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Since its founding successful 1948, Israel’s premier ministers person sought to permission legacies that would outlast them — immoderate done war, others done diplomacy, and a fewer done historical blunders. David Ben-Gurion secured the state’s independency and built its foundational institutions. Golda Meir presided implicit a warfare that outgo her office. Menachem Begin signed bid with Egypt portion expanding amerciable settlements. Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated for trying to marque bid with the Palestinians.
Each leader, successful immoderate way, near their mark. But nary has ruled arsenic agelong – oregon arsenic divisively – arsenic Benjamin Netanyahu. And now, much than ever, the question is not conscionable what benignant of bequest helium wants to leave, but what bequest helium is really creating.
In 2016, I argued that the Arab satellite had efficaciously crowned Netanyahu “King of the Middle East” — a rubric that reflected his occurrence successful positioning Israel arsenic a determination powerfulness without making immoderate concessions to the Palestinians. Today, I judge helium sees an accidental not lone to consolidate that title, but to reshape Israel’s determination presumption permanently — done force, impunity, and a strategy rooted successful securitised dominance.
Since his archetypal term, Netanyahu has insisted that Israel’s information indispensable override each different considerations. In his worldview, a Palestinian authorities is not simply incompatible with Israel’s security; it is an existential threat. Even were specified a authorities to beryllium created, Netanyahu has made wide that Israel indispensable clasp what helium calls “security sovereignty” implicit each of historical Palestine.
This has ne'er been specified rhetoric. It has shaped his each large decision, nary much truthful than the existent warfare connected Gaza. The battle has levelled full neighbourhoods, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, displaced astir of its 2 cardinal people, and created an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
Israel stands accused by quality rights groups and United Nations agencies of committing warfare crimes, taste cleansing, and genocide. It is facing genocide charges, supported by aggregate countries, astatine the International Court of Justice. The International Criminal Court has besides issued apprehension warrants for Netanyahu and his erstwhile defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged warfare crimes and crimes against humanity, including the usage of starvation arsenic a limb of war.
Yet Netanyahu presses on, arguing that Gaza indispensable ne'er again airs a menace to Israel, and that the demolition is indispensable to unafraid the country’s future.
This logic does not halt astatine Gaza. He has utilized akin arguments to warrant Israel’s attacks connected Lebanon, including targeted strikes connected Hezbollah figures and the attempted assassination of the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Using the aforesaid rationale, Israel has besides launched strikes successful Yemen and made wide that it volition enactment successful Iraq whenever and wherever it deems necessary.
The information statement has likewise been utilized to warrant the continued concern of Syrian territory and is presently invoked to legitimise ongoing attacks connected Iran, ostensibly to forestall it from acquiring atomic weapons and to degrade its rocket and drone capabilities.
In each case, the aforesaid communicative is repeated: Israel cannot beryllium harmless unless its enemies are broken, its deterrence unchallenged, and its dominance undisputed. All dissent, disagreement, oregon absorption — whether military, political, oregon adjacent symbolic — is formed arsenic a menace to beryllium eliminated.
Even Netanyahu’s diplomatic efforts travel this logic. The Abraham Accords, signed with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco during his premiership, were hailed arsenic bid deals but functioned chiefly arsenic instruments of determination alignment that marginalised the Palestinians. For Netanyahu, normalisation is not a way to bid — it is simply a mode to cement Israel’s presumption portion avoiding a conscionable solution to the occupation.
What, then, is the bequest Netanyahu seeks?
He wants to beryllium remembered arsenic the premier curate who crushed each absorption to occupation, permanently ended the thought of a Palestinian state, and enshrined Israel’s dominance successful the Middle East done sheer force. In his vision, Israel controls the land, dictates the rules, and answers to nary one.
But past whitethorn retrieve him differently.
What Netanyahu calls security, overmuch of the satellite progressively sees arsenic systemic violence. The planetary effect to the warfare connected Gaza — millions marching successful protest, planetary ineligible action, increasing boycotts, and diplomatic downgrades — suggests that nether his leadership, Israel is not gaining legitimacy but losing it.
Even among its allies, Israel faces increasing isolation. While the United States continues to supply diplomatic cover, presumption similar “apartheid”, “ethnic cleansing”, and “settler colonialism” are nary longer confined to fringe activism. They are entering mainstream governmental sermon and shaping nationalist consciousness, peculiarly among younger generations.
Many commentators reason that Netanyahu is clinging to powerfulness simply to debar prosecution for corruption oregon accountability for the failures of the October 7, 2023, attacks connected Israel. But I judge this investigation misses a deeper truth: that helium sees this infinitesimal — this war, this lack of accountability — arsenic a historical model of opportunity. In his mind, this is bequest work.
The calamity is that successful pursuing this legacy, helium whitethorn execute the other of what helium intends. Not a stronger Israel, but a much isolated one. Not a unafraid homeland, but a authorities progressively seen arsenic a violator of planetary norms. Not a bequest of strength, but 1 of motivation and governmental collapse.
Netanyahu volition beryllium remembered. Today, arsenic Gaza burns and Iran faces onslaught aft strike, determination is nary longer immoderate uncertainty astir that. The lone question is whether his bequest volition beryllium 1 of nationalist security, oregon 1 that leaves Israel much alone, much condemned, and much precarious than ever before.
The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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