-Analysis-
PARIS — Even Olaf Scholz…
For understandable historical reasons, Germany usually doesn’t allow itself even the slightest criticism of Israel. Yet on a visit to the Jewish state on Sunday, the German chancellor added his voice to the growing international chorus aimed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the enormous human cost of the war in Gaza.
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But it is obviously American criticism that hurts the most, such as recent criticism from President Joe Biden; or from Senator Chuck Schumer, among the most prominent Jewish-American political figures. The leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate called for the replacement of the Israeli Prime Minister before, he said, Israel becomes a “pariah” state. The word is a strong one, and it expresses aloud what many American Jews are thinking to themselves.
American contradiction
Netanyahu hit back on Sunday on CNN. He accused the West of having “a short memory” and of having lost their “moral conscience” despite the massacres of Oct. 7. According to him, elections today would mean the defeat of Israel and the victory of Hamas. As he knows, they would also mean his own defeat, if the polls are to be believed.
The acrimonious tone of these exchanges shows not only that the Israeli Prime Minister is not prepared to be dictated what to do, but also that the Americans are not really applying any pressure. The U.S. provides the ammunition for a war whose objective – the eradication of Hamas – it approves of, but whose methods it disapproves of.
This contradiction is reflected in the tragic humanitarian chaos in Gaza. Unable to open the borders to the hundreds of trucks waiting to cross, America has been reduced to posturing: first with parachute drops, then the construction of a floating port.
Attacks on Rafah
Delivering weapons and bandages at the same time is untenable in the long run, especially when bloody events such as the deaths of civilians seeking help occur. It will become even more untenable if Israel attacks the town of Rafah, in the south of Gaza.
Netanyahu said that not attacking Rafah is equivalent to leaving a quarter of the Nazis intact.
Western leaders have warned Israel against an attack on Rafah, with its millions of civilians in distress. Including Olaf Scholz yesterday. The Israeli Prime Minister reaffirmed on Sunday on CNN his intention to launch his army into Rafah.
He even risked drawing a bold parallel, saying that not attacking Rafah – and thus the Hamas forces who are there – is equivalent to leaving a quarter of the Nazis intact and to giving up taking Berlin at the end of the Second World War.
These controversies add to the general confusion. Netanyahu is not only facing international criticism: He is in conflict with members of the war cabinet, with his own Minister of Defense, and with a section of public opinion that accuses him of abandoning the hostages.
In this climate, negotiations for a ceasefire resumed on Sunday in Doha. But Netanyahu and Hamas each have their own reasons for continuing this cruel war — even if it seems that the entire rest of the world wants to see it come to an end as soon as possible.
