Israel is not paying enough attention to the world. The world is paying too much attention to Israel. That’s been a chronic problem, and it is exacerbated as the war in Gaza doesn’t seem to have an end date.
The world – well, let’s not focus on the whole world, that includes countries like Indonesia and South Africa, but rather on some of Israel’s closer allies. When France criticizes Israel with its customary grandiosity, one could dismiss it as business as usual. But now it is Germany, it is Italy, it is the Netherlands. It is Australia and Canada. These countries stood with Israel after Oct. 7. They all understood Israel’s need to respond to Hamas’ massacre. They supported its war effort and let Israel have its day in the battlefield. But now their patience seems to have run out. Why? There are better excuses for that, such as “Israel doesn’t seem to have a clear strategy for the day after.” There are also lesser reasons for that, such as the fact that these countries don’t understand what fighting terrorism entails.
But that’s becoming a reality: these countries are losing patience with the war. And the Trump administration seems to lag not far behind them.
Israel’s response to this wave of impatience is a mixture of condemnation and self-pity. Either Israelis assume that all criticism is a result of antisemitic tendencies, or they assume it’s a result of kooky progressivism, or they assume it’s a failure of Israel’s PR apparatus. Looking in the mirror is naturally difficult for a country whose face is muddied by a long and bloody war effort. In the mirror we see fatigue, we see determination, we see pain, we see frustration – we see things that other countries don’t and can’t see.
Writing about Israel is not easy these days if the idea is to write responsibly and calmly. On the one hand, one does not want to contribute to a chorus of critics who fail to see that Israel does have a point in arguing that letting Hamas stay in Gaza as a political entity would be an intolerable result of this war. On the other hand, it is not always easy to defend a policy of “total victory” when the path to such result is far from being clear (in a latest INSS survey, only 9% of Israelis say that the country’s war aims will be “fully achieved”).
On the one hand, one does see a world that is capable of ignoring calamities in other places but rushes to descend on Israel when a just war takes longer than expected. On the other hand, one cannot ignore the messages of ministers who seem to see this war as an opportunity to fundamentally change Israel’s character.
About half the country agrees “that the current continuation of the fighting is primarily driven by political motives.” When such a view exists in Israel with such abundance, is it surprising that Canada or Italy become suspicious of the war aims? It should not be a surprise. When all Israelis – or almost all of them – were convinced that the war must continue, it was much easier for the government to convince the rest of the world that the war is a necessity it must support. When the country becomes dubious, the impact on other countries is immediate. Thus, the need to responsibly report on the situation.
There is a special need not to overstate the level of public reservation concerning war aims. Yes, the public is frustrated with the government. Yes, many Israelis don’t see a clear path for victory. Yes, a majority would accept an uneasy agreement if all hostages return. Yes, many Israelis suspect that the PM is led by right-wing extremists to enact a policy that would make Israel a pariah. Yes, and they also suspect that the PM is prolonging the war to keep his coalition together. All these are damning facts.
And yet – and this is what the French, the Australians, the Italians, the Canadians, don’t necessarily understand — a vast majority in this country still expects Gaza not to be ruled by Hamas. If you dislike the term “total victory,” call it by some other name. If you dislike the way this objective is presented by the government, search for other ways to present it. The bottom line is still the bottom line. Listen to what opposition leader Yair Lapid says about Hamas. Listen to what the leftist Democratic Party Yair Golan says about Hamas. They say: it’s time to end the war. They say: getting the hostages back should be the top priority. They say: Netanyahu is using the war for political purposes. They do not say: let Hamas stay.
You can agree or disagree that the government plan (keep the war going until Hamas is gone) is the right plan. You can agree or disagree that the opposition’s plan (end the war, get the hostages back, then deal with Hamas) is the right plan. But do not ignore an important fact: the ultimate objective is the same.
Something I wrote in Hebrew
When General David Zini was declared the prospective nominee for the next head of Shin Bet, a report surfaced that the PM once decided to skip him as his Military Secretary because he thought he was “too messianic.” Here’s what I wrote:
“At least four out of 10 Jews in the State of Israel believe that one day the Messiah will come … there is a small majority who assume or suspect that there is a possibility that the Messiah is coming … Now we ask: Are all of these disqualified from serving in the position of the Prime Minister’s Military Secretary? When someone, like Zini, is said to be “messianic,” does it not mean that he would also answer affirmatively to the question “Do you believe that the Messiah will one day come?” Because, as mentioned, if that is what is meant, one can automatically disqualify four out of ten candidates for positions that do not tolerate “messianism.”
A week’s numbers
INSS survey of Israelis. Is this an imminent dilemma?
A reader’s response
Gil Avni writes: “Shmuel, are you coming to the U.S. to speak in the coming months?” My response: An interesting timing… I have a book coming out in November, so… maybe.
Shmuel Rosner is senior political editor. For more analysis of Israeli and international politics, visit Rosner’s Domain at jewishjournal.com/rosnersdomain.
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