Middle east

‘Jewish Supremacist State’ Claiming to be Democratic is a Contradiction

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014

Mary ManleyThe prime minister’s statements followed the recovery of six Israeli hostages’ bodies whom the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said were found in a Hamas-run tunnel under the city of Rafah. The IDF claims that they were “brutally” murdered “shortly” before the troops could reach them. Hamas has claimed the hostages died in an IDF air strike.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has doubled down on his assertions that Israel is not to blame for the deaths of hostages taken during the October 7 attack by Hamas. The prime minister, who held a press conference on Monday, dismissed the ongoing protests in Israel and insisted on a long-term military presence along Gaza’s border with Egypt, even if doing so means hostages held by Hamas will not be released, the Financial Times reported.Dan Lazare, an independent journalist and author, joined The Critical Hour on Tuesday. He suggested that a ceasefire deal will most likely not happen in the near future, and in the meantime, Israel seems to be adjusting itself to a “prolonged state” of “long, low-grade warfare” in the West Bank.“…there’s no doubt there is little room for negotiations and even though everyone claims to be interested in negotiations — Biden assures us every week that […] a ceasefire deal is just around the corner […] it’s not happening because this is a duel to the death and there’s just no place for negotiations,” the analyst said.“Netanyahu has made it quite clear that he is seeking the military elimination of Hamas. He wants to completely remove that military threat from Gaza and he will stop at nothing, including taking over the Philadelphi corridor alongside the Egyptian border and bombing the rest of the country, the rest of the territory to smithereens, and also making life a a dark nightmare for the 2.3 million people who live there in order to accomplish his goals. But that’s what’s happening,” Lazare explained.WorldNetanyahu Refuses ‘Surrender’ to Israeli Protesters Demanding Hostage Deal3 September, 04:11 GMTDuring his address, the prime minister claimed that “no one is more committed to freeing the hostages” than himself, but added that he will not let anyone “preach” to him. Swaths of Israel were shut down on Monday during a nationwide general strike as desperate Israelis continued to call on Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire deal with Hamas.Ben Gurion airport, south of Tel Aviv, paused flights for several hours early Monday and several private businesses refused to open as well. However, Israel’s Labor Court ordered the strike to end by Monday afternoon at about 2:30 PM. The Histadrut union heeded the warning and called off the strike, NPR reported. The day prior, protesters in Tel Aviv crowded the city’s streets and held signs labeling their prime minister as a murderer and criminal, and blamed Netanyahu for failing to strike a deal with Hamas. «Bibi is the prime minister, he holds the key for the deal. He can keep on putting more and more obstacles and demands, but that’s not relevant,» a Tel Aviv resident told NPR.

“…there are internal contradictions,” Lazare agreed. “There are vast internal contradictions. There's a vast, vast internal contradictions involved in the very idea of a Jewish supremacist state which also claims to be democratic. The combination doesn't work. It's unconvincing. It's contradictory.”

“But the war and Hamas’ attack on October 7th serves to cover up those contradictions. It causes Israelis to band together against the external threat and, yes, there are huge divisions, powerful conflicts, you know, immense disagreements taking place in Israel. But, what I think is more important, in terms of the war, is the very high degree of unity and consensus the government has managed to line up behind this conflict,” he added.The IDF continued their attacks in the occupied West Bank on Monday, The New Arab reported. Violent raids have now entered their “sixth day” according to the news outlet, and much of the assault has been focused on Jenin. IDF soldiers detained two young men after raiding the village of Deir Abu Deif, just east of Jenin. And two Palestinians, Abdullah Nasser Hammou and Mohammed Mahmoud Hammou, who were trying to hand out bread to people were gunned down by IDF forces as well.The report adds that power in Jenin has been cut-off amid IDF raids, and telecommunications services have been affected. Key infrastructure such as roads, water and sewage networks, and homes have also been destroyed by IDF soldiers. While the IDF has called their actions “counterterrorism operations”, Palestinians continue to maintain that these are attempts by Israel to push them out of their homes.“…and it’s clear that the Israelis are […] adopting, adjusting themselves to a prolonged state of long, of low-grade warfare in the West Bank, and that the pogromists of the Israeli ultra-right continue to make raids on Palestinian villages across the region,” he added. “…there’s no doubt that, yeah, if it wasn’t for those 500-pound bunker busting bombs, Israel would be facing a very different situation in Gaza. So, yeah, American armaments, American backup, American support are absolutely crucial.”“…October 7th attack gave Israel an excuse for a massive military counter-assault, and that this plays into the hands of right-wing Zionists who are pushing for a mass expulsion, a mass ethnic cleansing. They believe the only way to solve the West Bank problem is to essentially cleanse it of Palestinians and that is, that may very well be what this is leading to. We don’t know what’s going to happen in Gaza,” Lazare explained.WorldFollowing Breach of International Humanitarian Law, UK to Halt Some Arms Exports to Israel — Report3 September, 01:49 GMT“We don’t know what lies at the end of this nightmare, but a mass expulsion is possible,” he added. “I mean, this nightmare is extraordinary. But, they’ll still be there… Hamas will still be dominant. Israel will bomb, send the F-16s once a week to bomb Hamas strongholds. This war is now entering into its second century and it very well may, at some point, enter into its third. But this is a bloody conflict with no way out, as far as I can see. A gaping wound has opened up […] and it’s just going to keep bleeding and bleeding and bleeding. As I said, I’m very pessimistic.”

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