The former foreign minister, guest on France Inter, regrets that the international authorities have no weight in this conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“Nothing can prevent the battle for Gaza,” said Hubert Védrine, former foreign minister, on France Inter this Sunday. More than a week after the Hamas attack in Israel, the Israeli army is preparing for a major offensive against Gaza as the area’s residents flee south.
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“If the pressure from outside worked, we wouldn’t be here. If the pseudo-international community worked, we wouldn’t be here. We have to be realistic and know that nothing can prevent the battle for Gaza,” regrets Hubert Védrine.
In his opinion, it is still too early to talk about dialogue between the two parties: “Even the most pacifist Israelis, even the most far-sighted, know full well that the Israeli army has no choice but to destroy the armed wing.” Hamas,” he assures.
The Oslo Accords “systematically trampled on”
France’s former foreign minister remains very bitter. The Oslo Accords were a peace process 30 years ago that was systematically sabotaged by extremists on both sides, he regretted. It is outrageous because this whole process, all these efforts, all these years have been aimed at preventing this, at preventing these atrocities. “I’m outraged!” he says.
The former minister believes that after “this terrible situation” of the moment “the thought will arise that we still have to find solutions”. But he is under no illusions: “They are being fought with the same calculated, diabolical and cynical efficiency,” he says. “Remember the murder of Itzhak Rabin by a fanatical Jew. Remember the bombs on school buses in Israel, every time there was a process that was restarted.
Don’t expect anything from the United States
According to Hubert Védrine, we should not expect anything from the United States, which has “never understood anything about the situation in the Middle East.” “They did exactly the opposite of what they should have done. “They should have taken the lead in the peace process 30 or 40 years ago instead of allying themselves with the hardest branch, the most extremist, the most nationalist of all Israelis,” he analyzes.
So who can get a peace process back on track, at least the beginning of a dialogue? “It will come from Israelis who will say, ‘We did the right thing in Gaza. It was terrible, it had to be done, but we can’t stop there.’ Political and moral or philosophical voices in Israel say that a solution has yet to be found.