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The Gaza Genocide has become an element in the long-planned continuation of the Greater Israel project, but it was initially an experiment. For Netanyahu, it was a test of the resolve of the western powers to uphold decades-old ideas about human rights and the ‘rules of war’ established after WWII, which were designed to protect civilians and outlaw the annexation of land occupied during hostilities.
He must have been surprised when there was so little response when he started pushing the envelope, but as time went on it became apparent that with active American encouragement, and a more passive kind of complicity from European leaders, notably our own prime ministers, first Sunak, then Starmer, he could do virtually anything he liked, including targeting hospitals, universities, schools, health workers, ambulances, bakeries, utility infrastructure, agricultural land, and of course, civilians in their tens of thousands.
Trump wades in
Having got away with what he had in Gaza, Netanyahu found it easy to talk the gullible president of the US into joining the attack on Iran, which in the light of the collapse of international conventions on the legality of war, had become feasible. The obvious way to keep Iran under check was to negotiate with the Iranian government a sanctions trade-off against international control of its arms industry, but Iran had been the object of Netanyahu’s obsessional hatred for decades, and he wanted to start killing people there as well.
As we know, all the available intelligence predicted precisely what has happened in the Persian Gulf – the economic disaster visited on the rest of the world by the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz. But Netanyahu has not only been able to revel in his use of the destructive power of the IDF (something which some might call ‘blood lust’ aroused by the war against the Palestinians, but which I regard as the expression of the sadistic side of human nature which takes actual pleasure in inflicting pain or death on a weaker adversary), he has made the world pivot around his tiny Middle Eastern country, something a less narcissistic man would regret, but which he probably finds very satisfying.
A blockade that might have been anticipated
Pete Hegseth told us the US was making the world a “gift” when it tried to undo the Iranian blockade on shipping in the Persian Gulf, unwisely drawing attention to an attempt which rapidly failed, and revealing just how little the US administration understands about how they are perceived by the rest of the world. On this side of the pond, our prime minister has latched onto the increase in attacks on Jews with noble speeches about stamping out antisemitism, apparently blissfully unaware that attacks on British Jews are the direct result of Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza and the subsequent assaults in Lebanon and Iran.
Europe should urge restraint
What we now need to acknowledge is that the simple reason why we are facing potentially disastrous damage to world trade is that Netanyahu has been allowed to unleash his vision of Israel’s supremacy over Iran. The blame for this lies squarely at the door of the European leaders who failed to stop the genocide in Gaza.
We in the UK must blame the successive prime ministers who turned a blind eye – quite deliberately and culpably – to what was happening, and (even to this day) continue to support Israel with weapons and logistical support. The response of the current government to its embarrassment about being caught supplying Israel and being complicit in its war crimes, has been to brand Palestine Action, a group that speaks out, as terrorists, to talk about banning marches and other forms of protest about its own failures, and to promote the idea that they are ‘hate marches’.
We are left wondering if Keir Starmer is even aware of how his government’s failure to act over the genocide in Gaza has contributed to the releasing of the Israeli dogs of war in Iran, and the extent to which his failures have become one of the root causes of the subsequent economic hardship around the world.
If we are going to learn lessons from history, which we absolutely and urgently must, we should immediately admit that Israel can no longer be regarded as ally. Israel is no friend of ours, and is a reckless player on the world stage. It has now drawn the US into a conflict it must be bitterly regretting. We should immediately withdraw all support (by the RAF and through arms exports) and implement extensive sanctions – applied to Israel itself, not merely the settlers, as some advocate – and seek agreement for similar action by our European partners.
Andy Daer is a Liberal Democrat from South Gloucestershire.
