Richard Haass (again) on the Gaza war: “What then?”

Even on Joe Biden’s reported favorite news show, Morning Joe, even host Joe Scarborough sems to be getting fed up with the stale, standard talking points. This example is from five weeks or so ago. (1)



It features Richard Haass, who is one of my favorite measures of what counts as the bounds of respectable establishment positions on foreign policy. If Haass is saying it, even conservatives among conventional foreign policy analysts can’t so easily dismiss it as out of (respectable) bounds.

Haass discusses matter in greater length in this Substack post:

What is to come after major military operations subside in Gaza, the subject of much of what I wrote about last week, is finally taking center stage in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to budge from his strategy of first trying to inflict a decisive military defeat on Hamas and only then turning to who or what (other than the Palestinian Authority, which he has ruled out) would replace Hamas in Gaza. This among things explains his determination to proceed with the assault on Rafah over U.S. and international objections.

My own view is that such an approach is bound to fail, as there is no way to eliminate Hamas militarily. Thousands of fighters will survive Israeli attacks and then re-emerge to challenge any force aiming to take the place of Hamas. The only way to avoid a choice between Hamas or Israeli occupation, the only way to achieve success, is to create conditions under which a capable Arab force, prepared to stay for years, absorb casualties, and take on Hamas as required, can be constituted. This will require the involvement of Egypt and other Arab governments, the Palestinian Authority, and the United States, and will also require the introduction of a political process that begins to address the end of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and what would take its place. [my emphasis] (2)

Alon Pinkas doesn’t believe that the current government of Israel is in very good shape:

Judging by its political behavioral patterns, Israel is currently governed by a prime minister afflicted with acute Masada syndrome. Like in 73 C.E., he is trying to instill in Israelis the sense that we are a persecuted righteous few, surrounded by a hostile and hateful world. We are under a cruel siege and facing the threat of annihilation, with nothing to lose, and with a deep conviction that this is an existential, be-all or end-all war. (3)

None of that was true in the year 73. Nor is it remotely true in 2024....

The country is currently being led – and it is dubious whether "led" is the right term here – by a desperate man under severe political duress and cross-pressures who seems to be suffering four intertwining syndromes. First is Louis XIV syndrome. Second, Shabbetai Zvi syndrome. Third comes Jerusalem syndrome, and fourth is Stockholm syndrome. [my emphasis]

By those examples he means: arrogance (Louis XIV); messianic delusions (Shabbetai Zvi [Tsevi/Zebi/Zevi]); “obsessive religious delusions, "messiah" pretensions and a paranoid pattern of behavior” (Jersusalem); and, identifying with hostage-takers or abusers (Stockholm). In this case, Pinkas means Netanyahu’s captivity by the elements of his government that are even more far-right than he.

The attitudes of some followers of Zvi’s led them to this: “Those who embraced the theory of ‘sacred sin’ believed that the Torah could be fulfilled only by amoral acts representing its seeming annulment.” (4) Maybe Pinkas has that in mind for Netanyahu, as well.

Pinkas refers to the Netanyahu government as an “Armageddon coalition.”

I don't think he is "hostage to the far right," as many tend to think. That's a cop-out. He had options, he appointed them, he drives them, he never disciplines them or counters their actions. In that respect, he's a willing accomplice of his political captors because they hold the key – in fact, the only key – to the survival of his Armageddon coalition. [my emphasis]

Notes:

(1) 'Netanyahu doesn't want peace': Joe challenges Israel's Gaza strategy. MSNBC You’Tube channel 05/13/2024. <https://youtu.be/lHFXMgfoQYA?si=-GfuKZiaJBR-Pmbq> (Accessed: 2024-18-05-2024).

(2) Haass, Richard (2024): Success (May 17, 2024). Home & Away 05/17/2024. <https://richardhaass.substack.com/p/success-may-17-2024> (Accessed: 2024-18-05).

Pinkas, Alon (2024): Has Netanyahu Completely Lost His Bearings? Maybe. But Maybe It's Intentional. Haaretz 05/21/2024. <https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-05-21/ty-article/.premium/has-netanyahu-completely-lost-his-bearings-maybe-but-maybe-its-intentional/0000018f-9bb6-da35-a3af-dfbeacb70000> (Accessed: 2024-22-05).

Editors (2024): Shabbetai Tzevi. Encyclopedia Britannica 04/08/2024. <https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shabbetai-Tzevi> (Accessed: 2024-22-05).