The deadly attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas not only marks the biggest Israeli intelligence failure in decades. It has shattered the idea that the Palestinian issue can be ignored.
An unknown number of Israelis have been captured and held hostage after Hamas militants invaded the south. Videos posted online show armed men marching or dragging men and women through the streets, some elderly, some bloodied.
Instagram and other channels were flooded with faces of missing people and pleas for information. Many of those identified were young attendees of an outdoor desert rave.
Israel is coming to terms with what its ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, called his nation’s own Sept. 11 moment.
It comes at a time of enormous diplomatic sensitivity and a moment of weakness for Israel that analysts have been warning its enemies might seek to exploit. It risks expanding into a wider conflagration with consequences beyond the Middle East.
While in Israel there’s suspicion of an Iranian role in the assault, Western officials have been reluctant to publicly say Tehran was directly involved. Iran has lauded the attacks while denying any part in them.
Managing longstanding tensions with the Palestinians had become “sort of a check box,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Bloomberg TV earlier this year.
Those words will surely come back to haunt him. It’s also a deep political blow for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Together they had been edging toward warmer ties as part of complex talks mediated by the Joe Biden administration that critics argue have sidelined the future of a Palestinian state.
Just days ago, the dawn of a new Middle East political landscape appeared imminent. Today, it’s clear the old Middle East won’t go away quietly.— Paul Wallace