The hurdle that is Netanyahu
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This past Sunday, 3 lakh people participated in a demonstration in Tel Aviv, Israel, to protest Netanyahu's failure to end the war with Hamas and get the Israeli hostages released. In the meantime, anti-Netanyahu rage had started to flare up throughout Israel after the army recovered the bodies of six Israeli citizens who had been taken hostage. Netanyahu's response has been that those who kill the hostages do not want a deal. A large section of the Israeli people believe that Netanyahu's stubbornness and ineptitude are the reason for the war being prolonged and people being prevented from living in peace. It was the first time since October 7 that the country witnessed such a huge protest where the police clashed with demonstrators all over. Then on Monday, labour unions went on strike. The strike which brought the economy to a brief halt was ended only after the labor court ordered them to return to work. The chronology of the Israel-Hamas war that started on October 7, 2023, and the peace efforts so far would show that two factors are the main obstacles to the ceasefire despite the fact that nearly 41,000 Palestinians have already been killed. One is America's continuing and unconditional support to Israel, and the second and more critical hurdle is the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Hamas had agreed to sign a ceasefire and to release the hostages held by them on the condition that Israel should suspend the military operations in Gaza and withdraw its forces from there, and that it should release a large part of the 5,000 prisoners in Israeli prisons, including Hamas military leaders. The International Court of Justice has issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for Israel's genocide, as also against two Hamas leaders, one of them being the subsequently assassinated Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh. All the cease-fire proposals that came in several stages after that failed because of Israel's, or Netanyahu's, intransigence. After the temporary cease-fire last November, the vast majority of Israelis were in favour of continuing it. With that, they hoped to bring back the remaining 100-plus citizens. That didn't happen. Then, when the cease-fire move in May was on the verge of success, Netanyahu blocked it with new and unacceptable measures which included that the army would remain in the Philadelphi Corridor between the Egyptian border and the Netzarim Corridor, the strip between the northern and southern Gaza where the Israeli forces were based. Since then, the world has only seen the tragic scene of thousands of Palestinians being killed in their own land.
The main obstacle to peace is Prime Minister Netanyahu's insistence on continuing the war- and being in power. Netanyahu, who is facing trial in a court on corruption charges dating to his previous term as Prime Minister, is enjoying immunity just because he is in power. The legislative attempt to secure his exoneration by bringing reforms to the judiciary led to public protests earlier. Since then, the streets have witnessed several mass protests calling for an end to the war and the release of prisoners, but no voice of popular opinion or reason has changed Netanyahu's bellicose obstinacy. Netanyahu's theory that military action, not negotiations, is the way to release the hostages and the delusion that Hamas can be eliminated, is what causes the protests within Israel. Observers say that the Prime Minister has no interest in bringing back the hostages or ending the war. In a July poll, 72 per cent of Israelis called for Netanyahu to resign because he failed to stop the Hamas offensive. However, he is getting support from far-right coalition leaders. The current situation is not enough for Netanyahu, who believes that his own interest is Israel's interest, to back down. America is the only power that can hold Netanyahu in check. But the less said the better of that prospect because the contest between Trump and Kamala Harris for the White House is over who is the greater protector of Israel's security. The only difference is that Kamala, while emphasising that Israel's security is their responsibility, also makes it a point to bemoan the plight of the Palestinians too.
