In his fancy speech on September 27 at the United Nations, Netanyahu gave the world two choices: to become an ally of Israel or ready to meet their fate as poor Palestinians. His rhetoric of binaries between the blessings and the curse expresses that his endgame has no limits until he fulfills his biblical (or Talmudic) prophecies, ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the Promised Land (Greater Israel). He reminded the Jewish people, the US government, and his adversaries alike that he was doing a religious duty. His political act and self-righteousness are ordained under the command of Moses, King Solomon, and the reference of the Book of Samuel.
Netanyahu's endgame is nothing but to carry the torch of what he believes is 'the rightful custodian of saving Israel'. He quotes Moses, "bequeathing future generations of blessings against curses". His wisdom didn't stop at offering his worldview but a warning that his war is permanent. Quoting the biblical reference that "Israel's eternity will not falter". Many experts are arguing that his actions are self-fulfilling and refusal to accept his political end in Israeli Politics. But despite the merits of such an explanation, he is much beyond the scope of political calculations. Netanyahu, in his speech, confessed that no place in Iran is out of his savagery's reach. He thinks that Israel needs him more than he needs Israel because this is a war between civilisation and barbarism. He argues without much hiccups that the Iranian axis of resistance, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, and others, is a curse for human civilisation not restricted to the borders of Israel. He represents the common good and his war against the darkness comes from Tehran.
In his speech of self-pitying and ordained wisdom, he reminded the world that he is the peacemaker. Abraham Accords and the normalisation with Arab neighbours fundamentally fulfills his world view. He argues that it's Iran which has spoiled the peace in the Middle East by arming proxies against Israel and that the October 7, 2023, attack was the final red line. His endgame unleashes itself in Gaza killing nearly 50,000 poor Palestinians including thousands of innocent children. Such savagery is what Netanyahu calls a rightful response. Gaza has become reminiscent of the Stone Age, still he is bombing the narrow strip and vows not to stop until he finds his endgame in Gaza and the complete ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
The Western press and the American government clandestinely support everything that Netanyahu represents. This is a criminal and persistent orientalist lens of looking at the non-Western world. The hypocrisy is baffling. On the pretext of a ceasefire and maximum pressure on Netanyahu, the US administration is stacking his armory with billions of dollars, advanced technology, and even bunker buster bombs which killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. US' unconditional support to Israel is a larger theatre of world politics where the division of Humanity is racial and the white blood is more significant than the non-whites. This is not subaltern frustration but common sense.
Rumors surrounding the death of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash are now resurfacing from Mossad's angle after the recent pager blasts across Lebanon
One forgets that both Hamas and Hezbollah are the product of Israel's crimes and savagery against the Palestinians and Lebanese since 1948 against any civilised sensibility, international laws, and Iranian threats. One need not to be a Palestinian, an Arab, a communist or a Muslim to understand that. This is pure common sense and a human question. The long list of crimes of the states of Israel and the US indicate a war between Judeo-Christin heritage vs the Islamic civilisation. These are fundamental flaws in which many Muslims equally think. The best representation of Palestinian voice come from Edward Said, Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Judith Butler and thousands across the world.
For many years, Palestinians have been victims, not just of Israel. The Iranian axis and Arab security dilemma emanating from Tehran onto Arab streets has been a contributor to the miseries rather than of much help. Since the 1979 Iranian revolution, the battle for representing the Muslim world between Iran and Saudi Arabia has benefited Israel and US hegemony in the region. The Abraham Accords remind us that the Arab states get cold feet under the Iranian axis, ultimately benefiting Israel.
What next after Nasrallah?
Netanyahu's endgame won't stop at Hassan Nasrallah's death or expelling Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon (or all of Lebanon for that matter). Experts argue that demolishing the entire military structure of Hezbollah and Hamas is the greatest victory Israel has secured since the June 5th war of 1967. Rumors surrounding the death of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash are now resurfacing from Mossad's angle after the recent pager blasts across Lebanon. The assassination of Hamas chief Ismael Haniyeh in Tehran clouded that fear and exposed the limitation of Iranian rhetoric. What could be the next target that will cement Netanyahu in Israel's larger game of ethnic cleansing? Arguably, Yahya Sinwar would be spared until Hamas agreed to hand over the remaining hostages. This is the perfect dilemma. Hamas hasn't died despite allowing the Israeli military to turn Gaza into a killing field.
His madness will make Israel forever unsafe and Jews across the world a potential target. Ideologies don't die with individuals. There will be hundreds of Nasrallah and Haniyeh if he thinks killing them will stop the conflict
Netanyahu is arguably the biggest beneficiary of the October 7th attack of Hamas on Israeli citizens. He calls it the second Holocaust against Israel, commanding support from US and European allies. The Western press echoes his sentiments and blinds themselves that October 7 is not the start but a response to a thousand criminal acts of Israel's actions under unconditional support from the US. Netanyahu's fury has found an elixir. He is making his madness a civilisational value. Perhaps history bares him out that his madness will make Israel forever unsafe and Jews across the world a potential target. Ideologies don't die with individuals. There will be hundreds of Nasrallahs and Haniyehs if he thinks killing these individuals will stop the conflict. Nasrallah was Tehran's voice in the Arab world. His death might unsettle Iran's larger goal but it won't make Israel safe either, rather just a comfort of half-truth to Netanyahu's madness. Qassim Suleimani, Haniyeh, Nasrallah, and many more have put the Iranians in the dock, facing a series of setbacks and under extreme pressure. The war is at their door now. The so-called clash of civilisation and modernity vs savagery has become a clash of ideologies, clash of world views, and clash of medieval thoughts with modern weaponry.
In the present circumstances, Iran can't match Israel. This is not a conventional war anymore. This is the time of a technological war that Israel has the upper hand in and Netanyahu exploits the endless bloodbath. Undoubtedly, he is a qualified war criminal but he won't be punished. The world is divided on Netanyahu's offers of blessings and curses but no mindful person or state should fall to his prophecies. Such narratives are well supplied from many quarters that think peace is a possibility by killing chiefs of Hamas and Hezbollah. The Israel-Palestine conflict is not just territorial but ideological as well. The tribes of Netanyahu think he is acting in the name of God but his madness has made Israel a paranoid state.
In proposing biblical prophecies, he has become a curse for all good that might have been promised to humans, including the Jews. His impunity is a collective failure. War and conflicts are psychological illnesses. There is nothing holy about a war launched in the name of God. Perhaps Netanyahu reminds himself that using Moses for his Endgame is probably blasphemous to his faith. Israel will have more to lose if he continues. For Palestinians there is nothing left but memory.