2023-10-08 19:16:19
Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel comes as the country faces historic internal political division, growing violence in the West Bank and high-stakes negotiations between Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
After its members killed more than 200 Israelis and kidnapped dozens more, Hamas claimed it was taking revenge for a series of recent actions by Israel at Jerusalem’s Al Asqa mosque and in the West Bank. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government has been carrying out an escalating crackdown once morest what he says are growing Palestinian terror attacks for more than a year.
Former U.S. military and intelligence officials said they believed the timing of the Hamas attack was primarily intended to disrupt negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, as Riyadh appeared on the verge of a historic step toward normalizing relations with Israel.
Iran seeks to “put pressure on its implacable enemy Israel” with this attack, said retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis, a former NATO commander.
In an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt last month, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said, “we are once morest any bilateral relationship between our regional countries and the Zionist regime,” referring to Israel. Raisi added: “We believe that the Zionist regime intends to normalize these bilateral relations with countries in the region to create security for itself in the region.”
In recent weeks, diplomats from the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia told NBC News that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden have expressed support for a deal that would result in for Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel diplomatically.
It happened in the city of Ofakim, in southern Israel.
Diplomats say that if Saudi Arabia agreed to recognize Israel, it would lead other Arab states to do so. A series of such agreements would end decades of hostility between Israel and its neighbors dating back to 1948.
However, all three parties have complex conditions for such an agreement. Breaking with previous Saudi rulers, bin Salman has signaled that he is willing to recognize Israel, given the vast economic benefits it would provide to Saudi Arabia. Before the Hamas attack, there were reports that Saudi Arabia had told the White House that it would agree to increase its oil production to help cement a deal, something the Biden White House has sought for two years.
But the Saudis want the United States to help them develop a civilian nuclear program, something opposed by far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition and members of the US Senate, which would have to approve any such deal. .
It all started with the surprise attacks from Gaza.
Separately, President Biden told Prime Minister Netanyahu when they met in New York last month that any deal would have to include land for the Palestinians so they might establish a viable state, something settlement expansions would prevent. of Netanyahu in the West Bank. Last week, a bipartisan group of senators raised the same concerns in a letter to the White House.
Meanwhile, the West Bank continues to be the scene of increasing attacks by Israeli settlers once morest Palestinians. Israeli settlers have violently attacked Palestinians at least 700 times in 2023, the highest number on record, according to the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA).
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir praised the settlement expansion and called for more. Netanyahu’s far-right government responded with plans to build 5,000 new Israeli settlements. Israeli settlements built on Palestinian lands are illegal under international law and have been condemned by the United States government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas on Saturday following the Palestinian militant group launched a surprise attack on Israel, which local media reported left at least 600 dead and hundreds injured.
As talks with the Saudis, Israelis and Americans progressed, Palestinian disappointment grew. “There is palpable frustration among Palestinians as they see the Saudis and Israelis getting closer,” Stavridis said.
Netanyahu has also stoked internal division among Israelis by pushing for judicial reform that would weaken Israel’s Supreme Court, a move that sparked mass protests across the country.
The first part of the reform was approved in March following the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, enacted a law protecting a prime minister from being removed from power. It stipulated that the prime minister might only be ousted for reasons of health or mental health, and only the leader and his office might make that decision.
They were fired from Israeli Air Force planes this Saturday.
The judicial reform came following Netanyhu forced multiple elections in recent years as the prime minister fought to remain in power. Critics denounced the judicial reforms as weakening democratic checks on power within Israel, and some even noted that they were tailor-made to keep Netanyahu in leadership following he faced corruption allegations.
A second part of the reforms approved in July would prevent the court from declaring government decisions unreasonable. A poll by Israel’s Channel 13 that month found that 56% of Israelis feared that judicial reform would trigger a civil war.
Starvidis, the former admiral, said Hamas and its backers saw the deep political divisions in Israel as a potential opportunity to attack. There is a sense among Israel’s adversaries that “it has never been more divided, it has never been weaker, it has never been more torn,” he said.
Israeli author and Yediyot Ahronot senior columnist Nadav Eyal predicted in an interview that the attack would further transform the country. “This event was a national trauma. It’s like 9/11, but frankly bigger,” he said. “We have dozens of people kidnapped: civilians.”
Eyal said that regardless of the country’s divisions, Israel would respond militarily. “This really forces Israel to react with maximum force,” he added. “There is a consensus with the Israeli public and the political sphere that this changes everything in the region and for Israelis.”
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