Gaza.. and the American responsibility

As ominous as the headlines coming out of Israel and Palestine are, they should have been expected. The problem, of course, is that the Israelis seem intent on making a very bad situation worse, and the Biden administration is acting as if they have done nothing for the past three and a half years but pour gasoline on a raging fire. The Israelis continue to act as if there are no consequences for their violent behavior.

There is no let-up in their assault on Gaza, where they routinely order new mass evacuations that force entire families out once again. Meanwhile, the bombardment across Gaza has created severe shortages of food, medicine and water. There are reports of children dying from malnutrition and now polio. What the Israelis fail to understand is that anger and pain only lead to more resistance and more recruits for Hamas.

Over the past few months, the Israelis have been confronting Palestinian fighters in areas of northern and central Gaza that they claim have been “cleansed.” But as the United States learned in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, no area is “cleansed” as long as foreign invaders remain.

Meanwhile, the West Bank seems to be on the verge of exploding. For years, Israeli forces and border police have been carrying out deadly raids on Palestinian communities. Since the war in Gaza began, these raids have become more frequent and deadly, accompanied by airstrikes.

But that’s not all. Palestinians have long suffered from settler violence, including arson, looting, and even lethal force. The Israeli military has often authorized and encouraged these attacks. The phenomenon has also increased in frequency and murderous intent. To make matters worse, members of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition have engaged in provocations, both verbal and physical, that have emboldened the extremist settlers, generating even more anger or fear among the captive Palestinian people. Illegal outposts have been legalized, provided with military protection, government services, and weapons, and, for practical purposes, annexed to Israel itself. One extremist minister led settlers to the Temple Mount, declaring his intention to build a synagogue on the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Another member of the ruling coalition said the government’s goal should be to remove most of the Palestinians from the West Bank, to make it more ungovernable. All of these factors combined have been an incentive for Hamas to recruit more members, with the group gaining new members not only in the occupied territories but also among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. As this dance of death continues, the Biden team is acting without a clue. They are exhausting themselves trying to negotiate a ceasefire, which they should now know the Netanyahu government has no interest in accepting. No matter how the United States manipulates the terms to make them acceptable to the Israeli side (and thus unacceptable not only to Hamas but also to the Egyptians), Netanyahu, fearing the loss of his government, continues to either refuse or commit some new atrocity as a delaying tactic.

American red lines continue to be crossed and American law continues to be violated. But the Biden administration’s response is to send weapons and threaten those in the international community who demand accountability. The net result is to reinforce Israel’s sense of impunity. Palestinian anger continues to grow, as does Hamas’s standing among a frustrated population. And the United States is increasingly condemned in the eyes of the world as an enabler of Israeli actions.

What began as a response to the October 7 attack has now morphed into an attack of annihilation, leading to more resistance with no end in sight. No one on either side should assume that any kind of victory is possible. Both Israeli and Palestinian societies have become more radicalized. It will take more than a generation to fill the well of bitterness that has been dug. We can blame Hamas for its horrific October attack, or Israel for its abhorrent response.

But the blame also lies with the United States. For too long and over too many American administrations, we have enabled Israel to carry out its illegal actions.

As a result, we have emboldened Israeli extremists and decimated Israeli peacemakers. At the same time, we have weakened the influence of Palestinian moderates, while empowering Palestinian extremists who are increasingly seen as the only way forward. All the while, Israelis are rewarded, while Palestinians are punished.

While Palestinians are asked to make hard choices, Israelis are asked to do little, and when Israel refuses, there are no consequences. To change this dynamic, the United States must reverse course and do so radically. A long-overdue cutoff of American arms to Israel and recognition of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination would deliver exactly the shock to the system that is needed.

This will force an internal debate in Israel and strengthen the resolve of those who want peace. It may also serve to send a message to the Palestinians that their plight and their rights are understood. These measures, especially if followed by determination and concrete steps, will not end the conflict tomorrow, but they will certainly put us on a more effective path to peace than the one we are on now.

Some might say it’s unlikely that President Biden would ever take such a step. But if he can muster the same resolve that it took to step aside in favor of his vice president, he could find the courage to do so, too. It won’t undo the damage done, but it will pave the way for his successor to move more easily toward Israeli-Palestinian peace.

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What began as a reaction to the attack of October 7 has now turned into an attack of annihilation, leading to more resistance with no end in sight. No one on either side should assume that any kind of victory is possible.