A Solution is a Long Way Off

Life in Gaza has always been hard, however this summer it was especially bad. On the 8^th of July Israel launched Operation Protective Edge, which was supposed to be an effort to uproot terrorists in the Gaza strip. The invasion lasted 50 days and resulted in the deaths of 1,523 Gazan Civilians and 557 Gazan militants according to the UN, compared to 66 Israeli soldiers and six Israeli civilians. The invasion, followed by the largest land grab in history by the Israeli government, has hardened the views of many Europeans against Israel. Since the fighting in Gaza this summer the United Kingdom, France and Spain all had symbolic votes on the recognition of Palestine, and all went heavily in favour of Palestine. Sweden went one step further and formally recognised Palestine, making it one of the first western countries to do so. To make matters worse for the Israelis a European Court took Hamas off the EU’s terrorist list. When it comes to the PR battle in Europe, Israel is losing badly.

The Israeli government has been riddled with internal tensions over the past year, which culminated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for fresh legislative elections to be held early this year. At the same time he fired Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni from their cabinet positions. Both are political moderates who support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What Netanyahu is hoping for is to form a coalition of the more nationalistic parties in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) following the elections in March. If you thought Israel was acting horrifically already, if Netanyahu gets what he wants, the next few years will be much worse.

In a sign of increasing radicalness a bill that would make Israel the “home state for Jewish peoples” and would effectively mean that non-Jewish Israelis would become second class citizens in their own country has been introduced to the Knesset. The bill is hugely controversial and has divided Israel, including the coalition government. Although the Cabinet has officially backed the bill, 14 voted in favour and six against, it revealed just how divided the coalition had become. The Cabinet debate was held in private, but the arguments over it could apparently be heard down the corridor. Critics of the bill include Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin who said that the bill played into the hands of “Israeli’s enemies”. If the bill passes, it will only heighten tensions between Israeli and Palestine and further harm its relationship with Europe.