Israel is facing an “unprecedented crisis” and must make a crucial “choice between the two-state solution and a single state with equal rights for all inhabitants,” Shlomo Brom wrote in an opinion piece in British newspaper “The Economist” on Tuesday.
The retired Brigadier-General who served in various intelligence posts in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and as a deputy to Israel’s national security adviser wrote that the failure of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians over decades has led the country into the current “grim situation” with broad political implications. The collapse of the current approach of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s government that allowed Israel to be “completely surprised by a militarily inferior adversary” should serve as a wake-up call for the Israeli public to support a new direction.
Brom argued that Israel’s predicament can be traced back to its failure to adapt to the changing political landscape when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and did not choose one of two viable political and military strategies.
The first involved “adapting to a reality” in which Hamas was one of the two major political factions in the Palestinian territories and pursuing a strategy that included Hamas in the political process alongside its rival Fatah.
The second was to consistently weaken Hamas and strengthen the Palestinian Authority led by Fatah. This approach required a credible political process aimed at a permanent status agreement.
Since the government led by Ehud Olmert in 2009, successive Israeli administrations have failed to choose between these two viable strategies. Brom wrote that Netanyahu, in particular, while paying lip service to supporting a two-state solution, “abandoned the political process” that was necessary and adopted a “divide-and-rule strategy.” This approach aimed to weaken the Palestinian government in Ramallah while strengthening Hamas’s hold on power in Gaza. “Mr Netanyahu believed this to be the best way to ensure that no viable political process would be possible,” according to Brom.
The prime minister further exacerbated the situation by forming a coalition government with extreme religious and ultra-nationalistic parties that openly rejected establishing a Palestinian state and equal rights for Palestinians. This policy prioritized the protection of Jewish settlers in the West Bank at the expense of securing the border around Gaza.
The current crisis shows the “utter failure” of Netanyahu’s strategy, according to Brom. “It is unrealistic to believe that Israel can indefinitely contain millions of Palestinians who aspire for self-determination and a normal life,” he wrote. “Oppression breeds resourcefulness, and the recent attack by Hamas fighters demonstrates their ability to exploit Israel’s vulnerabilities.”
Israel’s “usual pattern” of making Palestinians “pay a high cost for the recent atrocities” in the attacks from Gaza “will not be enough” this time. Ultimately, Brom argues, “Israel’s future depends on its ability to make a choice and work towards a sustainable resolution of the Palestinian question.”