Thank you for 80 years of war

(Haaretz; Peščanik.net)

What would make our prime minister embark on a military adventure from which the world is now trying unsuccessfully to extricate itself? His list of successes guaranteed him to remain in power. Syria as a source of conflict disappeared, the exploding pager operation was successful, a sufficient number of Hezbollah operatives were wounded, the leadership of this organization and its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah were assassinated, nuclear facilities in Iran were bombed, and Iran's top military officials were assassinated. Just one of these things would guarantee any leader world fame.

But in Israel, and not only when it comes to Netanyahu, things are different. Of course, it is not possible to live here without existential threats. Other people turn off their mobile phones in the evening and go to sleep, but we in Israel stay awake, scrolling in the dark and waiting for the next attack by Palestinians, Lebanese, Iranians, Egyptians or Turks. We take note of every tweet, even from our own children abroad, that denies the Shoah or spreads hatred towards Jews or uses the colors of the Palestinian flag (an English teacher in Jerusalem was suspended for this in March). This is the fate of the chosen people, and that is why it is important to add the prefix “suffering” to this noble title.

And yet we sometimes wonder where our new enemies keep emerging from. For example, the Lebanese government is pro-Israel and pro-American, just as hostile to Hezbollah as Israel is, if not more so, but instead of respecting it, Netanyahu is stripping it of everything it has and driving it into poverty. He is demanding that Hezbollah disarm, while at the same time carrying out attacks as if Lebanon were a puppet government. Since the beginning of the current war, Israel has killed 500 Lebanese, and this is after a ceasefire agreement that it was supposed to respect.

In Lebanon, this government is called Vichy by some, and the main argument for Hezbollah and its supporters is Israel's intention to annex southern Lebanon. Hezbollah is against the existence of the state of Israel, but in Lebanon this discourse is more pragmatic than ideological. According to it, the PLO accepted Israel's demand to leave Lebanon in 1982, and Israel nevertheless remained in that country until 2000, although the founding of Hezbollah in its current form was only announced in 1985. In addition, messianic statements by Israeli officials who want to extend the borders to the Litani River are cited.

On the other hand, imagine if Israel, which according to Netanyahu's statements failed to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, had supported the negotiations with Iran led by Barack Obama. At that time, the Iranian religious leadership also forbade the production of weapons of mass destruction. Wouldn't we be in a better position now?

The problem is that in the Israeli political arsenal, neither the hawks nor the doves have anything but force and the threat of force. And since there is no alternative to the war option, I share the view of my colleague Nehemiah Strassler that a war with Iran will end badly and I call on all reasonable, soft-hearted people who just want a normal life to arm themselves with patience, because we have a long road ahead of us full of suffering and pain.

Although on second thought, the Israeli public, like the rest of the region, does not deserve Strassler's warnings. We have been living in endless war for 80 years, with widows and orphans, and peace is nowhere to be found. For that, we should thank the Israeli public, which repeatedly elects leaders who know only a tradition of violence.

(Translated from the Hebrew by Alma Ferhat)