The war Israel is waging has changed in nature. It is no longer just a war to destroy Hamas. It has become a war of conquest.
On Sunday, Norway’s prime minister said Israel’s response to the Hamas attack was disproportionate and violated international law.
Just yesterday, the Iranian president announced that the Israeli government had crossed a line that “could force anyone to act.” And he added that the Americans had asked Iran not to try anything, but they themselves continued to steadfastly support Israel.
Finally, Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel was now waging a “second war of independence.”
Netanyahu’s comments confirm the findings of Norway and Iran.
Results of the Revolutionary War
The 1948 War of Independence pitted Israel against its neighbors. These countries did not accept the creation of the Israeli state. It ended with the victory of the Israeli army and the annexation of new territories by Israel. The plan at that time, which envisaged the creation of a Palestinian state, was abandoned.
So this is much more than the punitive war that Netanyahu claims to be waging. This is a war in which, following its own analogy, it aims to annex new Palestinian territories and make the establishment of a Palestinian state impossible.
Netanyahu claims to be waging this war in the name of defending humanity against barbarism. And he claims that if Israel falls victim to this barbarism, other states will also fall next.
It is undeniable that Hamas is a totalitarian and barbaric Islamist organization. The destruction of this organization would benefit the Palestinians, even if many of them doubt it because their brains have been washed out by Islamist propaganda.
Indefensible
However, the fight against Hamas cannot morally or legally justify the expropriation of their land by Palestinians and the colonization of that land by Israeli Jews, as Netanyahu apparently imagines.
The war that Netanyahu is waging may still lead to a fait accompli. It can drive the Palestinians out of the last territories they hold. It could lead to a new exodus of Palestinians.
But at what cost? In the event of an Israeli victory, neighboring states would rightly question Israel’s other territorial ambitions. Would Jordan be threatened? Would southern Lebanon also be in Israel’s sights? In reality, Israel would be even more unsafe than it is now.
Furthermore, Israel’s allies would engage in a war of annexation. This complicity would increase Muslim resentment against them. This would further facilitate rapprochement between China, Russia and Muslim states.
Netanyahu is unstoppable. But at least countries like Canada must clearly warn that beyond the destruction of Hamas, any new territorial conquest would be unacceptable.
