Shmuel Rosner is an Israeli columnist, editor, and researcher. He is the editor of the research and data-journalism website themadad.com, and is the political editor of the Jewish Journal.
Israelis expected the war would end when Hamas is eradicated. They now have to face a different reality. After two years of blood, sweat and many tears, the enemy is still out there, lurking in the dark, waiting to fight another day.
The basic question about any deal is simple: does it or doesn’t it include a concrete, enforceable process that marks the end of the Netanyahu era? All other concessions are insignificant.
When an Israeli says “I shifted to the right,” he or she is sending us a message: I became more suspicious of peace processes, more skeptical of concessions, more demanding about security guarantees.
When the public wants quiet and diplomats crave closure, the temptation is to pretend a problem has been managed when it has only been deferred.
When the public wants quiet and diplomats crave closure, the temptation is to pretend a problem has been managed when it has only been deferred.
This story matters because it compresses Israel’s external and internal battles into one episode. Israel’s controversies are all here.
Rabin’s assassination will keep echoing because the decisions bound up with his name keep recurring.
A week after the celebration of a war’s end and the liberation of hostages, a sober reality has sunk in.
Triumph or tragedy? Patience is what we must have. Because the war is over in some way, but not quite over in many other ways.
As we commemorate the two-year anniversary of Oct. 7, there is hope that the hostages will finally come home and the war will end. But it’s still too soon to celebrate.