Israel set on path to self destruction - Another West Bank land grab

Every comment on Israel’s recent behaviour must recognise that the country was under attack by Hamas. Every comment must recognise that any country under attack is obliged to defend itself. Every comment must acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and its citizens’ right to live free from persecution or discrimination.

Every comment must recognise that these standards must apply in all countries. It is a tragedy that if those standards are applied to Israel’s recent record, then that country cannot be numbered among the champions of decency, tolerance, pluralism or honesty. ally, urged Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, to reverse that decision. Like all others, such appeals may fall on deaf ears. Or will it?

Mr Netanyahu, a career advocate of uncompromising force and the idea of national victimhood, had a poll rating of 82% before the Gaza bombardment. That is now 38%. Is it possible that moderate Israelis have recognised that attack and displacement are ultimately self-destructive? Have they realised that their friends will be alienated further by another war like the recent one in Gaza, where, between July 8 and August 26, more than 2,100 Palestinians were killed, along with 64 Israeli soldiers and seven Israeli civilians? The vast majority of those Palestinians, according to the UN, were civilians, as were those who died during previous operations in Gaza. There may be a glimmer of hope too in the fact that Israeli commentators now routinely refer to critics as being anti-Semite or “useful idiots” exploited by Hamas — or both. This disconnect suggests the inevitable move towards establishing a real and lasting peace cannot be too far away. Let us all hope that all people living in Israel, be they moderate, extreme or Palestinian, realise this before too many more lives are lost or too many more displaced people are radicalised to the point that the only support they can find is amongst the most zealous and often insane anti-western terrorist organisations gathering such momentum in the region.