The Leaders column in the Economist suggests that a peace process for the war in Gaza can go wrong in many ways, but a real possibility exists that it could go right.
Peace also requires new leaders, because the present ones are discredited. In Israel Binyamin Netanyahu is an obstacle to a genuine reconciliation, the sooner he goes the better. America could usefully signal that it expects Israel to hold elections soon. Polls suggest that he will be replaced by Benny Gantz, a former general who understands the toll of war. Mr Gantz has not endorsed a Palestinian state, but neither has he ruled one out.
New Palestinian leadership is needed, too. Hamas is an avowed enemy of peace: for as long as it runs Gaza, Palestinian pledges to embrace peace will not be believable. On the West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, who runs the Palestinian Authority (pa), is corrupt, ossified and lacks any democratic legitimacy. Amid the rubble of war, Gaza will need time to rebuild and re-establish some kind of stable administration. Moderate Arab countries should sponsor a transitional Palestinian leadership for the West Bank and Gaza that can begin building trust among its own people and, vitally, with the Israelis, before holding elections. By running both Gaza and the West Bank, it would become a more credible partner for peace. (Israel and Palestine: How Peace Is Possible, 2023)
Jeremy Sharon writing in The Times of Israel notes that the US president’s call for change in Israel’s government overlooks Netanyahu’s own agenda.
Biden may very well be frustrated with Netanyahu and his extremist political partners, and his desire for the prime minister to at least remove those radicals from his coalition to shore up American and European support for Israel makes a lot of sense on many levels.
But if Biden believes there is any likelihood of Netanyahu acceding to that request, he has very much misunderstood the man he is dealing with, despite what he frequently says is his long relationship with the Israeli prime minister.
Similarly, if the US president thinks that there is any appetite or support in Israel right now for advancing greater autonomy and independence for the Palestinians, then he has very much misunderstood the political zeitgeist in the country in the wake of the October 7 watershed. (Sharon, 2023)
It is difficult to be patient for the fighting to lead to peace, which means two nations living side by side. The Economist reports that Israel’s bombardment has killed over 16,000 Palestinians, including Hamas fighters. Israel, too, needs a new strategy. The old one failed to fulfil the state’s basic promise to create a land safe for Jews; 1,400 people were killed or kidnapped by Hamas, hundreds of thousands more have been evacuated.
References
Israel and Palestine: How peace is possible. (2023, December 7). The Economist. Retrieved December 16, 2023, from https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/12/07/israel-and-palestine-how-peace-is-possible
Sharon, J. (2023, December 14). Israel's far-right parties frustrate Biden, but PM is also an obstacle to his vision. The Times of Israel. Retrieved December 16, 2023, from https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-far-right-parties-frustrate-biden-but-pm-is-also-an-obstacle-to-his-vision/
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