Netanyahu’s dilemma: Is he undermining Israel’s standing?

Author: Ashraf Al-Ajrami
Israel is today in its worst position since its establishment in 1948, and it does not appear that things will remain even at this level. What Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his partners Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir are doing with the gangs of religious Zionism will lead to consequences Israel cannot bear. The ongoing operation in Gaza will produce crippling international isolation for Israel, a trend already visible in some countries’ decisions to block arms supplies that could be used to kill Palestinian civilians — as Germany, a very close Israeli ally and effectively the second-largest backer of Israel after the United States, has done — and in some states’ moves to stop importing goods from the settlements. Most recently, Spain cancelled two arms-purchase deals with Israeli companies — one valued at €287 million and another at €700 million — part of measures announced by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez aimed at “ending the genocide.”
Netanyahu has acknowledged pressure from expanding sanctions and international isolation and has decided to back advanced military industries as a way to confront those sanctions. He invokes lessons from ancient Greek history and seeks a great, isolationist “Sparta” state. He seems to forget that Israel can never truly rely on itself: it benefits from a trade agreement with the European Union that grants Israel a near-EU status, meaning it pays no customs on trade with Europe. It receives generous support from the United States and some European countries, and it is linked by trade networks to a large number of major industrial countries and to states in Africa and Asia, including some Arab states. If those relations are restricted or seriously reduced, Israel will not be able to withstand the consequences, and the shekel will not remain as strong as Netanyahu boasts.
Today Israel is regarded as a state operating outside international law: it is violating international law and international humanitarian law, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and there is international recognition that it is carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people. This is not only the basis of the case South Africa brought to the International Court of Justice, but also supported by evidence that Israel has committed and is committing genocidal acts in Gaza. The UN Commission of Inquiry said in its report that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, detailing widescale killings, the denial of humanitarian aid, the forcible displacement of citizens left homeless, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure including hospitals. The commission also cited statements by Israeli leaders that incite genocide, chief among them Netanyahu, as evidence of intent to commit that crime. The report concluded that the Israeli military is deliberately carrying out four of the five acts that constitute genocide.
In reality, Israel now has no real patron other than U.S. President Donald Trump, and it is unclear how long his unconditional support will continue. He is the one supporting the ground operation in Gaza. Israeli statements and media reports have shown that Netanyahu contacted Trump before the bombing of the Qatari capital to target Hamas’s leadership, and that U.S. green light was present for that operation. Even attempts by U.S. officials to distance themselves afterward were weak and possibly driven by the operation’s failure rather than a lack of U.S. support for Netanyahu’s venture.
The occupation authorities have now officially announced that a ground operation has begun in Gaza, and destruction, demolition and displacement are continuing on a wide scale. As the operation expands and casualties and displacement rise, Israel’s situation will worsen and its international standing will steadily collapse toward an isolation similar to that experienced by South Africa during apartheid. At that point neither advanced military industries nor a Spartan system will help Netanyahu. We live in the 21st century, in which no state, however powerful, can isolate itself from the international system and survive alone — let alone a state that depends on external aid and support, including privileges granted to no other country.
Nevertheless, we should not wait to see what might happen to Israel if it continues to kill our people and to pursue a genocidal war and execute its plan to displace Palestinians. National responsibility requires acting by all available means to block this mad war, and that is primarily the role of Hamas: it can, if it chooses, stop the war by responding to international conditions and spare the Palestinian people further suffering and crimes. This should be accompanied by Arab and international diplomatic and political efforts, including the imposition of sanctions on Israel.