There can be no better outcome of the war Israel is now conducting against Hamas than immediate return of the hostages and the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state, which Israel's leaders agreed would arise under the guidelines set by the United Nations Partition Plan in November of 1947.
Moreover, in the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt signed at Camp David in September, 1978, there is Israeli and Egyptian agreement that Israel will pull out of the occupied territories with the exception of a few military positions, and will allow self-rule by the inhabitants of the territories.
This is a very desirable outcome for Israel because it will rectify part of the disaster of October 7 and relieve Israel of the cruel apartheid regime and control over the lives of millions of Palestinians who are not citizens of Israel. This control that has continued for 57 years now is causing Israel heavy damage from terrorism, which there is no way to overcome.
The fact that the prime minister's intention is to continue with the same thing that has gone on in the territories until now is appalling, given the opportunity that exists. It is evident that he has no interest in Israel being a normal country that lives in peace with its neighbors, and that he prefers the apartheid regime.
Assuming that Hamas withdraws from the game, or compromises, this is an opportunity to establish the Palestinian state, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he wants: a state within the May 1967 lines, with its capital in Jerusalem. Such a move would establish a state that will cooperate with Israel in many areas, including security, as the Palestinian Authority is already doing today, and would bring about an end to Palestinian terror and the need to maintain a large military presence in the territories to fight it.
Two groups of Israeli citizens have taken the state prisoner: the ultra-Orthodox – who have exempted themselves from military service and core studies to which every citizen is obligated, and the settlers – Gush Emunim and its successors, from among whom came the backing for Yigal Amir, the assassin of Yitzhak Rabin, who had just begun a path that might have led to a Palestinian state.
What is happening with the Haredim is damaging to Israel, but is of no interest to anyone who is not Israeli. The settlement project in the territories and the continued occupation are a feature of Israel, which no decent person in the world (including in Israel) can deem acceptable.
This is an apartheid project, which is in its entirety a violation of international law, as determined by the UN Security Council. A project that is contrary to what Israel agreed to in 1947, in 1978 and in the Oslo Accords, and which is causing Israel to live by the sword and triggering hostility against it among those who do not understand how Israel can maintain a situation of apartheid, oppression and denial of rights to millions of people. Today, the world's attitude toward Israel is opposite what it should and can be and what it once was before the settlement project. This is a real danger.
It was disappointing to see 99 Knesset members uniting against an international move by friendly countries close to Israel, which are considering a decision to the effect that support for Israel goes only so far, and that from here on it is necessary to recognize a Palestinian state – which is not to Israel's detriment. The world's influence helped eliminate South African apartheid; it will be good if world leaders help eliminate Israeli apartheid as well, along with the prime minister's dangerous stance.
It goes without saying that if Israel decides to follow the path proposed here, a peace agreement will be signed with Saudi Arabia, U.S. President Joe Biden, the true supporter of Israel, will be re-elected and the wave of antisemitism around the world will disappear. But most of all: Israel will again be a normal country, enjoying good relations with its neighbors in the region.