Netanyahu and the production of the second version of Israel

Retired Major General: Ahmed Issa
Researcher specializing in Palestinian and Israeli national security research
It is no longer hidden from observers of the developments of the war of extermination that Israel has been waging against the Palestinians for more than ten months that Netanyahu and his government are not willing to reach an agreement that would stop the war on Gaza and free the prisoners from the grip of the resistance, because the agreement requires the presence of a second opposing party, i.e. a Palestinian party, whether Hamas or the Palestine Liberation Organization, which means Israel’s acquiescence to failure in achieving the declared goals of the war, at the top of which is ending the existence of the Hamas movement as a government and resistance, and replacing the Palestinian Authority with a renewed one.
I argue in this article that Netanyahu’s ultimate goal in this war of extermination is to produce a second version of Israel, not only because he is the prime minister and leader of the ruling coalition in Israel, but also because he believes that he is the legitimate heir to Jabotinsky, and the one entrusted with possessing the honest and faithful interpretation of the Zionist movement and its goals in Palestine.
In fact, Netanyahu did not begin laying the foundations for producing a second version of Israel that is different from the first version after October 7th, but rather began laying the foundations for it since the signing of the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Israeli government in 1993.
Netanyahu's speech shows that the classical Zionist movement (Labor), which founded and led the state and its institutions in 1948, committed two strategic mistakes in the conflict with the Palestinians, the original owners of the country. The first was in not completing the demographic transformation, and allowing a minority of Palestinians to remain on their land in the areas on which the State of Israel was established. This minority now constitutes 21% of the state's population and still declares its identity as Palestinian.
The second mistake was to occupy the 1967 territories without displacing their inhabitants, since their number, when added to the number of Palestinians inside the 1948 territories, exceeds the number of Jewish settlers.
The third mistake committed by this trend of Zionism was evident in the signing of the Oslo Accords, which showed this trend’s readiness to give up part of the “Land of Israel” in the context of a settlement that addresses the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Netanyahu adds that the fourth mistake was Sharon's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, influenced by his vision as a general and the vision of the army that holds the visions and convictions of Labor Zionism.
In the same context, Netanyahu believes, without admitting it, that he personally committed the fifth mistake by agreeing to the Shalit deal, under which a large number of Palestinian prisoners were released in 2011.
Netanyahu believes that these five mistakes combined produced the October 7 earthquake, which made correcting these mistakes a necessity to preserve the state’s existence, especially if this is coupled with the regional situation, especially with regard to the ability of the resistance axis factions to develop their military capabilities and reach the point of deterring Israel militarily.
Netanyahu believes that the international and regional scene at this moment in time provides Israel with an opportunity to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians, all Palestinians on the land of Mandatory Palestine according to his vision, including reproducing the foundations upon which Oslo was built and the subsequent agreements related to the Rafah crossing and the Salah al-Din (Philadelphi) corridor.
In fact, Netanyahu is not alone in his ambitions. He is surrounded by a not-so-small group of rabbis, politicians, and national security experts, both individuals and think tanks, such as the Jerusalem Institute for National Security and Strategy, headed by Ephraim Amber and Yaakov Amadror, and the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, headed by Meir Ben-Shabbat, the former Israeli National Security Advisor. The latter published a report at the beginning of this year entitled “Israel 2” by researchers, retired General Gabi Siboni and Professor Kobi Michael, in which they confirmed that Israel after October 7 is not what it was before that date. They presented a number of recommendations that should not be abandoned as goals for the war of extermination that has not ended to this date:
1- Not to back down from the extermination of Hamas and the displacement of Palestinians, especially from Gaza.
2- Turning Gaza into a pile of ruins.
3- Transferring security responsibility in Gaza to Israel for a long period.
4- Demolishing the existing regional system and establishing a new system, with normalization with Israel as its main feature.
5- Completing normalization with Saudi Arabia to build an axis that counters the axis of resistance.
6- Not completing any prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
7- Radically change the existing Palestinian Authority and produce a renewed authority.
8- Considering the end of the war on Gaza as an unambiguous achievement, in which the axis of resistance (Iran) is not only deterred, but also considered a prelude to dismantling Hezbollah.
I assert in this article that Netanyahu is to blame for the failure in producing the second version of Israel, especially since all the conditions for Israel’s victory are not available, but on the contrary, all the conditions for its defeat in its strategic environment are available, which makes it legitimate to ask: if this is Israel’s goal and intentions at this moment in time, then what is the goal of the Palestinians?