Interview: Two Israeli diplomats denounce Netanyahu’s Gaza policy

Despite the fact that the war in Gaza that began with the Hamas attacks on October 7 has been going on for almost a year now, the conflict still seems far from resolved. The United States and Europe are showing great passivity in their activism to obtain a ceasefire, taking no real coercive measures against Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. In Israel, the liberal opposition itself seems less opposed to the bombing of Gaza than to the Prime Minister’s authoritarian policies. But is Israeli society uniform? The discovery of six hostages, riddled with bullets by Hamas, has driven masses of the Hebrew state’s citizens into the streets, demanding a less brutal approach and the start of negotiations, which they see as the only possible way of bringing the hostages back alive across the border. 

Among the Israelian diplomats too, voices are being raised, arguing that the escalation of violence chosen by Netanyahu goes against Israel’s own interests. Two of them accepted to answer Pascal Boniface’s questions :

Alon Liel, Founder-member of the Policy Working Group (PWG), Former Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and of the Ministry of Economy and Planning and Former Ambassador of Israel to South Africa. He is also the Founder of J-Link – an international network of progressive Jewish organizations.

Ilan Baruch, Chairperson of the Policy Working Group (PWG) and Former Ambassador of Israel to various African countries. Ilan Baruch resigned from the Israeli Foreign Ministry in 2011, after a 36-year diplomatic career, to protest against Israel’s departure from its decade-long commitment to the two-state solution. He is the founder/director of the Palestinian Autonomy Department, head of the Multilateral Peace Process Coordination, and a member of the Israeli delegation to the Interim Oslo Peace Accords negotiations.

 

Is the current situation in Gaza the proof of the inefficiency of a strategy only based on the use of force without political perspective?

Ilan Baruch: This is the crux of the matter: the current government of Israel is adhering to the paradigm which is aiming to deny the Palestinian leadership any political legitimacy to rule and run the Palestinian interests, which is required for a successful two-state solution. This is one of the reasons the military phase of the Gaza War is not concluded. Not only for the destruction of Hamas, but also for the denial of any access to the Palestinian Authority to reinstitute in the Gaza Strip.

Alon Liel: The overall situation between us and the Palestinians is a result of Israeli insistence, during the last two decades, to enforce the military-economic balance of power on the relations between the two sides. Israel’s military-economic supremacy gradually led to the concept of Jewish supremacy. The biblical-messianic aspects added a racist element according to which our narrative is the only one existing between the river (Jordan) and the sea. What we see on the Palestinian sides these days is a mixture of radical Islamic tendencies along with ongoing frustration as a result of the Israeli tendency to ignore their collective rights.

You are advocating for the recognition of a Palestinian state. Do you think it will be compatible with Israel’s national interest?

Ilan Baruch: Recognition of the State of Palestine is routed in the UNGA resolution of Nov. 29, 1947. This mission has failed, firstly for Palestinian and Arab resistance towards it, and since the signing of the Oslo Peace Agreements, the refusal of the Israeli leadership to enable its completion.

We in the PWG (Policy Working Groupe) are convinced that the Palestinians are entitled to self-determination, manifested by exclusive political sovereignty over an agreed territory – the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem as its capital. UN Security Council resolution 2334 of Dec. 2016 is mandating changes of the Green Line (the June 1967 borders) only through bilateral negotiations. For us, this is a sine qua non, when it comes to building a peaceful future of co-existence. The current Israeli government adheres to the principle of unilateralism, with Israeli hegemonial supremacy.

Alon Liel: We are doing it as Israeli patriots. We were born in Israel, fought for this country in wars and served it as diplomats for many decades. We would not support enhancing the recognition of Palestine, if we would believe that it might harm Israel’s future. The international recognition of Palestine might enable a “Parity of Esteem” situation that will make it easier to enter the negotiations room in the future.

Are the real Israeli patriots now in favor of a peace process?

Ilan Baruch: We, as patriots, believe in re-launching the peace process without delay, with the help and guidance of the international community, with France at the helm. For us, Isreal has no safe future, unless intertwined with a Palestinian safe future in a separate independent state. The catastrophe that fell upon Gaza as the result of the horrific attack by Hamas on Israel, harbors political opportunities emanating from « the day after » initiatives to provide Gaza with a humanitarian mega-project, followed by its Marshall Plan style reconstruction.

Alon Liel: Very few Israelis are using the word “peace” these days. The Israeli contemporary leadership has convinced most of our public that this is an illusion. As diplomats we have lived through very complicated conflicts around the world, like in Ireland and South Africa, that looked impossible to solve and were solved by diplomatic and political means. I believe this can and will happen in Israel one day.

Don’t you fear that Netanyahu will make of Israel a pariah state?

Ilan Baruch: Israel is indeed getting there in a pace that is amazing and frightening at the same time. To think that the Jewish state is summoned to both Courts of Justice in the Hague, addressing alleged war crimes, has been unimaginable since the creation of the State of Israel over 70 years ago. The early signs of international sanctions, that have been easily thwarted in the past, are gradually turning into a troubling factor in its current international relations. In the background – the gradual evaporation of the Holocaust in the collective memory of the democratic world, thus depriving Israel of its principal source of diplomatic immunity.

Alon Liel: Netanyahu’s claim to fame until October 6^th 2023 was that he is a diplomatic magician. After 56 years of occupation and a full decade without peace talks, Israel’s international situation prior to this war was very solid, including its Middle-Eastern standing. Today, almost a year later the magic has disappeared, and Israel’s international standing has deteriorated and became very vulnerable. Still, as a strong country militarily an economically Israel is far from a situation of being a pariah state. Today’s world is very selfish and very few countries will seriously damage their beneficial relations with Israel for the sake of enhancing the rights of the Palestinian people.

How do you explain the weakening of the peace camp in Israel?

Ilan Baruch: There is a multitude of reasons for the weakness of the peace camp. One consequential reason, however, is the fact that Israel has entertained, for decades, immunity from any political restraint from the international community, when it conducted policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, that were mounting to flagrant violation of the international rule of law, and of the Palestinian human rights. In an environment without external bars, and with a powerful nationalist adversity that is nearly 50 years in power, no wonder political disregard to the rules. In recent years this picture is gradually breaking up, due to the war in Ukraine, and the European need to get recruited around a principled confrontation on the side of Kyiv the victim, and against Moscow, the aggressor. The similarity, mutatis mutandis, of the Ukraine case to that of Palestine, has created uneasiness in Europe and North America. We believe that the change of guard in the UK and the possibility of VP Kamala Harris to win the elections, might help tilt the balance in Israel towards a more liberal approach.

Alon Liel: As I see it, the collapse of the peace camp has started during the second Intifada (2001-2004). The brutal terror of these year (including about 250 suicide attacks) was devastating for those of us who trusted the Palestinian leadership and strongly believed in peace. During the last two decades the Anti-peace forces have built their whole political strategy on the fears and angers that emerged in Israel during this Intifada. The fact that the right wing was in power almost all the time since 2004 has perpetuated these feelings of fear and brought them to their contemporary heights.

How do you explain the difficulties of the US or the EU to make real pressures on Israel?

Ilan Baruch: Israel entertained, since its inception, diplomatic immunity as the result of its association with the Holocaust. The European Jewry was decimated during WW2. The State of Israel was regarded by the European Jews and other nations alike, as a safe haven. The collective memory of the Holocaust is waning with time, as less and less survivors still live with us. So far, Israel has not been judged according to its policies towards the Palestinians, but in light of what the West inflicted upon the Jewish People during the Holocaust. The Israeli government is heavily invested in trying to stop this trend, particularly concerning the settlement project. In this context one can find its policies to promote the International Holocaust Remembrance Association, where every criticism of Israel and its policies towards the Palestinians is portrayed as antisemitic.

Alon Liel: You as Europeans can explain this better than us. Part of it is the German guilt feelings for the Holocaust, part is the influence of Jewish communities (this is mostly relevant to the US, Britain and France) and part is related to the Western fears of, and even hatred towards, radical Islam. Many people in the Western world still believe that Israel is fighting their potential enemies.

Do you think that the Western “solidarity for Israel whatever its policy” will last forever?

Ilan Baruch: We hope it will, even if in a transformed architecture. As explained above, I believe a more balanced policy will develop in Europe and North America, which will reflect itself in the positions Israel adheres to when it comes to Palestine. We are aspiring to see a coalition of the US, Saudi and other Arab players and indeed – with France on the bridge – leading, and other EU member states, getting involved in an international consortium aiming to help integrate Israel in a peaceful Middle East.

Alon Liel: It all depends for how long this war will go on, and on its aftermath. If the war will end very soon and will restart a political-diplomatic process, the West will soon come back to stand besides Israel. If, on the other hand, the war will expand to the point that it threatens parts of the West, the Western backing will gradually disappear.