The
government of Israel is on the path to becoming a significant part of
the problem in the current crises in the Middle East.
The
terrorist actions of Hamas on October 7th, 2023 required a
response from Israel, and it has happened; is becoming, more and
more, a part of the problem. A precisely targeted response in Gaza
would have been appropriate in the eyes of many observers, but the
serious overreaction by Israel has caused apprehension from some who
had initially supported Israel's military activity.
If the
government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can't, can't be
bothered to, demonstrate significant restraint might the Knesset try
again to use a vote of no confidence to rein in said government?
The
excuse of, ”during a war,” has been used in the first, failed
effort at a vote of no confidence in the Knesset. The excuse is hard
to believe since the war is, currently, mostly Israeli military
activity. The war could be paused, and the IDF assume a defensive
posture, while the Israelis fix the problem of a government perceived
as cruel, perhaps criminal, in it's extreme response to the recent
provocation.
If
not, could the IDF use the opportunity to declare that it can not
follow illegal orders. Criminal allegations, of genocide (by
Israel), have been filed by South Africa in the International Court
of Justice. Most of the citizens of Gaza, whose only fault was that
they live in a place that Hamas has been allowed to occupy, bear the
brunt of the IDF's assault. Hamas had started as the elected
government of Gaza, and has stayed in power; refused to leave.
Next
option to be considered might be an international intervention
initiated by the United Nations. The assumption, that some have
made, is that the USA could just order a cease fire, and the Israeli
government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would readily
capitulate, is just wrong.
Perhaps
a two state solution, with a proposed new Palestinian state in the
Sinai: sharing an eastern border with Israel; western border
parallel, approximately 100km from the eastern border; northern
border on the Mediterranean Sea; southern border on the Gulf of
Aqaba.
Palestinian
residents would move there, if they will, voluntarily from Gaza and
the West Bank. The new territory would have the potential for
significant economic prosperity; be objected to strenuously by the
surrounding nations from whom little, to no, constructive help has
ever been proferred.
Given
the long historic/prehistoric tendency to violence in the Middle East
the whole plan would require international insistence to succeed.
Something
must change, and this is a proposal to consider.