The conundrum persists

What spins out of the current conflict?

The horrific 7 October Hamas attacks on Israelis occurred 8 months ago next week. Israel’s retaliation began soon after, making Gaza inhospitable to Hamas—and Palestinians as a whole. The Israeli response, understandably, has been withering, sustained, and ongoing. I simply don’t understand the endstate.

I am not talking about the Biden administration and, according to some reports, the IDF leadership asking for clarification about the post-conflict Palestinian governance. The Netanyahu government remains vague about how or who the governance authority will be in obliterated land where roughly 2 million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip. That pivotal question is one the United States failed to consider as it conducted operations to overturn enemy governments in Afghanistan and Iraq more than two decades ago. The question must have an answer at some point but is only a portion of the problem developing.

The Israeli Prime Minister remains defiant about addressing the long term, preferring instead to focus on directing IDF actions against Hamas leadership in his campaign to eradicate the threat. Fair enough as the horrors of October were real and remain for those still praying the hostages somehow survive. Cynics ask whether Netanyahu’s real goal is to continue the conflict in order to deflect questions of his own culpability in anticipating the 7 October massacre. I don’t know him so I only know what I read which is certainly a man whose career has focused on providing security to Israelis against outside threats. Regardless of his motivations, actions create consequences: doubts about his priorities abound inside Israel and abroad.

The air raids gone awry this past weekend only exacerbate the doubts. The latest number of civilian deaths—45—appears disproportionately higher than the two Hamas leaders killed in the attack. Compounding the international fury about treatment of civilians with no options to escape the conflict, this raid, even if a mistake, further confronts Netanyahu and his rightwing Israeli supporters’ determination the campaign against Hamas must continue.

Legal sanctions such as the International Criminal Court warrant on the Prime Minister (and Hamas’ leader, in this case) engender public support at home but how long will that endure? As a democracy, Netanyahu ultimately will face voters with many questions.

I cannot understand how eradicating Hamas by furthering terrible conditions for Palestinian civilians advances Israel’s interests. It strikes me that only advances radical Palestinian interests, instead.

Israel has made clear it will not abide by the international judgments on its behaviour. That is both unsurprising yet increasingly common. It is unsurprising as every single government has the first priority of defending its citizens—full stop. Netanyahu’s initial response back in October occurred within the context of widespread both horror at the attacks on Israelis and support to include prayers that the hostages would return soon. In the past months, that support morphed into condemnation and shock at the treatment of Palestinians left as collateral to the original attacks.

But the commonality of completely discarding international legal obligations is disheartening. Every time the United States condemns China for violating international law on the South China Sea we see it as eroding the post World War II global order. Each day Russia violates Ukraine’s sovereignty, we remind anyone of Russia’s failures as a member of the global order.

Each time Israel rejects outsiders’ views it is another repudiation of that same international legal framework, whether the decision is justified or not. The justification may be (or not, depending on one’s perspective) fully clear but it is still another chink in the system we continue to proclaim under siege by our foes seeking to remake it.

Let’s be clear: a fundamental tension between protecting one’s population always contrasts with commitments to subjugate national interests to wider global interests and norms. Usually the global norms lose so this is not new but it erodes that global order we talk about so often as Americans. I am not equating Israel’s actions with any other specific country but I am uncomfortable we leave ourselves open to accusations of a double standard as we struggle to find allies and partners on a host of worldwide challenges.

This is really hard stuff. I don’t have the answer.

But what I worry about most is whether this conflict in the Holy Land is protecting Jews worldwide as anti-Semitism further raises its hideous and deadly head. Hatred for Jews began rising in Europe about a decade ago as it also surfaced at Charlottesville and elsewhere here at home. Putin’s pervasive hatred of Jews is clear as he advocates for some Russian Orthodoxy with scary overtones. Attacks on Jews at the Pittsburgh synagogue and at a shocking number of institutions of higher education across this nation are evidence of previously unthinkable hatred reminiscent of a century ago. The treatment of Palestinians likely really isn’t important to anti-Semitic groups because too few other countries do much to help them but it provides a convenient cover to fuel further condemnations based on religion. I fear Jews across the world are greater targets than they were even a year ago, another unintended consequence of protecting those within the Jewish state.

Of course Jews within the Jewish state deserve protection as that was the reason Israel began in 1948 but how long will the likely backlash last and how do we address it beyond Palestine? Jews everywhere from Annapolis, Maryland to the Western Wall deserve security but how to assure it remains so troubling.

What are some concrete steps we as Americans can take? Admiring the problem , as Chris Coke reminds me, doesn’t solve it. I know can’t do it alone but do we think in concrete actions or hand waves? It is simple to say experts solve things but experts are real people.

I don’t pretend to have an answer as I said. I spend a lot of time pondering it, trying to understand all angles but fail beyond grasping the human dimension of vengeance and attempts to prevent repetitive horrors. Yet, I cannot see how the current trajectory is improving the long term safety for Israelis and Jews, regionally or elsewhere. I hope I am wrong about the dangers yet fail to see much cause for optimism.

Several of you have indeed offered thoughts on this dilemma over the past several months. I welcome your continued thoughts and reactions from others.

Thank you for reading this column. I suspect many of you have strong reactions so I welcome those as well. Thank you to the subscribers who support this with financial commitments.

It was a thundery night in the Chesapeake region but a brilliant morning.

Wishing you a satisfying day. Be well and be safe. FIN