Who Cares About “Israel”?

By Darko Lazar

In December 2021, Russia demanded security guarantees from the West and sought the withdrawal of NATO to positions that the military alliance had occupied in 1997. The proposal was rejected, and NATO opted for war instead, ruling out any prospect of a peaceful transition to a multipolar world order.

That decision only accelerated the erosion of Western hegemony along with Washington’s credibility and relevance on the world stage. Nowhere is this more evident today than in “Israel” and the Middle East.

In the weeks leading up to Hamas’ October 7 operation on US-allied “Israel”, the Americans were grappling with multiple fiascos both at home and abroad.

Faced with a litany of economic, political, and personal troubles, US President Joe Biden was gearing up for an election year when Palestinian resistance factions dismantled “Israel’s” self-assurance rooted in the myth of deterrence.

The sophisticated Al-Aqsa Flood operation, provoked by decades of “Israeli” atrocities and occupation, inflicted extensive strategic losses on Tel Aviv, including a severe blow to “Israel’s” military and intelligence capabilities.

While many of the Zionist settlements in southern “Israel” were destroyed and abandoned, the ones in the north were evacuated for fear of Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

In an astonishingly short period of time, the mighty “Israel”, which had for decades been defined by decisive action and its unshakable alliance with the global hegemony, was suddenly reduced to a few major cities along the Mediterranean coast. Whatever remains of life in the “Israeli”-occupied territories isn't really life at all.

Meanwhile, the “Israeli” armed forces called up a sizable portion of the workforce for military service as commerce slows and the economy reels in the absence of tourism and young tech workers.

The ongoing “Israeli” war on Gaza, which has the unattainable objective of destroying Hamas, is further exposing the “Israeli” military’s lack of proficiency, while costing Tel Aviv $270 million per day.

Those expenses are adding up, with the war already forecast to cost $48 billion by 2024. Tel Aviv will have to borrow most of that money, which puts the fate of the “Israeli” economy in the hands of the bond markets.

Of course, “Israel’s” gradual demise cannot be attributed solely to Palestinian resistance. The modern-day enslavement of the now-traumatized Jewish people is the work of “Israeli” leaders such as Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been at the helm for nearly two decades. And let’s not forget the self-professed Zionists across the Atlantic.

Survival, accountability, and reality

During the entirety of the nine months leading up to October 7, “Israeli” streets were stuffed with protesters who gathered in dizzying numbers to prevent Netanyahu from subduing his enemies in the judiciary.

Some of the more ambitious protesters, and of course their backers both at home and abroad, wanted Netanyahu and his far-right government gone altogether. The protracted mass protests and the deepening socio-political divisions brought “Israel” to the brink of civil war. The narrative that this unprecedented crisis has been resolved and that “Israel” was united by the war in Gaza is pure fantasy.   

Coupled with the uncompromising domestic friction, this crisis is also an American import and a direct consequence of a West in decline, where competing interests can no longer find cohesion. For example, George Soros’ Open Society Foundations are funneling cash to liberal groups organizing pro-Palestine protests, while neoconservative policy outfits like the ‘American Israel Public Affairs Committee’ [AIPAC] are lobbying for widening the war in the Middle East.

This schism is also evident in Joe Biden’s disastrous policy on the Gaza war. While pledging unconditional support for “Israel”, Biden keeps warning against an expansion of the conflict. These amount to competing priorities.

The same is true when it comes to Biden criticizing “Israel” for butchering Palestinian women and children in Gaza while simultaneously bending over backwards to ensure the delivery of weapons the “Israelis” need to continue the killing.

And then there is the US President’s newfound affection for his old friend Bibi, whose actions he supposedly supports but whose conservative government he wants to “change”.

These schizophrenic policies reveal that the White House doesn't actually have a strategy for dealing with the latest crisis in the Middle East but is formulating tactical plans on the fly.

Among the top priorities is maintaining the illusion of American hegemony in the region while sending a clear message that Washington doesn't have any qualms with killing thousands of children in places like Taiwan and Ukraine if confronted with existential challenges. In those scenarios, US vessels dependent on Washington's superpower status for self-preservation are doomed. “Israel” is no exception.

Those who are looking to Netanyahu to steer “Israel” out of the worst crisis since its founding, probably haven’t noticed that the ‘butcher of Gaza’ needs the war to stay in power and out of prison.

Netanyahu has shown no interest in accountability for the October 7 disaster or accepted responsibility for the potentially catastrophic consequences of drawing a disappearing “Israel” into a protracted and bloody war with its enemies. As such, it is evident that the real threat to the “Israeli” Prime Minister’s power isn’t war, but the resumption of calm.    

Netanyahu is also hoping that the war will help everyone forget that his drive to normalize ties with Arab monarchies was largely based on the premise that the Palestinian cause is no longer an issue and that negotiations can proceed without addressing the increasingly brutal “Israeli” occupation.

In addition to rendering “Israel’s” entire security doctrine obsolete, the October 7 operation and the subsequent showdown in Gaza caused a potentially fatal blow to “Israel’s” regional geopolitical ambitions, leaving Tel Aviv more isolated than ever.

Perhaps the best demonstration that even Washington is completely powerless to reverse this downward spiral, came in the form of aerobatic jets painting the Russian flag across the sky over Abu Dhabi as Vladimir Putin rode in to meet with the rulers of the UAE and later Saudi Arabia.

Even before the war in Gaza, the Biden administration had done almost everything possible to undermine the credibility of Arab monarchies. Since October 7, the Americans have largely ignored appeals from Gulf states for Washington to adopt a more pragmatic approach to the conflict that threatens the security of the entire region.

Regardless of whether this is being done by design or out of weakness, the American position has caused quite a reasonable amount of dissatisfaction in the Gulf. This is just one of the many reasons why the UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought alternatives to their Western partnerships.

Unfortunately for “Israel”, accepting these new realities and embracing the multipolar world order is hardly a guarantee for survival.