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Ron Kronish

Bibi disappoints Israeli society and the world once again

Protest against Israeli Prime Minister, called Crime Minister, courtesy of Ron Kronish

When the news broke last Thursday, during the first day of the holiday of Sukkot, that Yahiyah Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, had been killed (even though it was quite by accident), there was all of a sudden once again some hope in the air  that this would be the time for the government of Israel to declare victory, end the war, and bring home the hostages in a deal that would also free Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. But it took only a few hours for these hopes to be dashed by the irresponsible rejectionist right-wing ministers, Betzalel Smotrich (Minister of Finance and Minister of Creeping Annexation within the ministry of Defense, and head of the political party known as “Religious Zionism”) and Itamar Ben Gvir (Minister of National Insecurity and head of the political party known as “Jewish Power”). Both of these fanatics—who had negated all efforts to reach a deal to bring the hostages home for many months—said that the war must continue until Hamas is totally destroyed. For them it is a forever war, with no end in sight.

Soon after that, in the evening, after the first day of the Sukkot holiday was over, our despicable Prime Minister gave another one of his disingenuous speeches in what he of course did not mention that he would pursue a diplomatic process to bring the hostages home, but instead was offering money and a free passage out of Gaza to any Palestinians there who would surrender and return hostages whom they are holding, an idea that he knew was just a lot of hot air. In so doing, Bibi dashed the hopes of millions of Israeli citizens –and people around the world–who were hoping against hope that this would be the moment to declare victory, end the war, and bring the hostages home. Following hours of television coverage, during which many spokespersons urged him to consider a diplomatic initiative now, arguing over and over again that the death of Sinwar ought to be a pivotal moment in this long war,  Bibi did not accommodate the will of the people; rather, he remained a hostage of Smotrich and Ben Gvir and the warmongers as well as of his own fears of actually reaching an end to this war, which paradoxically serves his own survivalist needs. It is not an accident that he is called Crime Minister by many people in this country. If he actually ended the war, he might have to face the judges in his trial on major counts of corruption, and he might also have to be interrogated by a national commission of inquiry, which would undoubtedly find him guilty of many policies and practices which led up to the tragedies of Oct. 7th, 2023.

Why does Bibi seek to prolong this war, with no end in sight? What is driving him? Why doesn’t he pay any attention to the advice of the current U.S. Administration of President Biden and Vice-President Harris? (Perhaps he is interested in helping the Orange Man get elected?!)  Why does he continue to torture us, the citizens of Israel, and especially the families of the hostages, for whom he shows absolutely no empathy?

The answers to these questions are not in the realm of mysticism. Rather, they are as clear as day. They are obvious to anyone who has been following his statements and his actions during the past year and nine months, since he brought himself back to power, with the help of the political parties of the extreme right (mentioned above) in the most irresponsible and dangerous government in the history of Israel.

First of all, Bibi is afraid to end the war against Hamas since he does not want to be labeled by his extreme right partners as a “defeatist”, as someone who “surrenders” when the going gets tough. Moreover, he  has not prepared any diplomatic horizon, i.e. he has failed to cooperate with the USA and the international community in developing a plan for who will run Gaza after he defeats Hamas (which the IDF has mostly done by now). Many people have accused him of having no plans for this whatsoever. However, if you look closely, there is a de facto plan that is already being put in place, as we speak (or as we write), i.e. the re-occupation of Gaza, certainly the military occupation of the 2 million (mostly homeless) Palestinians who live there, and eventually a civilian occupation (as in the West Bank, via the Civil Administration). Millions of shekels and lots of manpower are already being devoted to setting up army bases within Gaza, for “defensive” purposes for the long run. Indeed, Bibi has said many times that in his view, Israel can retain security control over Gaza, since he does not trust international bodies and he certainly does not trust the Palestinian Authority, even if it were to be revitalized, as the Americans have suggested.

Secondly, Bibi rejects all efforts to end the war (which would bring the hostages home) because he feels that his political survival is at stake. He fears the threats of his right-wing ministers to bolt the coalition if he were to do so. They are calling the shots, and he has given in to their demands, over and over again. Not only do they want the war against Hamas to continue, but they are calling for resettlement in Gaza, along with a number of fanatic members of Likud.

Thirdly, not only does Bibi not want to end the war, but he seeks to expand it! In fact, he already expanded it three weeks ago by launching a ground operation in Lebanon, which has caused millions of Israelis to spend time in their shelters and safe rooms every day now, as the numbers of daily rockets and drones shot into northern and central Israel has grown day by day.  The expansion of the war in Lebanon has not brought Israelis any new security; the opposite is the case. Moreover,  an attack on Iran would likely make the security situation in Israel much worse!

Over the weekend, in Israel and abroad, many editorials and op-eds were written about this critical moment in the history of the current war that Israel is fighting. These articles argued for the logic of ending the war now (after the killing of Sinwar), negotiating agreements to end the war on two fronts with Hamas and Hezbollah, bring the hostages home, restore stability to Israeli society, begin to rebuild the Israeli economy and get on with the rebuilding of Israel, Gaza and Lebanon. Will our Prime Minister pay attention to any of these statements of sanity within the press? Or will he carry on with his rejectionist policies, pursuing endless wars, forsaking the hostages and the citizens of Israel, and disappointing us once again? Unfortunately, we all know the most likely answers to these questions. But perhaps there might be a surprise?

About the Author
Rabbi Dr Ron Kronish is the Founding Director the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel (ICCI), which he directed for 25 years. Now retired, he is an independent educator, author, lecturer, writer, speaker, blogger and consultant. He is the editor of 5 books, including Coexistence and Reconciliation in Israel--Voices for Interreligious Dialogue (Paulist Press, 2015). His new book, The Other Peace Process: Interreligious Dialogue, a View from Jerusalem, was published by Hamilton Books, an imprint of Rowman and LIttelfield, in September 2017. He recently (September 2022) published a new book about peacebuilders in Israel and Palestine entitled Profiles in Peace: Voices of Peacebuilders in the midst of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which is available on Amazon Books, Barnes and Noble and the Book Depository websites,
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