The Growing Divide Between Israel and the World
As the war in Gaza rages, the disconnect between Israel and the rest of the world over how to end it and what to do afterwards with the Palestinian territory only seems to grow.
Israel’s rifts with the US were brought into the open this week.
First, two of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ministers openly attacked US President Joe Biden. Itamar Ben Gvir, the national security minister, said America’s leader wasn’t supportive enough of Israel’s offensive on Gaza and signaled he wished Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich then assailed Biden for imposing sanctions on a few Jewish settlers in the West Bank, saying it was “antisemitic.”
Netanyahu thanked Biden for backing Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack but refused to criticize his hardline ministers, whose parties are part of the ruling coalition and key to his political survival.
Then, when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Netanyahu and other Israeli officials yesterday, the two sides differed markedly on a cease-fire-for-hostages deal with Hamas.
Blinken said Hamas’s response to a broad proposal “creates space” for a final agreement, even if there was still plenty to negotiate, including the length of the cease-fire, the number of hostages to be released from Gaza and the total Palestinian prisoners to be freed from Israeli jails.
Netanyahu, though, said it would be “delusional” to accept Hamas’s conditions and vowed to continuing fighting until the group, designated a terrorist organization by the US, is destroyed. While Washington backs the goal of wiping out Hamas, it has urged Israel to do more to limit civilian casualties.
The government, the most right-wing in Israel’s history, is anything but aligned with what the US or Arab states want, which is a quick end to the war and firm steps toward an independent Palestinian state.
For now, the chasm is widening. — Paul Wallace