Many of Israel’s most fervent supporters acknowledge that when it comes to what Israelis call hasbara — public diplomacy — it fails miserably. Given increasing international criticism of Israel’s incursion into Gaza, to the point where less and less is being said about the nearly 300 hostages Hamas still holds, Israel cannot afford to be sending signals that give credence to its enemies both inside and outside the Middle East.
Unfortunately, it seems that Jerusalem has a tin ear when it enables leading officials to issue statements that merely intensify those criticisms. Indeed, the Israeli government’s inability, and to some extent unwillingness, to muzzle its most vocal extremist officials creates the impression of chaos in the government at a time when unity is a sine qua non for successful prosecution of the Gaza war.
Not surprisingly, the worst offenders in this regard are ministers from the governing coalition’s two far-right parties, Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist party and Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit. Smotrich, who doubles as finance minister and minister in the Ministry of Defense, draws his support from the most extreme West Bank settlers. He has long been known for his incendiary pronouncements — in March he claimed that there is “no such thing” as the Palestinian people, which no doubt came as a surprise to the millions of already bitter Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Two months later, in an interview alongside fellow party member Orit Strock, Smotrich asserted that “the time will probably come to return to Gaza, disassemble Hamas and demilitarize Gaza … there won’t be a choice but to reconquer Gaza.” Strock doubled down on his remarks, adding that “looking long term there won’t be a choice but to do it [retake Gaza].” What in May was a mere prediction now could well be a solid forecast, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that Israel would maintain “security responsibility” over Gaza for an indefinite period.
As if Smotrich’s comments about Gaza were not enough to enrage Palestinians, earlier this week Smotrich wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant demanding that the Israel Defense Forces create “wide security zones around the settlements and roads and … prevent the Arabs from approaching them.” As with his other statements, Smotrich’s comments would have been out of line at the best of times, but they come when passions among West Bank Palestinians are already at a boiling point and clashes between them and settlers have resulted in deaths on both sides. Moreover, if implemented, his plan would prevent Palestinian famers from harvesting olives, a critical cash crop, because their groves would fall within his proposed security zones.
Smotrich is not alone in fanning the flames of Palestinian hatred. Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, a member of Ben Gvir’s even more extreme Otzma Yehudit party, opined last week that dropping a nuclear bomb in Gaza was “one way” to bring an end to the war. He also mirror-imaged the anti-Semites and anti-Zionists who would drive Jews out of the land between “the river and the sea” by stating that the people of Gaza “could go to Ireland or deserts [and] should find a solution by themselves.”
Netanyahu suspended Eliyahu indefinitely for his remarks; what “indefinite” means is another matter. The Prime Minister refuses to disavow Eliyahu’s party, which is a key partner in his governing coalition, and he could well reinstate the errant minister under pressure from Otzma Yehudit party leader Ben Gvir.
The voices of the Israeli hard-right, upon which Netanyahu depends in order to remain in office, are not limited to ministers in his government. Amichai Friedman, the rabbi of an IDF brigade base, stated that, apart from Israel’s hostages, dead and wounded, the month-old war, has been the “happiest of my life” because it has justified not only the reconquest of Gaza, but also the seizure of Lebanon, which he claimed was part of Biblical Israel. His statement, which prompted applause and cheers from the soldiers in his audience, no doubt is also music to Hassan Nasrallah’s ears. They provide Hezbollah’s leader even more of an excuse to open a second major front on Israel’s northern border.
The IDF leadership disavowed Freidman’s statements. Other than a reprimand, however, no action has yet been taken against the errant rabbi, despite the clear danger his remarks might pose to Israel’s security. As with Netanyahu’s suspension of Eliyahu, the reprimand most closely resembles an outrageous tweet that has been deleted after thousands have seen it but that has by then accomplished its nefarious purpose. In both cases the damage has been done.
As was the case in recent clashes with both Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel again appears to be losing the war for international public and governmental opinion, while it has yet either to free or obtain the release of the hostages that Hamas still holds. If Netanyahu fails to clamp down on his extremist governmental partners, and the military leadership cannot silence its out-of-line officers, Israel may find that it has alienated even its closest friends to the point that all outside support will disappear.
And, contrary to what some right-wing Israelis might think, it desperately needs that support if it is ever to see the hostages alive, and if it is to permanently weaken, if not destroy, its two sworn Gaza enemies, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Dov S. Zakheim is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and vice chairman of the board for the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He was undersecretary of Defense (comptroller) and chief financial officer for the Department of Defense from 2001 to 2004 and a deputy undersecretary of Defense from 1985 to 1987.