Opinions of Peter Belmont
Speaking Truth to Power
| Is Israel Dying? |
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by Peter A. Belmont / 2025-05-09
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| The news program (C.J.Werleman) tells of a push by Turkiye in Syria that may challenge Israel in Syria. I forget if he mentioned a more-than-lip-service Turkish concern for Palestine. What follows is my speculations about whether Israel may be dying—and if such death should be called “suicide”. Turkiye is a partisan for Palestine, although very quiet like most “supportive” states. Only Yemen is ACTIVE MILITARILY (or otherwise) as a partisan for Palestine. However, Turkiye has a presence and active interest in Syria—where Israel also operates. Werleman describes Turkiye —I have no idea of the truth of this—as a military power SUPERIOR to Israel. And, of course, Israel’s army is exhausted after 18 months of “war” in Gaza. Even shooting fish in a barrel is exhausting it seems. Especially fish that shoot back. Hamas is small but it does shoot back. Like the USA, Israel wrongly believes itself invincible and demonstrates immense hubris and enjoys bullying. It believes its own propaganda. Dangerous for its neighbors and for itself. Unending war is expensive and could led to bankruptcy (as it seems to be doing in the USA). Like the USA, Israel has lost its most recent “war[s]”, the USA losing in Ukraine and Yemen (and Iraq and Afghanistan and VietNam) whereas Israel has “lost” its war in Gaza if its purpose (or one of its purposes) was to defeat Hamas; although to be fair, Israel has certainly succeeded overwhelmingly if its purpose (or one of its purposes) was to commit genocide and wipe out all or most of the people of Gaza. (Of course, the people of Gaza could not fight back and Hamas is and always was a very weak military force. Remember the fish in the barrel.) Is Israel Dying? Before I learned of the addition of Turkiye to the mix, I’ve recently wondered if Israel may be dying. Was there reason to wonder? Yes, on what I’ve read. Israel’s economy is ruined, imports have become much more expensive due to the Yemeni closure of the Red Sea, many of its soldiers and reservists are refusing to serve, some soldiers are worried about being accused of committing war crimes, many countries are threatening to arrest Israeli soldiers visiting on vacation (as “war criminals”), “civil war” inside Israel is often spoken of locally, many of its educated people (doctors and scientists and engineers who can get work elsewhere) are leaving Israel, many internal refugees from the north of Israel, chased out by attacks from Hezbollah, put a burden on the state and the society, the few remaining hostages still held in Gaza seem not to be a concern of the Netanyahu government, infuriating many Israelis, and in its imperial councils there is still talk of a war with Iran (or perhaps despair that the USA may not help with such a war). In addition, USA’s ever-changeable President Trump may even have a consistent policy of cooling off toward Israel, AIPAC or no AIPAC, as illustrated by his truce with Yemen made without consulting Israel, his travel and negotiating plans among Gulf countries made without consulting Israel, and his attempts to negotiate a return to JCPOA or the like with Iran, rather than fight Israel’s hoped-for war with Iran. And there is more. Israel didn’t care that it has long been a pariah among the countries of the “global south”, but lately even EU countries have begun to recognize the State of Palestine, and to suspend shipments of weapons, munitions, and spare parts to Israel. If Israel is Dying, it is Suicide As I see it, if Israel is dying, it would clearly be a case of “suicide” since Israel could have avoided all these elements of “dying” by a simple expedient which it is clearly unwilling even to contemplate (out loud anyhow), namely, making peace with Palestinians after abandoning the hope and drive for a “greater Israel” (that is an Israel commanding the entirety of Mandatory Palestine). But because Israel refuses to end its genocide of Gaza and its hugely energized whatever-it-is in the West Bank (ethnic cleansing?), it must face continued attacks from Hamas, Yemen, maybe Hezbollah, and now maybe Turkiye, and deal with deteriorating social conditions at home. My sympathy is not with Israel. I know there are some decent Jewish Israelis, people who have long opposed Israel’s whole approach to the Palestinians and who have especially opposed the genocide now underway in Gaza, but after watching the apparently nearly universal approbation of the Jewish people in Israel for the government’s now 18-month genocide of Gaza my own emotional reaction longs for a an Israeli suicide which would leave Israel as a smaller, no longer bellicose, no longer imperial, nation, a Lictenstein?, next to a reconstituted Palestine. Because surely it is time for the 100-years war of Zionism against Palestine to end forever. |
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