The "broad" sympathy that Israel gained following the attack by the Palestinian resistance, led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), on October 7th, collapsed under the impact of its military strikes in the Gaza Strip, turning into support for Palestinian civilians, and its international isolation deepened little by little.

This is what can be summarized in a report in the French newspaper Le Monde, which highlighted that this transformation was accompanied by distortions in views between the outside world and Israel, and that legitimate feelings and prejudices limit consideration of the complexity of this tragedy, and make thinking about the war in Gaza a challenge amidst a fever. Campus attitudes, glowering social networks, and the rise of anti-Semitism.

Le Monde saw - in a report by Piotr Smolar, its correspondent in Washington - that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bears a heavy responsibility for the crisis that is afflicting his country in terms of security and morals, after he attacked the moderate forces and allied himself with representatives of violent Jewish supremacy, at a time when the rise of national religious tribalism embodies the fragmentation of Israeli society. 

Likewise, Netanyahu - as the newspaper believes - must bear responsibility for the disaster of last October 7, and this will only be done through an investigation committee that highlights the warnings that were not taken into account, and the analyzes that were ignored. Note that “Bibi” (as he is called in Israel) preferred the collapse of the Palestinian political scene, and concluded implicit agreements with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

By focusing on Netanyahu, who has lost his credibility with public opinion in a stunning manner, Western experts miss a form of Israeli consensus that is in a state of mourning and anger, and is united only by the desire to put an end to Hamas, which constitutes the first misunderstanding.

A desire for revenge

The desire to "destroy Hamas", which covers everything for Israel, is matched by the desire for the entire world today except the United States to put an end to the massacre committed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. This is the second misunderstanding with Israel, which confuses legitimate military objectives with the satisfaction of... The desire for revenge, believing that in order to restore homeland security and deterrence, the tumor must be removed, even if the Palestinian body dies.

Although the number of dead in Gaza exceeded 22 thousand, in addition to the displaced and the destruction, the Hamas movement’s team and its political leadership remain almost intact, despite the assassination of the second man in the movement’s political bureau, Saleh Al-Arouri. Therefore, admitting the near-failure would lead, for Israel, to a form of collapse, exacerbated by the dramatic fate of the remaining hostages.

The third misunderstanding concerns the post-war period, as Netanyahu declared that “there will be neither Fatah-istan nor Hamas-istan” in Gaza, and he clings to his alliance with the national-religious right, a calculation that is consistent with the pessimism of the fundamental impossibility of peace in Israeli society.

In this dark era, the administration of US President Joe Biden wants to revive the two-state solution and “revitalize” the Palestinian Authority so that it can return to Gaza, which means - without saying so - gradually removing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been in power since 2004, from the scene. It may also include accepting Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the Palestine Liberation Organization, and therefore what appears to be an option in the West represents a threat to Israel, and that is the biggest misunderstanding.

Source: Le Monde