Every Israeli Soldier and Citizen Must Decide if They're Ready to Join the Insanity of Re-settling Gaza
In comparison to his ramblings in the U.S. Congress and United Nations, the address to the nation that Prime Minister Netanyahu gave this week is indeed important. It is a pity that the broadcasters keep giving him a stage for propaganda under the guise of a "press conference." Their dedication to his service is apparently incurable.
But the deed was done and from it we can derive one important thing, after we take out the lies, distortions, demagoguery, spin and pathetic map exercises. Most of us are old enough to remember him using the same tools of his trade to demonstrate for us the Iranian nuclear threat. He still knows how to sell puffed-up air mattresses.
By calling Netanyahu's speech important, I mean important as a statement of strategic intent. The real issue is not the Philadelphi corridor but a re-occupation and resettlement of the Gaza Strip. Aluf Benn is correct. This is part of his revised war aims. Where Benn and I disagree is over Netanyahu's motives: he thinks they are ideological, I think it is about staying in power. But it doesn't really matter.
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The new war aim was formulated by National Missions Minister Orit Strock less than two months ago: If the army does not remain in the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors and the northern buffer zone, there will be no government. Simcha Rothman, her Religious Zionism party colleague, formulated the final goal five days after Hamas' October 7 massacre – "that every Israeli child will be able to walk down Gaza's main road." National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has repeatedly made clear his opposition to any hostage deal, and that if one is reached, the government will fall. These are Netanyahu's masters. He simply follows orders.
The reality is that a lot of reservists already understand what is happening and therefore are unwilling to return to Gaza. I stand with them.
To Philadelphi, Netzarim and the buffer zone will soon be added the Kissufim corridor. It will be complemented by a maritime strip to the west and the enforcement of an eastern buffer zone (which has security logic and has existed in the past). The hostages who remain alive will be finally and officially buried. Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli this week demanded that the response to the murder of the six hostages be the expropriation and settlement of Gaza's "northern tip" (the former settlements of Nisanit, Dugit and Elei Sinai). Victims of terror being "compensated" by settlement construction is a well-established tradition among West Bank settlers.
The State of Israel has the right to reverse the Gaza disengagement, to establish a permanent military occupation and revive the former settlements there. But it requires approvals from the security and full cabinets as well as the Knesset. A referendum would also be in order. It can't happen because Strock says so or Netanyahu gives a speech. A dramatic 180-degree shift in policy cannot be made that way.
The Philadelphi corridor, in July.Credit: David Bachar
No less, a policy to abandon the hostages to their deaths should also be established by a formal process. The defense establishment as well as the media that is not yet enslaved to the Netanyahu family must reset themselves. We must demand clear decision-making – not creeping occupation and annexation that consigns the hostages to being the subject of a fashionable pin worn on the lapel.
This way everyone – soldiers and citizens alike – will be able to consciously choose whether they are ready to take part in this madness. Ultimately it's a personal decision. I, for one, would refuse to risk my life and health for the sake of Strock and Chikli's delusions, Netanyahu's political survival and the knowledge that if I am taken captive, no one will bring me back.
The reality is that a lot of reservists already understand what is happening and therefore are unwilling to return to Gaza. I stand with them. The Israel Defense Forces says the phenomenon is "fading" and hides it from the public.
But the phenomenon will continue to expand, nevertheless, until it becomes the norm.
Strock's children, as well as those of Ben-Gvir, Chikli and Netanyahu, should go with their parents to the Gaza Strip and settle there.