Corruption
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a tummy ache. It’s so bad, his doctor ordered three days of bed rest. You’d have a tummy ache too: the Prime Minister is supposed to appear at his own corruption trial. Unlike the United States President, the Prime Minister of Israel can be criminally tried while in office.
And, much like the current US President, Netanyahu used the “immediacy” of his office to stave off the trial for years. Certainly the ongoing “operations” in Gaza against Hamas were a solid excuse. As a war leader, the normalcy of “routine criminal prosecution” was upended. And the Israeli government was deep in crisis management mode after the Hama’s terrorist assaults of October 7th. But, it’s been an ongoing question both in Israel and the United States: is a ceasefire in Gaza based on some mutually agreed set of concessions, or are there no concessions worth the risk of Netanyahu’s conviction and imprisonment for corruption?
Find Another War
It’s not all about the trial. Netanyahu is also held hostage by his own coalition of far-right factions, interested in clearing all Palestinian lands for Israeli settlement. If the coalition falls apart, then, Netanyahu would face general election. Should he lose and fall out of power, then the corruption trial would accelerate.
Even as the reality of Hama’s demise in Gaza became clear, Israeli operations in the region continued. The cold, hard fact was that the goal became kill every member of Hamas, even if the rest of the Palestinians in the region had to go too. Thousands of regular Palestinians have been killed for the “crime” of waiting in a food line.
And, as things wound down in Gaza, Israel launched their attack on another terrorist group, this time in Lebanon and Syria. The unique tactic of exploding pagers decimated Hezbollah membership, and preceded a full-on military assault. And when that proved to be a resounding success, Israel moved onto to bombing Iran. Even the United States joined in, taking advantage of Israeli decimation of Iranian air defenses to drop the “bunker busting” bombs from B-2 Bombers on Iranian nuclear facilities.
It looked like a political “trifecta” for Netanyahu: defeat of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. But the trial loomed over him, a Judaic Justice, Sword of Damocles. So now Israel is attacking the new Syrian regime, bombing Damascus ostensibly to defend the Druse Syrian minority from persecution.
Shock in the White House
Even the Trump White House was shocked by that attack, as well as the bombing of a Roman Catholic Church in Gaza. It took the current Administration almost six months to realize that Russia’s President Putin was “playing them” for time with Ukrainian ceasefire talks. Now they are recognizing the Netanyahu has his own private agenda as well.
Some Israelis are taking advantage of the situation: “striking while the iron is hot”. And the other major “players” in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt; have their own agendas that align with Israel’s attacks on Iran and its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. They’ve stepped aside from those confrontations, giving Israel full clearance. And while Israel is already on a war footing, why not take care of “all” the problems?
A Single State Solution
Israel is also busy clearing more Palestinians out of the West Bank, violating existing agreements by building more settlements. The “two-state” solution, the US backed plan for ultimate Middle East peace that dominated discussion for almost fifty years, is now as good as gone. Israelis are creating a single state, Israel, and an occupied territory, the West Bank and Gaza, that will remain under Israeli control. The US President even wants some “beachfront” in Gaza for a personal luxury hotel. This “single-state” makes Israel an occupying nation in perpetuity, with all of the negative cultural impacts of subjugating another people. Israel is becoming a democracy for some, and a military dictatorship for many.
But there is still one essential truth. Netanyahu faces trial. Attacks on Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and now Syria only delayed the inevitable. I guess when you can’t bomb something, it’s time for a “tummy ache”.
