Do you believe Israel’s mistake consisted in not having adequately planned the Cast Lead offensive and not having a real strategy for fighting Hamas?
It is not only the Israeli government that does not know how to oppose Hamas, the whole world is experiencing problems. The problem is that Hamas is a terrorist movement that fights in unconventional ways and over which Iran has great control. In this specific situation, before Israel attacked, the people of Gaza had nothing to gain in refusing to continue the ceasefire, because they knew that if they continued to launch rockets, Israel would react forcefully. Hamas continued to attack, not in the interest of its own people, but rather in that of Iran. And Iran’s interests are extremely clear; above all, to prevent Israel and Syria from reaching an agreement. The problem is that Hamas does not defend the interests of its own people and Hezbollah does not defend those of the Lebanese. They are both part of a larger extremist movement controlled by Iran, and so it is difficult for the entire international community to understand how to oppose them.
Do the Israelis feel represented by this government and the same leaders who have been in power for almost two decades?
I can say that unfortunately this war will receive almost unanimous support from the Israeli people. Seventy-five percent of Israelis approved the Olmert government’s decision to intervene against Hamas. This because Hamas continued to fire rockets at Israeli cities for six consecutive years. I do not oppose the many protests that have come from numerous countries concerning the Israeli offensive; I believe they are right. Unfortunately George W. Bush and his administration’s Middle East policies sent a message according to which civilian lives are not very important.
Is the war on Gaza linked in some way to Israel’s next general election?
I think that the February elections are not the reason for Operation Cast Lead. The Israelis had to react to attacks by Hamas and went to war without considering the elections. That said, it seems to me that this offensive was carried out in such a way that someone would be advantaged in the next elections rather than this being what sparked off this war, which I believe was dictated by internal political reasons. Personalities such as Tzipi Livni were certainly encouraged by their advisors to use an iron fist to reassure voters. This how ever does not necessarily mean that the government waged war with the only objective of winning the elections. That would be ridiculous. The last thing Olmert wanted was another Lebanon.
How do you explain the fact that in 2006 the Israelis criticised Olmert’s decision to attack The Lebanon, while they now support him in the war on Gaza?
First of all, during the war in The Lebanon, Olmert made the serious mistake of making a promise he would never have been able to keep. By this I mean promising to free Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas. In this war instead, he basically didn’t promise anything, so expectations were lower. Secondly, Hezbollah has never represented the majority of the Lebanese people, there has never been a President who was a member of Hezbollah, which furthermore has never had a majority in parliament. In Gaza things are different because Hamas won the last elections and hence the Palestinians are thus identified with Hamas. When in 2006 the Olmert government attacked The Lebanon, public opinion criticised the government, because for Israelis this was an offensive against civilians and not against Hezbollah. In addition to this one must add what I call the moral deterioration of Israeli society.
What do you mean by the “moral deterioration of Israeli society?” To what extent does this affect relations with the Palestinians?
I believe that the constant battle against Islamic extremism has rendered Israelis more indifferent and cold as far as their enemies are concerned. When the conflict was against the PLO, identification was easier; this was a century-old movement fighting for international recognition, so for the Israelis the identification process was simpler. When Hamas, which is an extremist organisation, replaced the PLO, Israeli public opinion reacted in a xenophobic manner. The Israelis hate Hamas because it represents values that are incomprehensible to us. This is why Israeli society is far more frightened of Hamas or Hezbollah than is was of the PLO.
Translated by Francesca Simmons