Netanyahu’s far right instincts and political interests converge in Gaza

 

By James M. Dorsey

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Long viewed as a narcissistic, opportunistic cat with nine lives, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is driven as much by his ultranationalist ideology as by a quest for political survival, irrespective of the cost to human life and Israel's national interest.

Mr. Netanyahu’s ideological beliefs and his personal interests converged in the s-month-old Gaza war, allowing him to unnecessarily prolong the killing of Palestinians and reduce the Strip to an uninhabitable pile of rubble.

Like Mr. Netanyahu, Hamas has refused to compromise on basic principles designed to shape Gaza’s future and counter the prime minister’s war objectives that are about far more than Gaza’s immediate future.

Mr. Netanyahu is determined to ensure that the terms of a permanent ceasefire squash Palestinian national aspirations and preclude the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, while Hamas is hellbent on keeping the door open to Palestinian statehood.

Hamas’s recent renewed acceptance with minor modifications of a several-month-old temporary ceasefire  proposal, according to Qatari mediators, constitutes a litmus test of whether there is any wiggle room in Israel and Hamas’s positions.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff tabled the proposal  with Mr. Netanyahu’s endorsement.

The proposal involves a 60-day ceasefire, the exchange of approximately half of Hamas’s remaining 50 hostages abducted during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel for an unspecified number of Palestinians incarcerated by Israel, and no apparent solid guarantees that further negotiations will lead to an end to the war.

Hamas’s dropping of its demand for firm guarantees lends credence to Mr. Netanyahu’s assertion that Israel’s military operations and deprivation of Gazans’ unfettered access to basic human needs, including food, have put the group under pressure.

Al Qassem Brigades video

Desperate to project an image of organised resistance despite being decimated in the war, Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassem Brigades, released a series of videos purporting to show Palestinian fighters attacking and killing Israeli army personnel as the Israeli air force attacked already destroyed Gaza City in advance of ground forces taking control of the city.

The religiously laced videos could not be independently verified.

Hamas militants wounded three Israeli soldiers on Wednesday when they assaulted an Israeli post in the city of Khan Yunis in the first such known attack this month, according to the Israeli military.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials said Israel would respond to Hamas’s acceptance by Friday.

The question is whether Mr. Netanyahu will reject the proposal by demanding a comprehensive solution on his terms in what would be a 180-degree reversal of the prime minister’s insistence on temporary, not permanent ceasefires, and stage releases of hostages, seemingly encouraged by US President Donald Trump.

Qatar and Egypt, rather than the United States, the third Gaza mediator, negotiated Hamas’s renewed acceptance of the ceasefire proposal first tabled by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff several months ago.

 

Mr. Witkoff appeared to walk away from his original proposal when he told families of the Hamas-held hostages in early August that Mr. Trump now wanted to see all the living hostages released at once. Of the 50 hostages, 20 are believed to be still alive.

“No piecemeal deals, that doesn’t work. Now, we think that we have to shift this negotiation to ‘all or nothing’ — everybody comes home,” Mr. Witkoff said.

This week, a statement by Mr. Netanyahu’s office echoed Mr. Witkoff.

“Israel will agree to a deal on condition that all the hostages are released in one go, and in accordance with our conditions for ending the war, which include the disarming of Hamas, the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, Israeli control of the Gaza perimeter, and the installation of non-Hamas and non-Palestinian Authority governance that will live in peace with Israel,” the statement said.

It remains unclear whether the statement foreshadows what would amount to a rejection of the ceasefire proposal accepted by Hamas.

A ceasefire would temporarily provide relief to Gaza’s traumatised population but would not prevent Mr. Netanyahu from reviving hostilities whenever he wants. It would also allow him to claim credit for the freeing of hostages and to hand Mr. Trump a success in achieving a halt to the carnage.

Furthermore, a ceasefire could stymie plans by some of Israel’s staunchest allies, including Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, to recognise Palestine as a state at next month’s United Nations General Assembly and counter mounting public pressure on them to sanction the Jewish state.

Hamas has long offered to release its remaining 50 hostages provided Israel ends the war and withdraws from Gaza.

Hamas has also conceded that it will not be part of a post-war administration of Gaza but has rejected demands that it disarm.

“Ever since Prime Minister Netanyahu declared his intent to conquer the remaining one-quarter of Gaza and achieve ‘total victory’ over Hamas, commentators both in Israel and abroad have asked, ‘Now that Bibi has climbed up the highest ladder or tree, how can he get down?’ … Ultimately, there is no cost-free way to bring this war to an end,” said Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, referring to Mr. Netanyahu by his nickname.

Mr. Netanyahu’s apparent hardening of his position is as much in line with his ideological beliefs as it serves to cater to ultranationalist members of his coalition who reject a temporary deal with Hamas.

The question is whether the dog wags its tail, or the tail wags the dog.

A disciple of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, a 20th century territorial maximalist, Mr. Netanyahu has long used ultranationalist threats to collapse his government as a justification for his refusal to end the Gaza war, while, in fact, the far-right ministers in his Cabinet provide him a needed fig leaf to pursue policies designed to advance their shared notion of Greater Israel at the expense of Palestinian aspirations.

Mr. Netanyahu’s father, Benzion Netanyahu, was a historian who served as Mr. Jabotinsky’s private secretary.

In an interview this week condemned by Arab states, Mr. Netanyahu said he was “very attached” to the concept of Greater Israel after the interviewing journalist, Sharon Gal, gave him an amulet with a map of the Promised Land as a gift for the prime minister’s wife, Sara.

“I often mention my father. My parents’ generation had to establish the state. And our generation, my generation, has to guarantee its continued existence. And I see that as a great mission,” Mr. Netanyahu responded when Mr. Gal noted that the map represented Greater Israel.

Mr. Netanyahu and Israel’s impunity in its war conduct and international relations are best summarised by Meir Kahane, an American-born violent and bigoted rabbi-turned politician long ostracised by Israel’s political elite, including Mr. Netanyahu. Mr. Meir was assassinated in 1990.

Meir Kahane

“Nothing good came out of Auschwitz. It’s better to have a Jewish state that is hated by the whole world rather than an Auschwitz which is loved,” Mr. Kahane said in the 1980s, rejecting already decades ago the condemnation of Israeli policies.

Mr. Netanyahu has not endorsed Mr. Meir’s brand of ultranationalism but shares his disdain for the international community and public opinion.

Mr. Meir’s political heir, Itamar Ben Gvir, serves as Mr. Netanyahu’s national security minister.

Daniel Pipes, the founder of the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, an influential advocate of hardline Israeli positions, in a sign of the degree to which Mr. Netanyahu has alienated not only the international community and public opinion but also risks weakening support of segments of Israel’s far right support base, called this week on Mr. Netanyahu to delay achieving ‘total victory’ in Gaza.

“With a heavy heart, I advocate delaying victory. Israel must defer Hamas' eradication to work first on its rehabilitation. Israel’s victory is delayed, not abandoned. First redemption, then victory,” Mr. Pipes said.

Dr. James M. Dorsey is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, and the author of the syndicated column and podcast, The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey.