Israel... A Change in Faces or in Approach?

Detailed summary

There is no doubt that the recent elections in Israel are significant in every sense. However, in the Israeli case specifically, and perhaps uniquely, anyone following political…

There is no doubt that the recent elections in Israel are significant in every sense. However, in the Israeli case specifically, and perhaps uniquely, anyone following political developments quickly realizes that the fall of Benjamin Netanyahu and the rise of Prime Minister-designate, former General Gadi Eisenkot, may be nothing more than a reproduction of the same political system and merely a change of faces.

In reality, what is happening is playing for time and replacing one face with another that carries essentially the same features, regardless of the outward appearance. We fully understand that the crimes committed by Netanyahu are so heinous and contemptuous of all human values that wishing for his downfall becomes, for many, an achievement in itself. That is to say, one cannot ask a people who have lost their children, women, land, homes, and even trees for pure objectivity, or to recognize that his removal might grant Israel a fresh opportunity to salvage its image before a world that has begun to reconsider its stance toward it.

We believe that betting on a fundamental shift in Israeli policy toward the Palestinian cause is unrealistic. Objective facts demonstrate that Eisenkot operates strictly beneath the ceiling set by Netanyahu and his allies. This is clearly manifested in the new prime minister's adoption of an absolute "veto" against the establishment of an independent Palestinian state - a position he explicitly declared during his recent election campaign.

This ideological alignment between the two men also extends to their military approach. Eisenkot is no man of peace, as published accounts indicate he was the actual architect of the 2008 developments, which relied on total destruction and the use of disproportionate force against civilians and infrastructure to impose deterrence - the very same approach used by successive Netanyahu governments to destroy infrastructure and the most basic necessities of life for the population in Gaza.

Moreover, the…

Opening of the article, excerpted from Asharq Al-Awsat. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.