April 3, 2024
DHAKA – After months of relentless slaughter of Palestinians—in the worst genocide we have seen in recent history—the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution was issued demanding an immediate ceasefire without linking this to any other matter, such as the release of Israeli detainees. This resolution, which bears the number 2728, is a positive development on the US position in particular, as they prevented the issuance of a ceasefire resolution from the UNSC since the beginning of the war in Gaza using the veto. Today, the US position has changed, as it abstained from voting and spoke openly about the resolution being consistent with that of the Biden administration. They did make it clear why Washington did not vote in favour of the affirmative resolution—because it does not provide for “condemnation of Hamas.” Despite some gaps in the resolution, such as providing for a ceasefire in Ramadan, it marks the beginning of a serious shift in the international position.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was angered by Washington’s abstention, which shows that he is aware of the dimensions of this international shift against him. He described the US decision to abstain as “a retreat in the position of the United States,” affecting military operations and influencing efforts to release the detainees, according to Netanyahu’s office, which led to the decision not to send senior Israeli delegation to Washington, DC to discuss the subject of ground operation in Rafah, which would have been at the request of President Biden.
Netanyahu’s stance and reaction to the US administration surprised many and was met with a lot of criticism in both Israel and the US. Some Israeli opposition leaders have accused Netanyahu of damaging the strategic relationship for personal reasons. Senior figures in the US also spoke with the Hebrew website Walla News that Netanyahu chose to create a crisis with the US for domestic political reasons. His reactions are indeed strange, especially with an ally that has provided voluminous support. Even after the resolution, the Biden administration is reportedly set to greenlight an $18 billion sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel.
But if we return to the decision, what angers Netanyahu and many Israelis is not that this resolution will be applied immediately; the US said itself that the resolution is not binding—unlike the majority of countries that consider Security Council resolutions binding and enforceable. Regardless, the resolution has opened the door to very negative changes in Israel’s position in the international scene. If Israel ignores the resolution, the UNSC will return to meeting again and adopt more burdensome and more severe resolutions that may turn into a snowball. The resolution underpins Israel’s international isolation and encourages many countries to take sanctions against Israel by stopping the supply of weapons and ammunition and reviewing forms of cooperation. This will undoubtedly create great international pressure on Israel, which has come on the opposite side of the international community and is now being seen as a rogue state.
The Israeli government also believes that the resolution will encourage Hamas to harden its positions and not make concessions in the negotiations. If it will receive a ceasefire free of charge, this means increasing the terms of negotiation or insisting on the demands it makes, especially ending the war, withdrawal of the Israeli military, and also facilitating the return of the displaced to their homes, and specifically, the release of thousands of prisoners and detainees. Netanyahu’s position to not send the head of the National Security Council and the minister of strategic affairs to Washington, DC to discuss completion of the war means that Netanyahu does not want to coordinate with the US on the issue of Rafah and the stalled negotiations on the exchange of hostages and prisoners. This should be alarming for the Biden administration. Netanyahu’s undiplomatic stance should have consequences and possibly US sanctions.
But on the other side of possibilities, Netanyahu may benefit from the escalation of the crisis with Washington and even from international pressure by marketing himself as the custodian of Israel’s interests, the only one who is able to withstand international pressure, including those coming from allies and friends. However, the clash with the US administration will create a rift in the ruling coalition, where Benny Gantz, a member of the War Council and the head of the “official camp,” rejects this policy. The cracks within the Israeli society will intensify the opposition and demands to overthrow his government and go to new elections urgently.
Another problem with the geo-strategic dimensions is the deepening of the rift and disagreement between the Israeli government and Jews in the US, who see Netanyahu as a threat to the idea of the “Jewish-Democratic” state, and view the alliance with the US as one of the pillars of Israel’s survival, resilience, strength, and military and economic superiority.
Netanyahu can manoeuvre as an expert in crisis management, but what Israel is going through carries existential risks as it loses its war in Gaza: this large volume of killing innocents, extermination and destruction, raising the ceiling of its cruel goals, and the sheer inability to achieve them by means of war. They say Hamas is destroyed in northern Gaza, but won’t let food enter the area. Israel’s talking points are talking points to justify a genocide. With each day that this war drags on, Israel also loses its own international status and increasingly becomes isolated. There will come a time when Netanyahu’s intelligence may betray him and he will find himself to be the biggest loser on a personal level—and that will be irreversible, causing a major defeat for Israel on the international stage. The state will lose that false aura woven by the Zionist and Western propaganda that portrays Israel as an oasis of democracy, Western norms and values. This process has already begun among international public opinion. The genocidal war in Gaza has exposed, irrevocably, Israel and its falsity.