'Voluntary’ Expulsion of Gazans: The Israeli Lawmakers Falling Into an Abyss of Incitement - Opinion - Haaretz.com
As the war between Israel and Hamas rages on, Israel is awash with extremist statements by government officials, settler leaders, messianic rabbis and far-right social network influencers.
There’s an almost daily media storm around violent declarations against the Palestinians, despicable declarations like “nuke them all” or “we are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba."
Government ministers with virtual portfolios like “Minister of Heritage”, or “Special Assignments”, who were unknown figures before the formation of Netanyahu’s coalition government was formed in January are using the occasion of Hamas’ catastrophic attack on October 7 as a launching pad for their own Kahanist messages.
Entirely indifferent to the diplomatic consequences of their irresponsible and outlandish statements, these zealots march on, focused only on the cheers of their narrow political base.
Regrettably, this trend seems to be infectious and shows signs it is spreading beyond the confines of the hard right. Ram Ben-Barak, a senior member of the opposition Yesh Atid, a centrist party, came out this week in favor of an “agreed transfer” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to host countries.
Lawmaker Ram Ben Barak, on the right, at a conference in Tel Aviv early last month.Credit: Avishag Shaar-Yashuv
Writing in an op-ed co-authored with Danny Danon, a Likud lawmaker, in the Wall Street Journal Monday, the pair called for “the international community explore potential solutions to help civilians caught in the crisis. One idea is for countries around the world to accept limited numbers of Gazan families who have expressed a desire to relocate.”
It’s a prettified version of a scheme that was introduced into Israeli politics decades ago, by a far-right figure named Rehavam Ze'evi was also popular amongst supporters of the Kahanist movement, a faction listed as a terror organization in both Israel and the United States.
Ben-Barak argues that his intentions are neither racist nor objectionable since he is only putting forth “an offer” and allows the Gazans free choice in accepting or rejecting it.
A former deputy head of the Mossad, and a veteran politician, Ben-Barak cannot be called naïve. His possible motivations aside, whatever they are, his words have already inflicted real damage to Israel’s international good standing.
If versions of ethnic cleansing are now considered legitimate even within the Israeli archetypical “centrist party”, it is a clear sign, even in the eyes of Israel’s friends, that the country is rapidly sliding into a dangerous abyss.
A woman from Gaza walks past tents, as Palestinians, who fled their houses amid Israeli strikes, take shelter in a tent camp at a United Nations-run center, after Israel's call for more than 1 million civilians in northern Gaza to move south, in Khan Younis in the southern last month.Credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/ REUTERS
If that was not awful enough, such positions boost Israel’s enemies, who can utilize what they said in two complementary ways. Firstly, they can now conveniently cite this as evidence of Israel’s fundamentally “racist” nature that has now been unmasked even by so called “moderates”.
Secondly, they can re-introduce their age-old “solution” to “the Jewish problem”. After all, they incorrectly claim, it’s the Jews who are the aliens in the Arab-Muslim Middle East. Many came from Europe, and most Jews still live outside Israel. So why not take Ben-Barak’s offer and turn it around?
Surely there would be enough countries willing to host Jewish Israelis?
Ben-Barak’s folly is a goldmine for the BDS movement and others seeking to undermine Israel’s legitimacy. They like to accuse Israel of looking for a way to expel the Palestinians and now a centrist figure like Ben-Barak has given them fodder for their claims.
What Ben-Barak and Danon also fail to point out in this scheme of theirs is that Egypt and Jordan made clear they, like the Palestinians themselves, will never accept any uprooting of people from Gaza.
Well into our now second month of war, Israel remains determined to “eliminate” Hamas. While the jury is still out regarding the feasibility of this goal, parts of Israel’s body politic and society – the previously more sober Ben-Barak now among them - are eliminating their own good judgment in the process. In turn, they are putting us all at greater risk thanks to the irresponsibility of their statements.
Eran Etzion is the former deputy head of Israel's National Security Council. Twitter: @eranetzion