Myths and consequences

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My fellow Israelis, as we continue to fight the same old war in the new Middle East, it might be time to dust off those myths we tell ourselves, and take a good look at what lies underneath, to see which direction the sands are shifting beneath their bases:

1. We are the only democracy in the region. That, for the past 70-odd years, has been the basis of our “special” relationship with the US. But if Syria’s new leader, Julani, does hold free elections as he has promised, that statement will technically be untrue.

Julani, in the tried-and-true Jihadist manner is trying to wipe out at least some of the opposition before those elections take place, but there is still a real chance that Syria will put together some form of representative government. In this case, we seem to be mildly encouraging him, publicly bombing Damascus but negotiating in private. Even we can see the benefit to Syria shedding its legacy of Assad and Assad.

In contrast, here, in this Jewish, democratic country, we are learning that the line between democracy and not-democracy is not all that clear-cut. Our government believes it can chip away at its underpinnings while we still naively assume future elections will be fair and democratic.

Unfortunately, all of this is beside the point. As far as the US is concerned, democracy is out, riches are in. And if you don’t have riches, or at least a big, flashy marble palace, it helps to have rich friends and to be tall, young and look good in a suit, as Julani does.

The USA has been our rich friend until now, but today they are a rich friend who is threatening to call in our debts.

2. Our army is the most ethical army in the world. You hear that less and less, but it is still trotted out once in a while to convince us that everything we do in the name of winning this war is absolutely necessary. It has become a tautology: Our army is ethical by definition; therefore, it cannot be guilty of war crimes.

The other side of this coin is the repeated mantra that the enemy uses civilians as human shields, purposely hiding ammunition in schools, headquarters under hospitals.

Thus, the second is an excuse for contravening the first.

The second is undoubtedly true. But too much of our rationalizing carries the overtones of “Look what they made us do!” There may have been some military justification for attacking hospitals, but not for neglecting to provide alternative medical care. We have been sloppy in attacking ambulances and international aid workers. At some point, that becomes a pattern, rather than a few random screw-ups. Our army is, to put it bluntly, willing to kill relatively large numbers of civilians both to protect our own soldiers and to get at Hamas fighters mixed in a civilian population that we, ourselves, have squeezed into tight spaces.

3. Only force can bring about the release of hostages. While most of the Israeli public actually believes we need to end the war with an immediate cease-fire and peace negotiations in order to return all of the hostages, our country’s leadership is still touting the belief that we can force the Hamas to agree to better terms with tanks and bombs. “We have no choice.” Thus, we undertake the renewal of a war that never really ended. The tonnage is heavy enough to shake my windows, 60 km away, every night. Killing innocent civilians is simply a side-effect, one we’ve learned to live with in good conscience.

Worse, however, is the tactical decision, spearheaded by the government, to deny Gazans food, water and medical care. I am afraid this one has a certain amount of support among the Israeli public that goes something like “They don’t deserve food until all of our hostages are released.” This is not just bad optics, it is bad. It puts us right down there with Sudan for cruelty and disregard for human life.

4. Only Israel can protect itself. It’s true that in Lebanon, we reached an (American-brokered) peace settlement, and now we regularly shoot and bomb anyone we think is breaching that agreement. So far, so good. But it only works with American support. When the American president looks at our prime minister and tells him his country has already given us a lot of money, it’s a sign we need to rethink our position. Israel protects itself with American money and military equipment, period. We are used to showing up with our hands out, but Trump is not all about hand-outs. As with his simplistic tariffs, he wants to know he can get something of equal value in return.

5. The time for statehood is after the war is over. Even Bibi might admit, at this point, that the war can end, but only on terms we know the Hamas cannot accept. “Negotiating under fire” makes us sound tough, but our war is one of diminishing returns and we have already proven ourselves untrustworthy when it comes to standing by the terms of settlements. This time, Hamas is demanding US and Qatari guarantees that we will negotiate an end to the war. Rather than our ridiculous rejection of that demand, we’d be better off seeking guarantees of our own – before the war officially ends.

Look around: In the absence of a strategic plan either for ending the war or for the day after the war, the US, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will do it for us. It is Trump who is freeing hostages, who is looking to get a peace prize for ending the war. Bibi has other, more immediate interests. In the same way that Trump shook his head and said he won’t stand by while Gazans starve to death, in the same way he mentioned that he understands how important it is to Israel to obtain the release of “our” hostages, he’ll casually let drop that he finds it very credible that the Palestinians need their own state. He won’t ask us and he won’t warn us.

What I’m asking, my fellow Israelis, is for you and I to interrogate our perceptions of ourselves, our existence as a Jewish, democratic state, our place in the new Middle East. It is happening with or without our consent. If once we saw ourselves as a light unto the nations, now we are apparently content to sit in the dark. It does not have to be that way.

Will we be able to humble ourselves when needed, to join this assembly of Sunnis and Wahabis, emirates, kingdoms, dictatorships and quasi-democracies of various kinds, a deeply flawed country among other flawed countries, and to find our place? Honestly, I’m not sure, but I believe the time is coming when we’ll at least have to try.