The Forever War
The pictures are almost too painful to look at: the starving children and their desperate mothers, the frail and emaciated hostages, the memories of the bodies on Oct. 7, 2023.
And for those who have loved Israel, have planted our trees as children and celebrated Israel's victories as adults, there is the pain of seeing the world, including its long-time supporters, turn its back and accuse the state born in the ashes of the Holocaust of genocide.
Is it really antisemitism, as some of Israel's defenders urge? Surely Israel is not the most barbarous country in the world. Surely there are bigger villains?
But then there is J Street, the liberal D.C.-based group that was created to support and lobby for Israel.
Until last week, its president, Jeremy Ben-Ami,stood firmly against those who called Israel's actions in Gaza a "genocide." Then he changed his mind. After recounting the details of Hamas' attack on Israel, Ben-Ami wrote:
"Yet none of that provides any rationale for what Israel is doing now in Gaza. Denying food and basic necessities of life to civilians.
"Soldiers shooting at civilians trying to get food. Destruction of the entire infrastructure of Gaza. Forcing the population into intolerably small areas. Hoping to create the conditions under which an entire population will be forcibly displaced. . . .
"Until now, I have tried to deflect and defend when challenged to call this genocide. I have, however, been persuaded rationally by legal and scholarly arguments that international courts will one day find that Israel has broken the international genocide convention."
And then there is Hamas. Are they not equally — or more — responsible for the devastation they have wrought?
What did they think would happen when they committed genocide on Oct. 7, 2023?
Where are the critics calling for them to disarm, which is Israel's demand, not so unusual for a winner to demand of its losing neighbor who has attacked it?
Or is it just that we expect more of Israel than of a terrorist organization that is effectively holding its own people hostage?
There was a moment, after Iran — with the helping hand of the United States — was dealt a powerful blow by Israel and it seemed, with Netanyahu once again riding high, he might stand up to his right-wing enablers and take steps to end this war.
The rest of the world was ready. President Donald Trump was still eying his Nobel Peace Prize. Something might have happened.
Compromises might have been made.
They weren't.
The game of chicken — with children and hostages and families as the victims — has continued. And the blame game against Israel has moved into high gear.
This week, Netanyahu is reportedly meeting with his Security Council to talk about further expanding the military effort in Gaza.
Meanwhile, thousands of Israelis took to the streets to protest further expansion of the war, and morale among reservists is reportedly dangerously low.
The majority of Israelis tell pollsters they want the war to end.
The hostage families have loudly opposed efforts to expand the war, understanding that it could cost their loved ones who have managed to survive almost two years of captivity their lives.
Against this background, Netanyahu's government holds on to its goal of "total victory" over Hamas.
After a meeting with Netanyahu on Wednesday, Yair Lapid, the centrist leader of Israel's parliamentary opposition, reported that he had told the prime minister that "occupying Gaza is a very bad idea" and that "the Israeli people are not interested in this war."
Conquering all of Gaza, he wrote in a statement the day before, would "lead to all the hostages dying of hunger, beatings and torture," and more Israeli soldiers being killed.
Such action, he said, would also lead to more Israeli soldiers being killed.
"We will not allow the hostages to be sacrificed on the altar of a forever war — there must be a deal now," one of the grassroots groups advocating for the hostages said in a statement. For now, the game of chicken continues, and there are no winners.
Susan Estrich is a politician, professor, lawyer and writer. She has appeared on the pages of The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post. Ms. Estrich has also served as as an on-air contributor, on CNN, Fox News, NBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC. Her focus is on legal matters, women's concerns, national politics, and social issues. Read Susan Estrich's Reports — More Here.