Shlomi Eldar Israele ignora il fallimento della politica del blocco di Gaza
Sintesi personale
Almost all of the speakers that day ignored one simple fact: Gaza is a security threat to the residents of southern Israel because of the impact of the closure that has continued for more than a decade over Gaza's 2 million residents. As long as the closure continues, Gaza will not quiet down and rounds of fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas and the other Palestinian organizations will only become more frequent. There are those in the Israeli security apparatus who say this, as opposed to the members of the diplomatic-political ranks. But the politicians prefer “once and for all” aggressive solutions without taking into account the ramifications of conquering the Gaza Strip, and the price that it would involve.
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot spoke clearly and incisively at a meeting of the government in February, saying, “We must make a real effort to avoid a humanitarian collapse in the Gaza Strip.” He warned that if the situation would continue without change, we should expect a military conflict in the south in a year’s time. Eizenkot’s words were right on target for what happened over the past few weeks, and last week specifically on the Gaza border. But then, and even today, Cabinet members including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman ignore his warnings.
Another person whose good advice has long been ignored is Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, who conceived the idea of building an artificial port opposite the Gaza coastline to provide for the needs of the Gazans. But Israel prefers to keep its eyes shut and believes that the Gaza skirmishes are an Iranian weapon that can be turned on and off at will. A similar simplistic explanation was also given for the fence demonstrations in recent weeks. Israel argues that the demonstrators marched to the fence because Hamas told them to do so, so as to serve as Hamas’ human shields and help Hamas wiggle out of its political-diplomatic crisis.
The criticisms leveled at Hamas, which invested a tremendous amount of the Palestinian public’s money in building up its military might and digging attack tunnels, is justified. Hamas was founded as a welfare movement and instead pushed rearmament to the top of its priority list. It abandoned the welfare institutions that had been so important to the founder of these institutions, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. But there is another reason that Israel prefers to ignore: The demonstrators in Gaza protest the closure that is strangling them to death. And Hamas is also strengthening itself and rearming in order to break that same siege.
Ever since the closure was imposed on Gaza in 2007, Hamas has spoken to Israel several times about coming to a long-term cease-fire agreement that would be based on removal of the closure in exchange for security quiet. Israel ignored the offers because its leaders are (psychologically) hostage to the worldview of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who first imposed the siege. Olmert thought that harsh economic distress in the Gaza Strip would cause the residents to bring down the Hamas regime. Many years have passed since then. Gaza is dying, but Hamas is still holding firm and Israel has never held even one serious, in-depth discussion to re-examine its relations with the Gaza Strip. State Comptroller Judge Joseph Shapira wrote about this last year in reference to Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.
Compared to 10 years ago, Israel finds itself in a much more complex security reality at present. Three large military operations in Gaza, in which thousands of Palestinians were killed, have not improved the situation. After the exchange of fire this week, the security Cabinet agreed to a cease-fire with Hamas because they realize that conquering Gaza to destroy the Hamas regime is simply not realistic. The truth is that Israel prefers the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip as sovereign, over the other alternatives.
Israel will soon face security challenges that are much more intricate than the Hamas-Gaza conundrum. Therefore, it is important that Israel’s diplomatic echelons are ready to make brave decisions to bring quiet back to the southern front. The northern border and growing Iranian presence in Syria are very worrisome, and Israel needs to concentrate all its efforts and security investments in the complex threat on the Syrian border. In addition, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will likely retire soon and Israel’s security experts have reason to believe that the change of government may not go smoothly. Power struggles between Fatah’s hawkish factions in the West Bank will have an impact directly on Israel — and certainly on its security coordination with it.
Therefore, the time has come for all the Cabinet ministers, headed by Netanyahu and Liberman, to admit that the closure policy over Gaza has failed miserably. They must admit that the military operations — even if they provided temporary periods of quiet to the residents of southern Israel — only intensified the problem over time and sent Israel into a pointless security spiral.
Diverse ore dopo che il cessate il fuoco tra Israele, Hamas e la Jihad islamica è entrato in vigore il 30 maggio e il silenzio è tornato nel sud di Israele, il Gabinetto di sicurezza si è riunito a Tel Aviv. I ministri hanno discusso le lezioni da trarre dall'ultimo confronto sancito da una pioggia di bombe di mortaio sparate dalla Striscia di Gaza,ma si sono concentrati sugli aspetti sbagliati del conflitto: hanno discusso principalmente sulla sicurezza e sulle questioni legate al settore militare quando l'importante problema, relativo a Gaza ,è politico-diplomatico.
Durante le 24 ore in cui decine di bombe e razzi di mortai sono stati sparati contro il Sud di Israele e le forze aeree israeliane hanno bombardato gli obiettivi a Gaza in risposta, i ministri del governo hanno fatto decine di dichiarazioni su come risolvere il problema della sicurezza .Il membro del gabinetto e ministro dell'Energia Yuval Steinitz ha detto in un'intervista a Ynet:" È probabile che la scelta sarà quella di colpire Gaza e conquistarla e mettere fine a questo regime terroristico una volta per tutte ". Il ministro dell'Istruzione Naftali Bennett , un altro membro del Gabinetto, ha dichiarato : "L'escalation non è stata una coincidenza. La mente è iraniana, mentre le mani appartengono a Hamas ". Il membro del gabinetto e ministro della giustizia Ayelet Shaked :" Tutte le opzioni sono sul tavolo, compresa la conquista della Striscia di Gaza ". Il membro della Knesset B'Tselem Smotrich ha suggerito" di conquistare Gaza , disarmare Hamas e stabilire un insediamento israeliano a Gaza ".Quasi tutti i relatori quel giorno hanno ignorato un semplice fatto: Gaza è una minaccia alla sicurezza per i residenti nel sud di Israele a causa dell'impatto della chiusura , continuata per oltre un decennio,su due milioni di abitanti .Finché la chiusura continua, Gaza non si acquieterà e le tornate di combattimenti tra le Forze di difesa israeliane e Hamas e le altre organizzazioni palestinesi diverranno più frequenti. Ci sono membri nell'apparato di sicurezza israeliano che affermano questo, ma i politici preferiscono "una volta per tutte" soluzioni aggressive senza tener conto delle ramificazioni della conquista della Striscia di Gaza e del prezzo che essa comporterebbe.
Il Capo di Stato Maggiore Gen. Gadi Eizenkot ha parlato in modo chiaro e incisivo in una riunione del governo a febbraio, dicendo: "Dobbiamo fare uno sforzo reale per evitare un collasso umanitario nella Striscia di Gaza". Ha avvertito che se la situazione continua senza cambiamenti, ci si dovrà attendere un conflitto militare nel sud tra un anno,ma i membri del governo, incluso il primo ministro Benjamin Netanyahu e il ministro della Difesa Avigdor Liberman, ignorano i suoi avvertimenti.Un'altra persona il cui buon consiglio è stato a lungo ignorato è il ministro dei trasporti Yisrael Katz, che ha concepito l'idea di costruire un porto artificiale di fronte alla costa di Gaza per provvedere ai bisogni degli abitanti di Gaza,ma Israele preferisce tenere gli occhi chiusi e crede che le schermaglie di Gaza siano un'arma iraniana che può essere attivata e disattivata a piacimento. Una simile spiegazione semplicistica è stata fornita anche per le dimostrazioni di recinzione nelle ultime settimane. Israele sostiene che i dimostranti hanno marciato fino al recinto perché Hamas ha detto loro di farlo, in modo da fungere da scudo umano di Hamas e aiutare Hamas a uscire dalla sua crisi politico-diplomatica.C'è un'altra ragione che Israele preferisce ignorare: i manifestanti a Gaza protestano contro la chiusura che li sta strangolando a morte e anche Hamas si sta rafforzando e riarmando per rompere quella stessa spada.Da quando è stata imposta la chiusura a Gaza nel 2007, Hamas ha parlato diverse volte con Israele di un accordo di cessate il fuoco a lungo termine basato sulla rimozione della chiusura in cambio di sicurezza. Israele ha ignorato le offerte perché i suoi leader sono (psicologicamente) in ostaggio della visione del mondo dell'ex primo ministro Ehud Olmert, che per primo ha imposto l'assedio. Olmert pensava che il duro disagio economico nella Striscia di Gaza avrebbe causato il crollo del regime di Hamas da parte dei residenti. Sono passati molti anni da allora. Gaza sta morendo, ma Hamas è ancora presente e Israele non ha mai tenuto neanche una discussione seria e approfondita per riesaminare le sue relazioni con la Striscia di Gaza. Il giudice statale Joseph Shapira ha scritto i in riferimento a Operation Protective Edge nell'estate del 2014.Rispetto a 10 anni fa Israele si trova attualmente in una realtà di sicurezza molto più complessa. Tre grandi operazioni militari a Gaza,dove migliaia di palestinesi sono stati uccisi, non hanno migliorato la situazione. Dopo lo scambio di fuoco questa settimana, il Gabinetto di sicurezza ha acconsentito a un cessate il fuoco con Hamas perché si rende conto che conquistare Gaza per distruggere il regime di Hamas non è realistico. La verità è che Israele preferisce Hamas nella Striscia di Gaza come sovrano, rispetto alle altre alternative.Presto Israele affronterà sfide per la sicurezza che sono molto più complicate rispetto all'enigma di Hamas-Gaza. Pertanto è importante che i vertici diplomatici di Israele siano pronti a prendere decisioni coraggiose per riportare la calma al fronte meridionale. Il confine settentrionale e la crescente presenza iraniana in Siria sono molto preoccupanti e Israele deve concentrare tutti i suoi sforzi e gli investimenti per la sicurezza nella complessa minaccia al confine siriano. Inoltre, il presidente palestinese Mahmoud Abbas probabilmente andrà in pensione presto e gli esperti di sicurezza israeliani hanno motivo di credere che il cambio di governo potrebbe non andare liscio. Le lotte di potere tra le fazioni di Fatah in Cisgiordania avranno un impatto diretto su Israele sul coordinamento della sicurezzaPertanto, è giunto il momento per tutti i ministri di gabinetto, guidati da Netanyahu e Liberman, di riconoscere che la politica di chiusura su Gaza ha fallito miseramente. Devono ammettere che le operazioni militari hanno solo intensificato il problema nel tempo
Several hours after the cease-fire
between Israel, Hamas and Islamic Jihad went into effect May 30, and
quiet returned to Israel’s south, the security Cabinet convened in Tel
Aviv. The ministers discussed the lessons to be learned from the last
confrontation a day previously with a shower of mortar bombs
fired from the Gaza Strip. But it seems that they focused on the wrong
aspects of the conflict: They mainly discussed security and
military-related issues when the important, burning problem related to
Gaza is the political-diplomatic one.
Throughout the 24 hours in
which dozens of mortar bombs and rockets were fired at Israel’s southern
localities, and Israel’s air force bombed targets in Gaza
in response, government ministers brought up dozens of suggestions
regarding how to solve the security problem called “Hamas in Gaza.”
Cabinet member and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said in
an interview with Ynet, “It is likely we won’t have a choice but to
strike Gaza and conquer it and put an end to this terrorist regime once
and for all.” Education Minister Naftali Bennett, another
Cabinet member, said during a tour of the Gaza-envelope region in
Israel, “Escalation on the Gazan side was not coincidental. The mind is
Iranian, while the hands belong to Hamas.” Cabinet member and Justice
Minister Ayelet Shaked said, “All the options are on the table, including conquering the Gaza Strip.” Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich from their faction suggested “to conquer Gaza, disarm Hamas from its weapons and establish an Israeli settlement in Gaza.”Almost all of the speakers that day ignored one simple fact: Gaza is a security threat to the residents of southern Israel because of the impact of the closure that has continued for more than a decade over Gaza's 2 million residents. As long as the closure continues, Gaza will not quiet down and rounds of fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas and the other Palestinian organizations will only become more frequent. There are those in the Israeli security apparatus who say this, as opposed to the members of the diplomatic-political ranks. But the politicians prefer “once and for all” aggressive solutions without taking into account the ramifications of conquering the Gaza Strip, and the price that it would involve.
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot spoke clearly and incisively at a meeting of the government in February, saying, “We must make a real effort to avoid a humanitarian collapse in the Gaza Strip.” He warned that if the situation would continue without change, we should expect a military conflict in the south in a year’s time. Eizenkot’s words were right on target for what happened over the past few weeks, and last week specifically on the Gaza border. But then, and even today, Cabinet members including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman ignore his warnings.
Another person whose good advice has long been ignored is Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, who conceived the idea of building an artificial port opposite the Gaza coastline to provide for the needs of the Gazans. But Israel prefers to keep its eyes shut and believes that the Gaza skirmishes are an Iranian weapon that can be turned on and off at will. A similar simplistic explanation was also given for the fence demonstrations in recent weeks. Israel argues that the demonstrators marched to the fence because Hamas told them to do so, so as to serve as Hamas’ human shields and help Hamas wiggle out of its political-diplomatic crisis.
The criticisms leveled at Hamas, which invested a tremendous amount of the Palestinian public’s money in building up its military might and digging attack tunnels, is justified. Hamas was founded as a welfare movement and instead pushed rearmament to the top of its priority list. It abandoned the welfare institutions that had been so important to the founder of these institutions, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. But there is another reason that Israel prefers to ignore: The demonstrators in Gaza protest the closure that is strangling them to death. And Hamas is also strengthening itself and rearming in order to break that same siege.
Ever since the closure was imposed on Gaza in 2007, Hamas has spoken to Israel several times about coming to a long-term cease-fire agreement that would be based on removal of the closure in exchange for security quiet. Israel ignored the offers because its leaders are (psychologically) hostage to the worldview of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who first imposed the siege. Olmert thought that harsh economic distress in the Gaza Strip would cause the residents to bring down the Hamas regime. Many years have passed since then. Gaza is dying, but Hamas is still holding firm and Israel has never held even one serious, in-depth discussion to re-examine its relations with the Gaza Strip. State Comptroller Judge Joseph Shapira wrote about this last year in reference to Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.
Compared to 10 years ago, Israel finds itself in a much more complex security reality at present. Three large military operations in Gaza, in which thousands of Palestinians were killed, have not improved the situation. After the exchange of fire this week, the security Cabinet agreed to a cease-fire with Hamas because they realize that conquering Gaza to destroy the Hamas regime is simply not realistic. The truth is that Israel prefers the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip as sovereign, over the other alternatives.
Israel will soon face security challenges that are much more intricate than the Hamas-Gaza conundrum. Therefore, it is important that Israel’s diplomatic echelons are ready to make brave decisions to bring quiet back to the southern front. The northern border and growing Iranian presence in Syria are very worrisome, and Israel needs to concentrate all its efforts and security investments in the complex threat on the Syrian border. In addition, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will likely retire soon and Israel’s security experts have reason to believe that the change of government may not go smoothly. Power struggles between Fatah’s hawkish factions in the West Bank will have an impact directly on Israel — and certainly on its security coordination with it.
Therefore, the time has come for all the Cabinet ministers, headed by Netanyahu and Liberman, to admit that the closure policy over Gaza has failed miserably. They must admit that the military operations — even if they provided temporary periods of quiet to the residents of southern Israel — only intensified the problem over time and sent Israel into a pointless security spiral.
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