2024-03-06 22:26:56
Another war is raging in the Middle East, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians appears insoluble. But peace is possible, says historian Moshe Zimmermann. And warns of the dramatic consequences of an escalation.
War, always war, dominates the Middle East. Israel’s ultra-right government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now aiming for the complete destruction of Hamas after the terrorists murdered and kidnapped Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023. Meanwhile, there is increasing criticism internationally because numerous Palestinian civilians are also dying in the attacks on Gaza.
Peace between Israel and Palestinians? This idea seems more absurd than ever. But it isn’t, explains Moshe Zimmermann, one of Israel’s best-known historians, who has just published the book “Never Peace? Israel at a Crossroads.” Because with the two-state solution, an option still exists today that could have ended the bloodshed three decades ago. And peace is urgently needed, says Zimmermann, because an escalation of the conflict could have catastrophic consequences.
t-online: Professor Zimmermann, on October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel and there has been war ever since. What is the mood of the people in the country?
Moshe Zimmermann: The mood is depressed, people are completely at a loss. There is no other way to put it. At a loss because the government under Benjamin Netanyahu cannot be trusted, at a loss because no one knows how to get out of this terrible situation. It seems like a war without end.
More than 100 hostages are still in the hands of Hamas. What is the Israeli government’s priority: freeing the hostages or destroying the terrorist organization?
The hostages are clearly not the current government’s top priority. They want to destroy Hamas, that is the number one goal. And what’s more: Netanyahu actually doesn’t want any negotiations with the Palestinians. This government would rather continue with its settlement policy than bring back hostages.
Because it includes numerous supporters of a “Greater Israel” that would extend far beyond the borders of the current state? In your current book “Never Peace? Israel at a Crossroads” you write that the All-Israel ideology is taking the entire Israeli society hostage.
That’s the way it is. They dream of “Greater Israel”, called in Hebrew “Eretz Israel HaShlemah”, which means “Complete Land of Israel”. However, it is not well received everywhere in Israel that the freeing of the hostages plays a secondary role. Criticism comes from those people who don’t think much of this government anyway, as well as others for whom human compassion plays a greater role than for the majority of government members. This results in a situation that is downright absurd: it has become a party-political question as to whether efforts should be made to save the Israeli hostages.
Moshe Zimmermann, born in Jerusalem in 1943, is Professor Emeritus of Modern History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Anti-Semitism and nationalism are the historian’s special fields of research. Zimmermann is the author of numerous books, recently published with “Never peace? Israel at a crossroads” a plea for the two-state solution.
The camp formation runs between right and left?
Israel’s slowly disappearing left is fully behind the goal of freeing hostages, the right is fully behind Netanyahu. We have a stalemate, Israeli society is divided. The longer it takes, the worse it gets. Especially for the hostages in Gaza.
Despite international criticism, there is now a threat of a major offensive in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are seeking protection.
Netanyahu will not stop at Rafah; the attack will continue if he and his government want it. The Israeli military must comply accordingly. They are hoping for Rafah Jihia al-Sinwar, the head of the Hamas military organization, whom they can sell as a symbol of victory.
How far will Netanyahu go?
He will go very, very far. The fact that more Palestinian civilians are being killed, as well as Israeli soldiers, is also of secondary importance to this government.
Netanyahu’s actual cabinet is made up of ultra-right and deeply religious politicians. But after the Hamas attack, opposition representatives joined the government, including former Prime Minister Benny Gantz. Can they have a moderating effect?
These people are just sitting there to pay a little attention – so that the situation doesn’t escalate completely. But they have no chance against the rabid racists in the government. Netanyahu and his coalition are not particularly concerned about the fate of the Palestinians in Gaza because they have always viewed these people as Hamas sympathizers.