Perhaps the greatest success of Hamas is that it has managed to manipulate the West to absorb the code for its own destruction. Take democracy. Until recently, it was a no-brainer that our way of life was superior to that of jihadism.
Despite the human cost when we battled Islamic State – Amnesty International described it as a “civilian catastrophe” that was “relentless and unlawful” – we never doubted ourselves. After the Bataclan and the Manchester Arena, we had to defend our way of life.
When there are rallies in Tel Aviv, however, where up to 350,000 citizens, some waving keffiyehs, massed against the government yesterday, we willfully miss the point.
As one would expect in a democracy, the debate in Israel includes a spectrum of voices, ranging from the far-Right that wishes to settle Gaza to the far-Left that echoes false allegations of “genocide”.
Most of those marching yesterday, however, were decent people in the middle. After 20 months of war, they just want the hostages home – even in a partial deal – and the awful ordeal to end.
Not that you’d know it from responses in the West, where Israel’s government was caricatured by the most extreme members of its coalition, while the far-Left’s mindless sloganeering was taken as confirmation that the real problem is Benjamin Netanyahu, not Hamas.
The effect of all this is that Israel’s democratic standards, which are both unique in the region and the reason the Jewish state aligns with our interests, are used against it. Which is precisely what Hamas wants.
Away from the sound and fury, the principal reason for the Gaza City campaign, which is at the heart of these protests, is that Hamas refuses to release the hostages.
This leaves Netanyahu with only bad options. Pulling the troops out would leave Israelis languishing in the catacombs, devastate morale at home and allow Hamas to declare victory, eroding Jerusalem’s deterrence. Future bloodshed would be a certainty.
Continuing the fighting until Hamas is obliterated, on the other hand, may deter Israel’s enemies but risks the execution of the hostages. It would also leave Israel as even more of an international pariah, with France, Britain and others aligning with the agenda of the jihadis.
When Keir Starmer declared his intention to recognise a Palestinian state, Hamas first congratulated him, then taunted Israel by releasing a video of the emaciated hostage Evyatar David being forced to dig his own grave. That depravity brought shame on Britain. In the eyes of Jerusalem, there is now no mistaking where we stand.
As you would imagine, Israelis are deeply divided on the damned-if-you-do question of the Gaza City offensive. At the centre of the debate sits the figure of Netanyahu, against whom many on the Left have been agitating for years.
In some ways, Bibi’s travails reflect the cultural struggle taking place across the West, with centrist elites locked in combat with leaders they deride as “populists”.
They are also a symptom of Israel’s dysfunctional political system, the very existence of which is a miracle, given that most of the Jewish refugees who built the state had never cast a vote in their lives (back then, Jews didn’t tend to flee the democracies).
Add to this the traumas of war and international hostility and Israel’s domestic politics become even more combustible.
It is true that Netanyahu is on trial for corruption, ranging from dirty deals for favourable media coverage to accepting gifts of pink champagne. And it is true that his coalition includes a few members of far-Right parties bent on settling Gaza.
But all of this only underlines the fact that Israel is a noisy democracy, striving to uphold democratic standards. Regrettably, incursions from the political fringes are an occupational hazard of proportional representation.
Divisive conservative leaders are hardly an Israeli invention – Margaret Thatcher, anyone? And in contrast to Israel, when people in Gaza have occasionally taken to the streets to demonstrate against Hamas – depressingly, we have yet to see such rallies in Britain, where the mob seems to support the agenda of the other side – they have been brutally repressed.
In April, the 22-year-old activist Uday Rabie was stripped, dragged through the streets by a rope around his neck, tortured and dumped back with his family south-west of Gaza City. He later died in hospital.
Is that the sort of society we want to support? Shouldn’t we take a step back and think? In Israel, even the most radical protesters are met with nothing more aggressive than water cannons.
Yet how does the West use the freedoms that it shares with the Jewish state? To undermine it. What we don’t see is the bigger picture. We are fanning the very flames that lick at our own door.
Perhaps the greatest success of Hamas is that it has managed to manipulate the West to absorb the code for its own destruction. Take democracy. Until recently, it was a no-brainer that our way of life was superior to that of jihadism.
Despite the human cost when we battled Islamic State – Amnesty International described it as a “civilian catastrophe” that was “relentless and unlawful” – we never doubted ourselves. After the Bataclan and the Manchester Arena, we had to defend our way of life.
When there are rallies in Tel Aviv, however, where up to 350,000 citizens, some waving keffiyehs, massed against the government yesterday, we willfully miss the point.
As one would expect in a democracy, the debate in Israel includes a spectrum of voices, ranging from the far-Right that wishes to settle Gaza to the far-Left that echoes false allegations of “genocide”.
Most of those marching yesterday, however, were decent people in the middle. After 20 months of war, they just want the hostages home – even in a partial deal – and the awful ordeal to end.
Not that you’d know it from responses in the West, where Israel’s government was caricatured by the most extreme members of its coalition, while the far-Left’s mindless sloganeering was taken as confirmation that the real problem is Benjamin Netanyahu, not Hamas.
The effect of all this is that Israel’s democratic standards, which are both unique in the region and the reason the Jewish state aligns with our interests, are used against it. Which is precisely what Hamas wants.
Away from the sound and fury, the principal reason for the Gaza City campaign, which is at the heart of these protests, is that Hamas refuses to release the hostages.
This leaves Netanyahu with only bad options. Pulling the troops out would leave Israelis languishing in the catacombs, devastate morale at home and allow Hamas to declare victory, eroding Jerusalem’s deterrence. Future bloodshed would be a certainty.
Continuing the fighting until Hamas is obliterated, on the other hand, may deter Israel’s enemies but risks the execution of the hostages. It would also leave Israel as even more of an international pariah, with France, Britain and others aligning with the agenda of the jihadis.
When Keir Starmer declared his intention to recognise a Palestinian state, Hamas first congratulated him, then taunted Israel by releasing a video of the emaciated hostage Evyatar David being forced to dig his own grave. That depravity brought shame on Britain. In the eyes of Jerusalem, there is now no mistaking where we stand.
As you would imagine, Israelis are deeply divided on the damned-if-you-do question of the Gaza City offensive. At the centre of the debate sits the figure of Netanyahu, against whom many on the Left have been agitating for years.
In some ways, Bibi’s travails reflect the cultural struggle taking place across the West, with centrist elites locked in combat with leaders they deride as “populists”.
They are also a symptom of Israel’s dysfunctional political system, the very existence of which is a miracle, given that most of the Jewish refugees who built the state had never cast a vote in their lives (back then, Jews didn’t tend to flee the democracies).
Add to this the traumas of war and international hostility and Israel’s domestic politics become even more combustible.
It is true that Netanyahu is on trial for corruption, ranging from dirty deals for favourable media coverage to accepting gifts of pink champagne. And it is true that his coalition includes a few members of far-Right parties bent on settling Gaza.
But all of this only underlines the fact that Israel is a noisy democracy, striving to uphold democratic standards. Regrettably, incursions from the political fringes are an occupational hazard of proportional representation.
Divisive conservative leaders are hardly an Israeli invention – Margaret Thatcher, anyone? And in contrast to Israel, when people in Gaza have occasionally taken to the streets to demonstrate against Hamas – depressingly, we have yet to see such rallies in Britain, where the mob seems to support the agenda of the other side – they have been brutally repressed.
In April, the 22-year-old activist Uday Rabie was stripped, dragged through the streets by a rope around his neck, tortured and dumped back with his family south-west of Gaza City. He later died in hospital.
Is that the sort of society we want to support? Shouldn’t we take a step back and think? In Israel, even the most radical protesters are met with nothing more aggressive than water cannons.
Yet how does the West use the freedoms that it shares with the Jewish state? To undermine it. What we don’t see is the bigger picture. We are fanning the very flames that lick at our own door.