Palestinians inspect damage to a house that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo / AP
Palestinians inspect damage to a house that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo / AP
EDITORIAL
The horror visited on Israel from Gaza three weeks ago came without warning or seemingly any immediate cause. However, events in that part of the world usually happen for a reason and it is important to acknowledge the reason if progress is to be made.
The genesisof Hamas’s decision to provoke a devastating response from Israel probably lies in a seriously flawed peace initiative by the United States. It was conceived by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of Donald Trump and perhaps the brightest bulb in the White House during Trump’s presidency.
Jared Kushner, former senior White House adviser. Photo / Getty Images
Kushner believed, with a confidence born of deal-making in business, that he could persuade Arab leaders to establish diplomatic relations with Israel simply by focusing their attention on the material benefits available for their countries if they took that step.
Palestinian considerations did not feature in his calculations.
By the time Trump left office, Kushner had succeeded in bringing the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco into pacts with Israel called the “Abraham Accords”. More significantly, he was also making progress with Saudi Arabia. Recently, that progress resumed under President Joe Biden who, for reasons to do with the Ukraine war, reversed his view of Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” state.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. Photo / Getty Images
In addition to trade and tourism from Israel, the Saudis were offered some form of US nuclear protection if Iran - its religious rival in the region - developed the bomb.
Last month, the modernising crown prince, Muhammad Bin Salman, told a television interviewer a deal between his country, America and Israel was likely. “Every day we get closer,” he said. “It seems for the first time real, serious.”
President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on September 20, 2023. Photo / AP
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, confirmed a deal was “at the cusp”. He called it “a quantum leap”. Near the end of September, Israel’s tourism minister attended a conference in Riyadh. It was the first time an Israeli cabinet minister had made a public visit to the kingdom.
On October 7, an organised Hamas force breached Israel’s barricade of Gaza and set about a sickening slaughter in the area nearby. It would be easy to suspect Iran instigated the attack but it was reliably reported to be as surprised as Israel that dreadful day. Israel’s response has been predictably - and understandably - devastating. Aerial bombardment quickly took as many Palestinian lives as Hamas had taken and, with Israel’s tanks massed for an invasion, Hamas released two hostages. Hamas has started a war it cannot hope to win. What did it hope to achieve?
New York Times columnist and Middle East expert Thomas Friedman, in a piece published in the Herald last weekend, had no doubt Hamas wants to trigger an Israeli over-reaction that would force Saudi Arabia to back away from the deal with Israel and cause the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco to step back from the Abraham Accords.
If that was the intention, Hamas has probably succeeded. Saudi sources have told Reuters the talks with the US and Israel are now “on ice”. Even absolute monarchs and dictators cannot ignore public opinion completely. By all accounts, acceptance of Israel remains unpopular on the “Arab street”.
Netanyahu sounds determined to go into Gaza and eradicate Hamas, but Palestinians have proved they cannot be defeated by force and now they have shown what can happen if peace deals attempt to bypass them.
Nothing will change until Israel finds a way to accommodate their national aspirations.
