This afternoon, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu announced that Israel is amassing forces to invade and raze Gaza. He warned that the decimation Israel intends to execute will echo for generations.

Sieging Gaza

Netanyahu’s quest for vengeance is understandable. But it behooves all of us who stand with Israel to maintain a little perspective, especially in this, Israel’s darkest hour.

The Israeli military said on Monday it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and was imposing a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, in a sign it may be planning a ground assault in response to the devastating weekend attack by Hamas gunmen.

(Reuters, October 9, 2023)

Then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned President George W. Bush that invading Afghanistan was bound to produce 1000 bin Ladens. Mubarak was right. Netanyahu should beware that sieging Gaza is bound to produce a new generation of willing martyrs for Hamas. Instead, he’d be well-advised to order a barrage of surgical missile strikes and a series of targeted commando raids.

Perspective on this looming siege

Palestinians have lived their entire lives under Israel’s apartheid-like occupation. This occupation subjects Palestinians to daily indignities, making Jim Crow laws look civil.

Even worse, Palestinians have always known that Israel could deny everyone in their “Occupied Territories” the necessities of life – at will. So, naturally, this was to be expected:

Israel’s military ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip on Monday, halting entry of food, fuel and supplies [including electricity] to its 2.3 million people as it pounded the Hamas-ruled territory with waves of airstrikes in retaliation for the militants’ bloody weekend incursion.

(PBS New Hour, October 9, 2023)

Like most Israelis, I support the two-state solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. However, no Israeli has been a bigger roadblock to that solution than Netanyahu himself.

He formed the most right-wing, anti-Palestinian government in Israeli history. Arguably, in doing so, he effectively squashed any hope for peace.

That’s why I maintain that only Israelis who channel Netanyahu’s arrogance could have been surprised that Hamas mounted this attack. And Israel’s perennial subjugation of Palestinians is such that the attackers probably thought they were on a suicide mission.

Points to consider

I cannot express enough my sympathy for the Israeli families whose loved ones have been killed or kidnapped. But I fear continuing in narrative form risks coming across as too self-righteous. Therefore, I’m going to end this post with some points for your consideration:

What if Black South Africans had done to their White apartheid oppressors what these Palestinians just did to their Israeli oppressors? Would you have supported that apartheid government retaliating by decimating Black townships, like you’re supporting Israel retaliating by decimating Gaza?
The vengeance Netanyahu promises reeks of humiliation and deflection. It stems from Hamas catching Israel so incomprehensibly off guard. But that was the case because Netanyahu had Israelis fighting among themselves. They were fighting over his plans to reform the judiciary to protect himself from criminal prosecution for corruption and breach of public trust. Before retaliating against Hamas, Israel should get rid of Bibi.
This tragedy offered Netanyahu an opportunity to make amends for trying to turn Israel into a theocratic autocracy. Opposition leader Lapid and war hero Gantz offered to form an emergency coalition government. Netanyahu should’ve been happy to boot his oxymoronic right-wing coalition partners. After all, they think they’re entitled to sit back while other Israelis fight to defend the country. It speaks volumes that he not only rejected their offer but told Lapid and Gantz to put aside their principles and support his right-wing government. The irony is that this Hamas attack will probably move most Israelis to do just that – the two-state solution be damned.

Israel is supposed to have the most powerful military in the Middle East. So why does it need aid to fight Hamas, a relatively weak terrorist group? By contrast, a relatively weak Ukraine needed that aid to defend itself against Russia, a military superpower. Granted, Israel is supposed to have the most effective intelligence services too. Yet they had no clue Hamas was planning this multi-pronged attack right under their noses.
Israel has enjoyed the presumption of military invincibility since its founding. This attack made a mockery of that. Even worse, Israel’s response has betrayed general administrative incompetence you’d expect only of kakistocratic African governments. Israeli families all over TV wailing about government officials failing to contact them about their missing family members attests to that.
America is supporting Israel retaliating for this Hamas terrorist attack by decimating Gaza. This is the same America that’s still opposing Ukraine retaliating for the Russian invasion by even shooting at Russia. Moreover, Hamas just gave pro-Putin Republicans the pretext to demand all aid to Ukraine be given to Israel. And everyone knows Iran masterminded this attack. So will Biden condition aid to Israel on it not attacking Iran, the way he conditioned aid to Ukraine on it not attacking Russia? No. Hypocrisy in US foreign policy shall abound!
The collective punishment inherent in Israel depriving millions of innocent men, women, and children in Gaza of food, water, and electricity amounts to a crime against humanity.
Hamas leaders did not order this attack from Israeli prisons, the way ANC leaders like Nelson Mandela inspired attacks from apartheid prisons. Instead, Hamas leaders are living lives of luxury in places like Qatar and Turkey, leaving innocent Palestinians to suffer the fallout from the acts of terror they command.
I support Palestinians, just as I supported Black South Africans during apartheid. But, I have nothing but contempt and condemnation for Hamas leaders, unlike the respect and admiration I had for ANC leaders.
America beware: Netanyahu fomented internal divisions to protect himself, but those divisions made Israel vulnerable to this attack. Donald Trump is fomenting similar divisions for the same reasons, and those make America vulnerable to a similar attack. Ever since Trump’s black-swan election, I have maintained that he and Netanyahu are birds of a feather.

* This commentary was originally published yesterday, Monday, at 7:59 pm