Das korrupte Schnäppchen hinter Gazas Katastrophe
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/07/corrupt-bargain-behind-gazas-catastrophe/683690/?utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_medium=social&utm_content=edit-promo
Das korrupte Schnäppchen hinter Gazas Katastrophe
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/07/corrupt-bargain-behind-gazas-catastrophe/683690/?utm_source=reddit&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_medium=social&utm_content=edit-promo
2 Kommentare
Yair Rosenberg: “When Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in 2022 after a brief period of political exile, he did so on the backs of the most extreme allies in Israeli history. Fourteen of his coalition’s 64 seats were held by parties led by two explicitly anti-Arab lawmakers: Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Ben-Gvir had been charged and convicted of support for terrorism and racist incitement. He was a disciple of Meir Kahane, a rabbi who called for the expulsion of Israel’s Arabs and whose political party was banned from Parliament for its radicalism. Smotrich had advocated segregating Jews and Arabs in Israeli maternity wards and told his Arab colleagues in the Knesset that they were ‘enemies’ who were ‘here by mistake.’
“Both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich expressed sympathy for violent settler attacks in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Both sought to annex the West Bank and disenfranchise or expel the Palestinians living there. And both became ministers in Netanyahu’s new government, because the Israeli leader desperately needed their support.
“The math was simple: The parties in Netanyahu’s coalition received just 48.4 percent of the vote and attained a parliamentary majority only through a quirk of the Israeli electoral system. This meant that Netanyahu entered office in a profoundly precarious position—on trial for corruption and beholden to extremists who could bring him down if he bucked their demands.
“Recognizing how bad this arrangement looked from the outside, Netanyahu embarked on an international PR campaign to assure outsiders that he, not the extremists, was running the show. ‘They are joining me,’ he told NPR. ‘I’m not joining them.’ The trajectory of the war in Gaza has conclusively disproved this spin. At crucial junctures, the prime minister’s choices have been corrupted by the need to cater to those with the ability to end his grip on power. As a result, he has undermined Israel’s war effort and shredded the country’s international standing abroad. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the events that precipitated the Gaza hunger crisis.”
Read more: [https://theatln.tc/oR4fq14g](https://theatln.tc/oR4fq14g)
Ben Gvir and Smotrich are fringe extremists that are legitimately horrific people with horrific views.
That said, I’m not sure Netanyahu’s latest (alleged?) proposal to them isn’t the strategically correct strategy – giving Hamas an ultimatum for a ceasefire and start annexing strips of Gaza unless they accept it.
-Hamas doesn’t care about civilian deaths or suffering, in fact they view it as a good thing, it helps their PR cause. They do care about the cause though. Annexing land likely puts pressure on Hamas in a way nothing else does.
-The war needs to end. What’s left to achieve can be accomplished in a ceasefire deal. The people are suffering and the humanitarian situation is growing worse (if currently significantly exaggerated).
I don’t want Israel to annex any part of Gaza – but I think ending the war is a lot more important and you have to use the levers that actually work.