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Arab News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Cracks appear in myth of Israel's ‘brave' armed forces
One morning in early June 1967, when I was 14, I took the bus to school having read in the newspaper over breakfast that Egypt, Syria and Jordan were at war with Israel. The first class of the day was history. Our history teacher, Mr. Ferry (teachers in those days did not have first names), was a fervent supporter of the still nascent state of Israel, which had existed for less than 20 years. Enterprisingly, he decided to scrap the lesson he had planned and instead devote the time to his favorite subject. Jews, he told us, having endured discrimination and persecution in Europe for centuries, now had their own country, in which they could enjoy security and safety, thanks largely to their own indefatigable campaign for a Jewish state, but also due in part to the wisdom and munificence of the UN, based on an original proposal in 1917 by Britain's own Lord Balfour. Warming to his theme, Mr. Ferry waxed lyrical about fit, bronzed and athletic young kibbutznikim, toiling daily under a hot sun to turn the dry and unforgiving desert green. It was all terribly inspiring. Mr. Ferry omitted to mention that the territory then comprising the state of Israel had been obtained by means of driving, at gunpoint, about 750,000 Palestinians off the land they had inhabited for centuries, and sending into exile those who were not killed. Or that the 'indefatigable campaign for a Jewish state' had been conducted by homicidal thugs from Irgun and the Stern Gang, who nowadays would be referred to as 'terrorists' but who nevertheless went on to hold key ministerial roles in successive Israeli governments. Or that much of the 'dry and unforgiving desert' was already green, thanks to generations of farming by Palestinian families who were now homeless and stateless. It is easy to be brave when you are armed to the teeth and your 'dangerous enemy' is a 12-year-old boy throwing rocks Ross Anderson To be fair, he only had 35 minutes, and it is possible that Mr. Ferry intended all this for a future lesson that somehow slipped his mind: he was, in many ways, an excellent teacher and I am inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, the peroration of his discourse was that Israelis were inherently brave people who were not about to be deprived of their birthright by Arabs, who had a propensity for fighting among themselves, and the war would be over in a week. We boys were skeptical. After all, as young children we had played among the bombed-out ruins of a conflict that had lasted for six long years: the idea of a brief one seemed unlikely. But hey, we were 14, what did we know? Six days later, Mr. Ferry was proved right. It was about this time that a myth took hold, a fiction held as incontrovertible truth by many in Israel and by its cheerleaders in the West: that the Israeli armed forces are strong, determined and fearless, battle-hardened veterans who can never be defeated in a conflict — and are, above all, brave. But it is easy to be brave in the occupied West Bank when you are armed to the teeth and protected by body armor and your 'dangerous enemy' is a 12-year-old boy throwing rocks. It is easy to be brave when you are operating an armed Elbit Hermes 900 drone above southern Lebanon from the safety and comfort of a control room 50 km away. It is easy to be brave in an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter or an F-161 Sufa fighter jet in the skies above Gaza, aiming your weapons at a Hamas enemy without air defenses — or, more probably, innocent Palestinian women and children with no defenses of any kind. And it is easy to be brave inside your heavily armored Merkava Mk4 battle tank on the outskirts of Rafah, firing your 120mm cannon at those few innocent Palestinian civilians who have survived the attack helicopters and the fighter jets. For a fighting force, the Israeli forces do precious little fighting. And when they are required to do so, they turn out not to be very good at it. When Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, the troops on the unit whose job it was to protect civilians — the 77th Battalion, 7th Armored Brigade (Gaza Division) — appear to have been mostly asleep. Their Re'im base was quickly overrun and reinforcements delayed entering the combat zone even though civilians were under attack (limited enthusiasm there for a fight, evidently). A military investigation described the attack as the 'biggest security failure in Israel's history,' the army admitted it had 'failed in its mission to protect Israeli civilians,' and Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi had the decency to resign. The Israeli forces do precious little fighting. And when they are required to do so, they turn out not to be very good at it Ross Anderson You will find no defense of Hamas' cowardly attack here, but there are other signs that cracks are appearing in the fragile carapace of Israel's military invincibility, including shameless mendacity in how it defends its actions. There is by now a clearly defined three-stage process: 1. It definitely wasn't us. 2. Well, it may have been us. 3. OK, it was us. This has always reminded me of the wild west days of the British tabloid press, before legislation on privacy and other restrictions reined in the worst excesses of Fleet Street. At that time, there was a mantra for newspapers dealing with any difficulties: never apologize, never explain and, when cornered, lie. There are countless examples of Israel putting this into practice. When an Israeli sniper assassinated the Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin in May 2022, the Israeli military lied through its teeth. When Israeli soldiers deliberately killed 15 paramedics and aid workers after opening fire on a clearly identified rescue convoy in Gaza in March this year, the military lied through its teeth. Most recently, Israeli gunfire has killed at least 160 Palestinians as they desperately scrambled for food at shambolic aid 'distribution sites' set up by the deeply suspect Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Since the first such incident, on May 27, when they killed 10 Palestinians, the Israeli military has been lying through their teeth. The armed forces of Ukraine, currently fighting in the trenches of Donbas to defend their country against an unprovoked invasion by a militarily more powerful and numerically superior aggressor — now that's brave. Israel's army, not so much.
Asharq Al-Awsat
30-05-2025
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Is The 1948 War Over? Yes and No
The State of Israel emerged in 1948, and its emergence was accompanied by a war and the expulsion of the Palestinian population. Its birth thus became the foundational act that precipitated many subsequent wars and, eventually, the 'Arab-Israeli conflict.' However, its emergence was also foundational to the rise of military regimes and radical ideologies in the Levant. In the shadow of this foundational event, many engrossed themselves in interpreting what Constantine Zureiq called 'the meaning of the Nakba.' Generations came and went, regimes collapsed, ideas emerged and wars were waged in the promise of undoing the outcome of that war and nullifying the victory. Nonetheless, this victory remained incomplete. An event, any event, needs recognition to be complete. The Arab states- be they the new state's neighbours or far away, and whether they fought it or didn't- refused to recognize the 'alleged entity.' After the Arab defeat of 1967 two decades later, the Israelis were under the impression that their victory would finally secure the recognition they had previously been denied. However, what happened was that new Arab causes- Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian- piled up over the Palestinian cause, further complicating what had already been a complex situation. Later, after 1978 and more so after 1982, Lebanon joined the club. All these 'neighbouring states' had lost land to occupation, while the surge of militias was the result of the trajectory set in motion by the 1967 defeat, and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Islamism became dominant within these militias. One of the great ironies of the 1948 and 1967 wars is that the party that had achieved a resounding victory continued to seek recognition from its enemy, while the party that had been routed insisted on refusing to recognize its enemy. The Arabs' refusal to recognize Israel probably stemmed, in part, from the assumption that they would manage, albeit in an unknown future, to retaliate and 'take revenge' for what happened in the two wars. At this point, it would be no exaggeration to assert that many questions have been conclusively settled, both militarily and politically, and that the "Arab-Israeli conflict," which has narrowed to become a "Palestinian-Israeli conflict," is now behind us. At a time when a country like Syria, the 'beating heart of Arabism,' adopts a policy of pacification that is still being defined, when militias across the Levant fall after its armies have been defeated, and when the various revolutionary ideologies come to resemble abandoned houses, a military response to what was established in 1948 seems like a mirage or a hallucination. As for the political, social, and technological developments of the past couple of years, they offer no indication that the future will lead us in the opposite direction. It seems that one thing has been turned on its head despite the Israelis maintaining the upper hand in both cases. Whereas Israel's victories in 1948 and 1967 were met with Arab refusal to recognize the Jewish state, Israel's overwhelming dominance today has been coupled with a refusal to recognize not only the Palestinians but the other Arabs of Levant as well. This is evident not only in Gaza and throughout Palestine, but also in Israel's continued occupation of Syrian and Lebanese land, not deterred by the political changes in those two countries. The Arabs' refusal to recognize Israel has undoubtedly caused damage on every level since 1948. However, Israel's current refusal to recognize the Arabs' rights- to say nothing about Palestinians' right to a state- could create just as much harm that would not leave even Israel itself unscathed. While its victory in 1967 turned the country into a star and an inspiration to many around the world, its current posture has turned it into a polity that is reviled by a larger group of people than those who had admired it following its initial victory. Even though a military Arab response to what began in 1948 has now become unthinkable, the downward trajectory of the region, including in Israel, inspires no optimism about the imminence or plausibility of a take-off anywhere in the Levant. Only wars ending, materially but also through recognition, can open the door to a new phase that reflects on all levels. Only with conclusive conclusions of wars can there be a radical response to the radical struggle born in 1948. Today, some are pinning their hopes on the post–Benjamin Netanyahu era being a gateway to less gridlock. Others are betting on extracting Israel's recognition through Saudi and Gulf pressure on the United States, coupled with European (and Canadian) pressure on Tel Aviv- the former recently began abandoning their reluctance and reticence, as shown by the decision to reassess bilateral agreements. That is why, even as Israel's brutal war rages on, some believe that the establishment of a Palestinian state- or at least a process that leads to a state- has become more likely. What we can be certain of, however, is that immediately ending the genocidal war on Gaza and ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid are the real test- this is our most urgent task and the benchmark. We should also note that Hamas could accelerate the positive trajectory by laying down its arms, releasing the remaining hostages, and abandoning its selfish ambition to retain control of the Gaza Strip. It is time to turn the page on the non-recognition that began in 1948, after the struggle of 48 and the struggles it spawned had ended as belligerent events.
Washington Post
29-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Israel says it will establish 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank
JERUSALEM — Israel said Thursday it would establish 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. They would include new settlements and the legalization of outposts already built without government authorization. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want it to be the main part of their future state.
Associated Press
29-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Israel says it will establish 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Thursday it would establish 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. They would include new settlements and the legalization of outposts already built without government authorization. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want it to be the main part of their future state.
