YOSSI MEKELBERG

December 24, 2023

One would struggle to find anyone in Israel or Palestine who would not like to see the back of 2023 or who will not be wishing that the new year will usher in a much better future. And who could blame them? It has been a year that everyone would like to forget and, although no one will be able to just yet, it should serve as a watershed for moving on from what has brought about the current domestic crises in both societies and the horrendous war in Gaza.

A year that started with the formation of the most extreme right-wing government in Israel’s history is ending in the worst ever outbreak of bloodshed and destruction between Israelis and Palestinians, while leaving the world wondering whether one of the most protracted conflicts of the post-Second World War era will linger on, continue to inflict death and misery and remain a source of regional and international instability and even violence.

By the end of this annus horribilis, it will be impossible to divorce what is taking place within both political systems and how this has all but destroyed the relations between them. One noticeable factor is the presence of leaderships that have not only passed their sell by dates but which also, by clinging to power, have become the main instigators of the current bleak situation.

When the results of last November’s general election in Israel were announced, the grim writing was already on the wall: Israel was about to be ruled by the most extreme right-wing government in the country’s history. Things might have been different had it not been for the unscrupulous approach taken by Benjamin Netanyahu, who led the opposition to the previous administration of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. He was the one who worked tirelessly in the run-up to the election not only to ensure that his own Likud party did well, but also cynically legitimized and encouraged support for the messianic-religious ultra-right party Religious Zionism.

This was to ensure that he would be able to form a ruling coalition, since all other parties, both Zionist and Palestinian, refused in advance to join a government led by someone indicted on three cases of corruption — for fraud, bribery and breach of trust — that are still being deliberated in court. The result of the general election left the field open not only for the formation of the most far-right and corrupt government in the country’s history, but also the most incompetent one.

From the outset, the formation of a government that included elements that were antidemocratic and racist, not to mention convicted criminals, left all more measured Israelis with only one hope: that it would not last long. It is actually staggering that, despite the low expectations, this government still managed to exceed people’s worst fears, from its assault on Israel’s liberal-democratic system to increasing the friction with Palestinians in the West Bank. Then there is its disastrous failure to foresee or prevent Hamas’ deadly terrorist attack of Oct. 7 and its conduct in the subsequent war, including setting objectives that will probably be impossible to achieve and have already tarnished the country’s reputation.

It would be foolish not to link the formation of the sixth Netanyahu government with the war Israel is currently waging with Hamas in Gaza. The prime minister has been prepared to sacrifice not only Israel’s liberal democracy, but also the unity of the country and its military preparedness, all for the sake of derailing his corruption trial, which has become his top, if not his only, priority. He has seen staying in power as his only salvation from a potential conviction and jail term and, to achieve this, he considered it necessary to subject the judiciary to the will of politicians, not the law, and, in particular, to destroy the independence of the Supreme Court.

Netanyahu’s divide and rule approach to Hamas and the PA has backfired in the most horrendous manner.

Yossi Mekelberg

If one aspect of his controversial administration was the compromising of the democratic system, the other was handing out key ministries to well-known agitators of the Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties. Perhaps most notorious was Netanyahu’s appointment of Itamar Ben-Gvir as minister of national security. This is a man with multiple convictions for incitement to racism, interfering with a police officer performing his duty and supporting a terrorist organization. Ben-Gvir also lacks the necessary skill set to run a ministry, let alone such a complex one that is in charge of national security.

This was a dysfunctional government by design, which prioritized the allocation of resources to ensure the health of the coalition, not of the country. Worse, it diverted attention from the growing danger signals emanating from Hamas in Gaza. Netanyahu fueled Hamas with money while weakening the Palestinian Authority in his drive to derail any chance of a two-state solution ever materializing. Hamas was watching and preparing for its terrorist attack while Netanyahu’s government was tearing its own society apart.

It is too early to assess the full impact of Hamas’ inexcusable attacks on the towns and kibbutzim bordering Gaza that killed about 1,200 and saw some 240 hostages taken. It was followed by a totally disproportionate and unprecedented Israeli military response that not only claimed the lives of many Hamas militants, but also of many thousands of innocent civilians — men, women and children — and sowed immense destruction and a humanitarian disaster previously unseen in this tiny territory.

For the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict to explode as a consequence was hardly a surprise and, in the West Bank, violent clashes between Israeli security forces and newly emerged armed groups have become daily occurrences that have already claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians. Attacks on Israelis are on the rise and settler violence has increased exponentially, while settlements are expanding and tensions revolving around the holy places in Al-Haram Al-Sharif had become a constant source of flashpoints even before Oct. 7. All in all, the response has proved a recipe for prolonging and escalating the conflict instead of defusing and resolving it.

However, it is the attack of Oct. 7 and the ensuing war that will dictate much of the relations between Israelis and the Palestinians — and also with the region — in the foreseeable future. If on the eve of this latest war in Gaza, normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel was a real prospect, it has been shelved for the time being, while the strains in Tel Aviv’s relations with Egypt and Jordan are showing as the war drags on, along with the ever-mounting death toll among Palestinians.

Much of the world was obviously shocked at Hamas’ October atrocity, and the US and Europe were quick to support Israel in any possible way, but this was misinterpreted by the Israeli government as a blank check for using indiscriminate military force against both militants and civilians in Gaza; hence criticism is mounting of the methods it is using there.

As the year ends, it must occur to Israelis and Palestinians, as well as to everyone who wants to see a resolution to the conflict and/or is affected by it, that leaving it to further fester will only lead to worse bloodshed and atrocities and will threaten regional stability. It has also, dangerously, entered the domestic political discourse in countries beyond the region. Netanyahu’s divide and rule approach to Hamas and the PA has backfired in the most horrendous manner. To prevent a two-state solution by weakening the PA and strengthening Hamas was one of the most colossal strategic mistakes that any leader could have made and led to disastrous consequences.

There is no question that the Israeli prime minister should leave politics — and the sooner the better — and then face his corruption trial as an ordinary citizen, while his party should be sent to the opposition benches. However, it is also for the Palestinians to look for leadership beyond the current one that has failed them for so long and for new leaders to emerge who will eventually be able to unite the West Bank and Gaza under one governing body. Ideally, they will then be able to hold talks with a new government in Israel that has a vision of ending the occupation and of peaceful relations with the Palestinians as equals in every sense of the word.

Both Israelis and Palestinians deserve a much better future than what they have endured in the course of this horrific year.

• Yossi Mekelberg is a professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House.
X: @YMekelberg

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