Who is this Israel? Part 6
By Femi Fani-Kayode
At this juncture, permit me to express my complete and utter disgust at the way in which Israel has conducted itself over the last one year, and I make bold to proclaim that a nation of ethnic cleansers, child killers, and genocidal maniacs cannot possibly be victorious in any conflict.
It is only a matter of time before they are brought to their knees.
In this respect, the words of a BBC reporter reporting from Tel Aviv just a few days ago are instructive. He said,
“No one has hope for the future here. Many professionals are leaving Israel, and many residents are going bankrupt. The war is expanding every day, and its continuation increases the despair of the Israelis day by day.”
Equally enlightening are the words of leading Israeli political commentators and media houses themselves who have evidently seen the handwriting on the wall and who are living in trepidation of the future and the consequences of the horrendous blood-drenched path that their Prime Minister has chosen to tread.
Three examples will suffice.
A few days ago, Sher Hever, a leading political economist who grew up in Israel, said the following:
“Israel’s genocide in Gaza also threatens its own survival. Any regime that commits genocide also commits suicide. There is no coming back from it, and this is what Israelis are seeing for themselves.”
His insight is commendable and second to none.
On their part, Haaretz, which is one of the leading and most influential newspaper houses in Israel, wrote the following in its editorial:
“Netanyahu led Israel into the worst year and the worst war in its history. And it’s not even over. History will not judge Benjamin Netanyahu as a righteous crusader leading the West in a holy war against Islamofascism, as he sees himself. Instead, it will regard him as the inept politician who blindly led Israel to October 7th and all the debacles that followed.”
Finally, in an article titled “Israel Takes Its Last Breath,” written a few days ago for Haarezt by Ari Shavit, a famous Zionist columnist, the author penned the following:
“It seems we have passed the point of no return, and Israel may no longer be able to end the occupation, stop the colonization, and achieve peace. It seems that it is no longer possible to reform Zionism, save democracy, or unite the people in this country.”
He goes on, “There’s no point in living in this country anymore. There’s no point in writing in Haarezt. There’s no point in reading Haarezt. We must do what Rogel Alpher suggested two years ago, which is to leave the country. If ‘Israelism’ and Judaism are no longer vital parts of one’s identity, and if every Israeli citizen holds a foreign passport not only in a technical sense but also psychologically, it’s over. It’s time to say goodbye to friends and move to San Francisco, Berlin, or Paris.”
He goes further by saying, “We must step back and watch the democratic Jewish state sink. Maybe the issue hasn’t been resolved yet. Maybe we haven’t yet passed the point of no return. Maybe there’s still a chance to end the occupation, stop colonization, reform Zionism, save democracy, and divide the land.”
He concludes by saying, “It appears that we are dealing with one of the toughest people in history, and the only solution is to give them their rights and end the occupation.”
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Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Aviation