Israel has more problems than everybody knows
A pro-Palestinian protester holds a sign inside a bus during a demonstration outside the Watergate Hotel following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address at Congress, Washington, D.C., U.S., July 24, 2024. (AFP Photo)

Tel Aviv's actions in Gaza spark global scrutiny and suspicion, adding to its already complex web of problems



American international relations professor John Mearsheimer, an academic aware of Israel’s heinous policies and its influence on American politics, said that "Israel's problems are deep and unfixable for a number of reasons, including having no military solution against external threats like Hezbollah, having a crippling financial dependence on the U.S. and having the presence of internal chaos threatening civil war ... Israel's army is worn out due to what has happened in Gaza, and it still has not beaten Hamas."

Mearsheimer is right in what he argued and there is even more. He will agree that Israel will never stay away from trouble since it is the troublemaker. Historically, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria were defending the Palestinian cause until they gave up over time. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had once blamed Saddam Hussein’s Iraq as the biggest threat to his country. However, although Hussein was executed and Iraq is weak now, the number of Israel’s foes has not decreased in number.

Today, there are new governmental and nongovernmental actors adopting the Palestinian cause. Currently, Iran and its proxies support Palestine, though the benefit of their support is doubtful. There is no indicator that Egypt or any other regional Arabic-speaking Muslim country will resume defending Palestine in the near future. However, almost all Arabic-speaking countries' governments welcome the two-state solution, which could end enmity and ingrain peace in Palestine. Yet, whether due to Israel’s political strength or the Jewish diaspora’s support, Israelis chose violence as the only viable solution to get rid of Palestinians and invade their lands. Despite various resources, Israel has not won a full-fledged victory against the Palestinians. Perhaps it is this failure that has provoked them to persecute more Palestinians and confiscate more of their lands.

Obviously, Israel will massacre more innocent people and reap more hatred in return. Unlike previous oppressions, Israel has failed to play the victim and hide behind the excuse of self-defense. Their brutality is so overt that the worldwide audience, while watching it uncensored, permanently loses its sympathy for Israelis as well as Jews. This aspect should be concerning for Israelis because they are no longer welcome in other countries, even as tourists. It can be said that it is the usual result of Israeli ruffianism, whose further repercussions are on the way.

One of the upcoming problems is that while anti-Semitism was a fake excuse to punish critics of Israel and Jews, it has/will become real due to the Gaza genocide. Israelis cannot complain about it because they themselves boost anti-Semitism with their behaviors. Whenever they complain about Semite hatred, people will point to Gaza. Pressing foreign governments to stop anti-Semitism will also not be effective as none of them wants to face their own public who lost their trust in Israel. Even the American youth oppose Israel’s genocide and this loss of faith in the occupier government will eventually affect American politics and politicians.

Perhaps the worst problem for Israel, and generally the Jewish diaspora, is the spontaneous observance of Jews by Gentiles due to the ongoing brutality in Gaza. Whenever an uprising, economic turmoil or political crisis happens in a country, people will investigate whether Israel has any interference in it. For instance, when the last civil unrest against immigrants erupted in the U.K., people checked whether there was any connection between the events and Israel. Given that the leading figure of far-right groups, namely Tommy Robinson, has links to Israel, people seriously think that Israel ignited the violent protests since the new U.K. government banned sales of arms to Israel and accepted Netanyahu’s likely detention as per the International Court of Justice (ICJ) verdict.

Strict observation of people on Israel and its Jewish citizens will indeed be a headache and lead to discomfort among Israelis. Therefore, in addition to the problems Mearsheimer laid down, Israel has more problems, most of which it cannot fix.