significantly before the attacks on Saturday. In August it was reported that 200 Palestinians and 30 Israelis had already been killed in the occupied West Bank and Israel this year – the amount of fatalities was more than last year’s entire death toll and the highest since 2005. (9) Human Rights Watch reported in August that there had been “a huge spike in Israeli killings of Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank.” 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinian children in 15 years, but during the first eight months this year 34 Palestinian children had already been killed – same amount was killed during the first eleven months in 2022. Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at HRW, said, “Israeli forces are gunning down Palestinian children living under occupation with increasing frequency. — Palestinian children live a reality of apartheid and structural violence, where they could be gunned down at any time without any serious prospect of accountability. Israel’s allies should confront this ugly reality and create real pressure for accountability.” (10)
The Jewish extremists have also attacked Christians and Christian properties. In April this year Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem, told that Jewish extremists have harassed Christian clergy and vandalised religious property at an alarming rate after the inauguration of Netanyahu’s far-right government. Pizzaballa said, “The frequency of these attacks, the aggressions, has become something new. These people feel they are protected… that the cultural and political atmosphere now can justify, or tolerate, actions against Christians.” (11) There have been many incidents where Jewish people have been spitting towards Christians or Christian churches. Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, said last week that the spitting is not a criminal act. He had said earlier that spitting on Christians is “an ancient Jewish custom.” Because of mounting criticism regarding these incidents, Israeli officials and Prime Minister Netanyahu issued statements condemning anti-Christian acts by Israelis and vowed to protect freedom of worship. (12)
The far-right Zionists seem to try to continue to build Greater Israel more aggressively. Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) estimated in December last year that the agreements between Prime Minister Netanyahu and his far-right coalition allies will lead to “accelerated processes of annexation” in the West Bank (13). The manifesto of Netanyahu’s far-right government mentioned that the Jewish people have “exclusive right over the entire Land of Israel.” The coalition agreement between Netanyahu’s party Likud and far-right Religious Zionist Party stated, “The prime minister will work towards the formulation and promotion of a policy whereby sovereignty is applied to the Judea and Samaria (i.e. the West Bank).” According to Israeli lawyer Michael Sfard, the political moves of Netanyahu’s far-right government make it clear that “Israel is in the process of fully annexing the West Bank—de jure.” (14) This year has seen unprecedented amount of new settlement projects. By August, the Israeli far-right government had already approved construction of new housing units in the West Bank more than what was approved during the whole year in 2020. The far-right government has also legalized large amount of settlements that were previously considered to be illegal outposts. (15) Israeli governments, Zionist far-right and settlers have also been working to take over homes owned by Palestinian residents in occupied East Jerusalem and to forcibly displace the Palestinians (16). When the new American Embassy was opened in Jerusalem in 2018, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that Jerusalem will always be “eternal, undivided capital of Israel.” (17)
Prime Minister Netanyahu, his far-right coalition partners and other far-right Zionists have revealed their expansionist ideas and goals openly. Before elections in 2019, Netanyahu talked about the possibility to annex the occupied West Bank and to reoccupy Gaza Strip (18). When Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations General Assembly, last month, he used a map where the Palestinian territories – the West Bank and Gaza – as well as Syria’s occupied Golan Heights seemed to be part of Israel (19). During his speech Netanyahu said, “For peace to prevail the Palestinians must stop spewing Jew-hatred and finally reconcile themselves to the Jewish state. By that I mean not only to the existence of the Jewish state but to the right of the Jewish people to have a state of their own in their historic homeland, the Land of Israel.” (20) Netanyahu wrote in social media at the end of last year, “The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel – in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan, Judea and Samaria.” (21) When far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich spoke in Paris in March this year, in front of his podium was a map where the West Bank, Jordan and parts of Syria and Lebanon were part of Greater Israel. During his speech Smotrich declared, “There’s no such thing as Palestinians because there’s no such thing as a Palestinian people.” (22) In 2019, Moshe Feiglin, prime minister candidate of far-right party Zehut, said that he wanted to annex the occupied West Bank and Gaza and send hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to other countries (23). Platform of Jewish Power party (Otzma Yehudit), currently a member of the far-right coalition government, has called for “the establishment of sovereignty over all parts of Eretz Israel liberated in the Six-Day War (the West Bank and Gaza) and settlement of the enemies of Israel in the Arab countries that surround our small land.” (16)
One potentially explosive goal of the far-right Zionists is their desire to impose full Jewish Israeli sovereignty over the Noble Sanctuary Mosque complex – also known as the Temple Mount to Jews – in occupied East Jerusalem and to build a Jewish temple there. The Noble Sanctuary Mosque complex is the third holiest site in Islam. (16) Settlers and other far-right Zionists, including far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have repeatedly stormed the Noble Sanctuary Mosque complex – also known as the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex – under police protection. Israeli police started to allow settler incursions to the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in 2003. (24, 25) In June, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories warned of a risk of a religious war “if Israel continues in its aggression against the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City by allowing Jewish extremists to continue to storm it and pray in its yards in violation of the existing historical and legal status quo.” (26) Last week Jordan, custodian of Jerusalem’s holy sites, sent a memo of protest to Israel because of illegal “incursions by hardliners, settlers and Knesset members into the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque under police protection.” The memo also protested “the restriction of access for (Muslim) worshipers to the Mosque, the desecration of Islamic graves and the increasing attacks on Christians in Occupied Jerusalem.” (27)
There have been a lot of speculations how the war between Hamas and Israel will develop, what Israel will do and how the war may affect the situation in the Middle East and elsewhere. At an emergency meeting of the Arab League yesterday, foreign ministers of the Arab countries urged Israel to resume negotiations regarding the two-state solution that provides a viable state for Palestine (28). King of Jordan said yesterday, “Our region will never be secure nor stable without achieving just and comprehensive peace on the basis of the two-state solution.” (29)
References:
(1) “Statement from NSC Spokesperson Adrienne Watson Condemning Terrorist Attacks Against Israel” The White House – Briefing Room 7.10.2023
(2) “Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran say Israel has only itself to blame for Hamas attacks” The Hill 7.10.2023
https://thehill.com/policy/international/4243388-saudi-arabia-qatar-iran-blame-israel-hamas-attacks/
(3) “28% of Israelis considering leaving the country amid judicial upheaval – poll” The Times of Israel 26.7.2023
(4) “Israel’s hugely controversial ‘nation-state’ law, explained” Vox 31.7.2018
(5) “Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is ‘not a state of all its citizens’” The Guardian 10.3.2019
(6) “Half of Jewish Israelis believe they should have ‘more rights than non-Jews'” Middle East Eye 16.1.2023
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-jewish-believe-more-rights-non-jews-survey
(7) “Palestinian killed during settler assault on West Bank town” Reuters 6.10.2023
(8) “Rights group warns of ‘sharp rise’ in violence against Palestinians by Israel settlers” Middle East Monitor 5.10.2023
(9) “More than 200 Palestinians, nearly 30 Israelis killed so far this year: UN” Al Jazeera 22.8.2023
(10) “HRW confirm huge spike in Israel killings of Palestinian children” Middle East Monitor 28.8.2023
(11) “Jerusalem: Catholic patriarch decries spike in anti-Christian attacks by Israelis” Middle East Eye 14.4.2023
(12) “Israel: Spitting on Christians in Jerusalem ‘not criminal’, says Ben Gvir” Middle East Eye 4.10.2023
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-spitting-christians-jerusalem-not-criminal-ben-gvir
(13) “Annexation: Transferring the Civil Administration from the Minister of Defense to the Minister of Settlement” The Institute for National Security Studies INSS 13.12.2022
https://www.inss.org.il/publication/cogat/
(14) “Israel Is Officially Annexing the West Bank” Foreign Policy 8.6.2023
(15) “2023 sets record for settlement construction and outpost legalization – watchdog” The Times of Israel 8.8.2023
(16) “Fact Sheet: The Religious Zionism Coalition” Institute for Middle East Understanding IMEU 16.11.2022
https://imeu.org/article/the-religious-zionism-coalition
(17) “Israeli Prime Minister declares Jerusalem ‘eternal, undivided’ capital as controversial US embassy opens” ITV News 14.5.2018
(18) “Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal would bury the two-state solution” The Guardian 7.4.2019
(19) “Palestinians must not have veto over Arab-Israel deals, Netanyahu tells UN” Al Jazeera 22.9.2023
(20) “Full text of Netanyahu’s UN address: ‘On the cusp of historic Saudi-Israel peace’” The Times of Israel 22.9.2023
(21) “Jewish supremacy is state policy, says Netanyahu” Middle East Monitor 3.1.2023
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230103-jewish-supremacy-is-state-policy-says-netanyahu/
(22) “Israel’s Smotrich: ‘There’s no such thing as Palestinians'” Middle East Eye 20.3.2023
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-smotrich-palestinians-no-such-thing
(23) “Israel’s far-right PM candidate seeks to annex Gaza, West Bank” Al Jazeera 3.4.2019
(24) “Israeli far-right minister leads incursion of Al-Aqsa compound” Al Jazeera 27.7.2023
(25) “Hundreds of Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa complex on 5th day of Sukkot holiday” Anadolu Agency 5.10.2023
(26) “The Grand Mufti warns of a religious war due to escalation in Israeli aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque” WAFA News Agency 8.6.2023
https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/136214
(27) “Jordan sends ‘memo of protest’ to Israel over Al-Aqsa settler incursions” Middle East Monitor 4.10.2023
(28) “Arab ministers urge Israel to resume talks on two-state solution” The Guardian 11.10.2023
(29) “Jordan’s king: There will not be peace in region without sovereign Palestinian state” Al Arabiya 11.10.2023
IDIS Observer 