Israel’s War in Gaza at the start of the New Year

Former Israeli government adviser Daniel Levy brings us a recent update on the state of diplomacy around Israel’s current Gaza war. (1)

The current war in Gaza is being extensively documented.

Gideon Levy, the Haaretz editor and columnist, continues his criticism of Israel’s gruesome Gaza war. It’s worth remembering at the start of the year that Israel’s current war is by far the longest war (in terms of continual conflict) Israel has ever had. The fact that the US government under Joe Biden’s administration has effectively completely supported Benjamin Netanyahu’s genocidal war in Gaza that is obviously expanding to the West Bank is one of the lowest moments in American foreign policy.

Levy focuses his conduct of Brigadier General Yehuda Vach who has managed to distinguish himself by his criminality even in this grotesque war:

Every day that Yehuda Vach remains in his job is another day's worth of evidence – not only of the war crimes the army is committing, but also of the fact that Israel stands behind them. Vach, who of course grew up in the settlement of Kiryat Arba and attended the Eli premilitary academy, isn't some unusual wild horse that must be reined in. Vach is the IDF [Israeli Defense Force], and the IDF is Israel.

The debate is about whether Israel has or has not perpetrated ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip. The debate is even about whether the IDF is perpetrating genocide.

If there's a division commander in Gaza who tells his officers that in his view, there are no innocents in Gaza – not as a personal opinion, but as a combat doctrine – then genocide is the spirit of the commander. If there's a division commander who reprimands his officers for "not achieving the goal," and the goal is expelling roughly 250,000 residents from their homes, then ethnic cleansing is the IDF's declared policy. [my emphasis] (2)

Haaretz has reported continuously on the dramatic, damning evidence of the IDF’s conduct, though press coverage has obviously been severely limited by the IDF’s deliberate targeting of journalists in Gaza. For instance:

"Calling ourselves the world's most moral army absolves soldiers who know exactly what we're doing," says a senior reserve commander who has recently returned from the Netzarim corridor. "It means ignoring that for over a year, we've operated in a lawless space where human life holds no value. Yes, we commanders and combatants are participating in the atrocity unfolding in Gaza. Now everyone must face this reality."

While this officer doesn't regret mobilizing after October 7 ("we went into a just war"), he insists the Israeli public deserves the full picture. "People need to know what this war really looks like, what serious acts some commanders and fighters are committing inside Gaza. They need to know the inhuman scenes we're witnessing." (3)

Yoel Elizur describes five categories of soldiers based on the research of Nuphar Ishay-Krien published in 2012:

1. A small Callous group was composed of ruthless soldiers, some of whom confessed to violence before the draft. These soldiers committed most of the severe atrocities. …
2. A small, ideologically violent group supported the brutality without taking part. …
3. A small incorruptible group opposed the influence of the callous and ideological groups on the company's culture. Initially intimidated by brutal commanders, they later took a moral stand and went on to report the atrocities to the division commander. …
4. A large group of followers consisted of soldiers with no prior inclination to violence. Their behavior was most influenced by junior officers' modeling and the company's norms. Some followers who committed atrocities reported moral injuries: "I felt like, like, like a Nazi ... it looked exactly like we were actually the Nazis and they were the Jews." …
5. The restrained was a large group of inner-directed soldiers who maintained military standards and did not commit atrocities. (4)

Another Haaretz columnist, Alon Pinkas, recalls the constructive effect that Jimmy Carter’s long advocacy for a comprehensive peace settlement recognizing the rights of Palestinians and ending the illegal occupation by Israel had:

Carter often held a mirror in front of Israel – one it self-righteously refused to look at, and resented him for doing so. His observations, especially in his 2006 book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," published 27 years after he had mediated the Camp David peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, were a clairvoyant description of Israel's trajectory: As long as it maintains its occupation of 5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, without a glimmer of political hope for independence and eventual statehood, the future is ominously bleak, Carter wrote.

The issue may be complex, there may be extenuating circumstances, Israel may be right and Carter and most of the world may be wrong. But his warning and criticism from almost two decades ago were prescient and a preamble to prevalent world opinion in the months following the October 7 Hamas attack and ensuing war in Gaza. [my emphasis] (5)

Brandeis NOW has a video of a 2007 presentation by Carter on his Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid book. The title of the piece alludes to a correction Carter made to the book after the first edition:

Asked about a sentence in his book that seemed to justify terrorism by saying that suicide bombings should end when Israel accepts the goals of the “road map” to peace with Palestinians, Carter said, “That sentence was worded in a completely improper and stupid way. I’ve written my publishers to change that sentence immediately in future editions of the book. I apologize to you personally and to everyone here.” (6)

The passage in question, which is quoted by a questioner was, “It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Roadmap for Peace are accepted by Israel.” (7)

I’m no specialist in the arcane diplomatic phrasing about such things. But the meaning of that as a practical matter seems pretty clear, i.e., the Palestinian groups should call off their irregular warfare (“terrorism”) if Israel starts abiding by international law on occupied territories, which they were then violating and now doing so even more spectacularly. But the so-called War on Terror was in full swing in 2007 and most people – and basically no establishment journalists – was interesting in parsing what kinds of guerrilla or “partisan” warfare was legal or not. In any case, the laws on war on require that irregular forces (guerrillas) wear clothing identifying themselves as combatants, so most of the suicide bombing that had been taking place during the Second Intifada period of 2000-2005 wouldn’t have met that criterion. And indiscriminate attacks on civilians are also illegal even in wartime. (8)

The tone of Carter’s 2007 comments gives a feel for the kind of controversy his book provoked. It also is a good example of why he came to be widely regarded as the greatest ex-President of the US.

Notes:

(1) Levy: Israel not showing interest in a ceasefire deal for Gaza. Al Jazeera English YouTube channel 12/24/2024. <https://youtu.be/OSoOnX3Gjn4?si=I4_WGgC2qXsFK3yZ> (Accessed: 2025-02-01).

Levy, Gideon (2024): The Whole World Will Know: Israel Is Standing Behind Its War-criminal Army Officers. Haaretz 01/02/2025. <https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-01-02/ty-article-opinion/.premium/the-whole-world-will-know-israel-is-standing-behind-its-war-criminal-army-officers/00000194-2452-da14-adb7-767e42b40000?gift=e00d3339be0f4e3ab06b6e9053d451af> (Accessed: 2025-02-01).

(3) Kubovich, Yaniv (2024): 'No Civilians. Everyone's a Terrorist': IDF Soldiers Expose Arbitrary Killings and Rampant Lawlessness in Gaza's Netzarim Corridor. Haaretz 12/18/2024. <https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-12-18/ty-article-magazine/.premium/idf-soldiers-expose-arbitrary-killings-and-rampant-lawlessness-in-gazas-netzarim-corridor/00000193-da7f-de86-a9f3-fefff2e50000> (Accessed: 2024-24-12).

(4) Elizur, Yoel (2024): 'When You Leave Israel and Enter Gaza, You Are God': Inside the Minds of IDF Soldiers Who Commit War Crimes Haaretz 12/23/2024. <https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024-12-23/ty-article-opinion/.premium/when-you-enter-gaza-you-are-god-inside-the-minds-of-idf-soldiers-who-commit-war-crimes/00000193-f2a4-dc18-a3db-fee62b540000?gift=63de938ff2144b6cab0a5fab7e32aff6> (Accessed: 2024-24-12).

(5) Pinkas, Alan (2024): Jimmy Carter Was Resented by Israel's Leaders for Holding a Mirror They Didn't want to look at. Haaretz 12/31/2024. <https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-12-31/ty-article/.premium/jimmy-carter-was-resented-by-israels-leaders-for-holding-a-mirror-in-front-of-them/00000194-1c22-dc42-afbc-3ce7497b0000?gift=88570e18036a41baaea2d352bbeedd90> (Accessed: 2024-24-12).

(6) Jimmy Carter apologizes for ‘mistake’ in book: Defends viewpoints on Middle East. Brandies NOW 06/24/2024. <https://www.brandeis.edu/now/2008/january/cartervisit.html> (Accessed: 2025-02-01).

(7) Carter, Jimmy (2006): Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, 213. New York: Simon & Schuster.

(8) Ben-Naftali, Orna & Gross, Aeyal (2007): The Second Intifada and After. In: Gutman R. & Rieff, D. & Gutman, R., Crimes of War 2.0: What the Public Should Know (revised 2nd edition). London: W.W. Norton.