Leading members of the Israeli government were prime movers at the “Conference for the Victory of Israel — Settlement Brings Security,” which called for the reestablishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza and the transfer of the Palestinian population out of Gaza.
The conference, held in Jerusalem, was attended by 11 ministers in the Netanyahu cabinet and 15 members of the Knesset. This includes Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right Minister of Public Security, who calls for Israeli control over all the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Finance Minister who, acting in direct opposition to the Army and Shin Bet security services, continues to dither in remitting to the Palestinian Authority the taxes that Israel collects on its behalf.
In view of the current Israel-Hamas War, this cannot be viewed as a purely internal Israeli political matter. The confab was met with vociferous condemnation by much of the Israeli polity — including the National Unity Party and war cabinet members Benny Gantz and Gabi Eisenkot, both former IDF Chiefs of Staff — and by the United States and other Western countries. But the conference’s significance cannot be understated.
Netanyahu has been silent. He could have imposed party discipline on members of Likud, but once again proved he is incapable of leading, let alone governing.
That these extremists felt comfortable enough to hold a conference calling for population transfer and renewed Israeli settlement in Gaza in the midst of a difficult war, in the aftermath of an International Court of Justice hearing — which focused on many of the statements of extremists like Ben Gvir and Smotrich — and with the purported opposition of Benjamin Netanyahu, is troubling to say the least.
The organizers of the conference — mostly familiar faces from the radical West Bank settlement movement — have a track record of moving from the fringe to the mainstream and have created, in essence, their own de facto lawless rule in the West Bank.
Recall that two companies of Israeli troops were removed from the Gaza border to the West Bank just days before the Oct. 7 massacre due to an escalation of settler violence and Palestinian response — an act which helped ensure that Hamas encountered minimum resistance entering Israel on Bloody Saturday. Even in the past two weeks, the elite Duvdevan unit was transferred from Gaza to the West Bank in a blow to Israeli fighting capacity in Gaza.
Why is this so important? Because now is the time to stand up and be heard — not in the aftermath of another calamity — such as Netanyahu’s attempted judicial coup or, of course, the Oct. 7 massacre, which led to the current war.
The attempted judicial coup by Netanyahu led to 10 months of massive weekly protests by hundreds of thousands of Israelis — including key elements of IDF reservists, especially air force pilots not doing reserve duty — who were vilified by the Netanyahu clique. Though the judicial coup had been signaled, there was no popular opposition until it was already put into play.
I have written before that Hamas (and Iran) conflated protests against the Netanyahu government with an unwillingness to defend the country against an external enemy. The dichotomy between government and country was lost on Hamas and Iran.
Indeed, the anti-judicial coup protest networks provided much of the necessary civil society activity during the first months of the war — including resettlement of victims of the terror attack and providing equipment to reservists — because the Netanyahu government was not functioning.
For years, the creeping right-wing radicalization of Israeli politics was ignored by many observers. Now the stakes are too high. Itamar Ben Gvir, a man once rejected from serving in the Israeli army because of his extremist views, is the minister of Public Security. Bezalel Smotrich, once arrested for plotting to blow up a major Israeli roadway, is the finance minister. Alice is in Wonderland.
Radicalization did not happen overnight. It was out in full view — but was not directly shut down or confronted by Israel’s supporters. The dual concepts of transferring 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and reestablishing Israeli settlements in Gaza are repugnant and need to be rejected immediately, both in Israel and abroad.
Jonathan D. Strum is an international lawyer and businessman based in Washington D.C. and the Middle East. From 1991 to 2005, he was an adjunct professor of International Law at Georgetown University Law Center.