It’s somewhat ironic and intriguing that under Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, perhaps the most right-wing and intransigent and controversial (not least due to his on-going corruption cases) Prime Minister the country has ever had so far, Israel is now enjoying buoyant support and good-will from its erstwhile Arab detractors with particular reference to Saudi Arabia and majority of the Gulf states with perhaps the exception of Qatar – a major supporter of Hamas and Gaza. Qatar has insisted that Israel first commit to the Arab Peace Initiative (API) embodied in withdrawal from the West Bank, East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine (Dawlat Filastin), and the right of return or repatriation of refugees.
Currently, among the Arab and Muslim nations, Israel enjoys full diplomatic relations with Egypt and Jordan. Turkey downgraded relations in 2011 only to be restored in 2016 but both countries again cut top-level diplomatic ties in May 2018 whilst retaining their respective embassies. Azerbaijan is another Muslim country enjoying full diplomatic ties with Israel.
In Dec 2020, Al-Jazeera reported that Turkey is seeking to improve its bilateral relations with Israel by picking a former graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and pro-Palestine advocate to be its nominated ambassador. However, there’s been no concrete response from the Israeli side. The inertia could be reflective of Israel’s triumphalist mood – in successfully securing normalisation agreements from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, the Sudan and Morocco.
Paradoxically then, Israel’s external front especially with reference to its immediate (Arab/Muslim) neighbours in particular with the sole exception of Syria is fully secure whilst domestically or better still it’s relations with the State of Palestine remains status quo ante (the same as before).
Such a scenario could also be aptly described as the “paradox of Israel’s moral legitimacy” – since the Jewish State has now obtained that moral legitimacy which it had craved but the one remaining country which is also its closest neighbour continues to be subjugated and occupied and to a certain extent deprived of freedom of movement of people and goods as a basic and fundamental human right – contrary to all international laws and moral norms.
As the saying goes, “the more things change, the more they remain the same”.
Not only has Netanyahu secured a diplomatic coup (again vis-à-vis the Gulf Cooperation Council/GCC), but more practically speaking, he’s managed to significantly “decouple” the Palestinian issue from the wider Arab agenda by leveraging on the Iran threat with the previous Trump administration acting as the impetus-fulcrum, “sweetener” and “clincher” of the normalisation agreement to establish diplomatic relations.
But with Qatar as the principal financier of Hamas and of the Palestinian Territory of Gaza still outside of the diplomatic equation, among other things, Netanyahu must surely – or at least he ought to – realise that his triumphalism is misplaced and premature.
With the looming Israeli general election to elect members of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) on Mar 23, Netanyahu has been trying to secure something else – his re-election set against the backdrop of his on-going corruption cases (bribery, fraud and breach of trust). He’s also capitalising on his normalisation deals with the selected Arab countries in a (vain) attempt to win over and garner Arab votes. All of this with the ultimate aim of hoping to persuade Parliament (on the back of a majority no less) once returned to power to grant him legal immunity from the corruption charges.
This moral anomaly is not only confined to his political character, to be sure.
Only last week, Israel had blocked shipment of vaccines bound for the Gaza Strip. Whatever policy reasons (security, sovereignty) Israel has, the fully-fledged nation which retains control over external matters and even domestic policies such as fiscal or revenue collection and construction has, therefore, a moral – not to mention - legal responsibility over the fledgling State of Palestine.
It’s only due to a legal challenge mounted that Netanyahu belatedly was compelled to halt the “controversial plan to ship surplus coronavirus vaccines to a group of allied nations … [nearly two weeks ago]” (as reported in Al-Jazeera, Feb 26, 2021). In what can only be described as a form of moral “casuistry” on the part of Israel, it has to date not shipped even a single vaccine to the West Bank and Gaza which are home to 5.2 million Palestinians.
Unsurprisingly, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has labelled Israel’s overseas vaccine shipments as “political blackmail and an immoral act” and “exploitation of the humanitarian needs of these countries”.
Externally, Gaza only received its first shipment of vaccines on Feb 17 which as allowed by Israeli authorities comprising a meagre 2,000 doses (Sputnik V) from Russia) to enter Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing (Egyptian-Gaza-Israeli border). According to spokesman for the Palestinian health ministry Ashraf al-Qedra (as reported in France 24 news agency), the Gaza Strip has about 12000 medical workers and the priority is to “inoculate vulnerable patients, such as organ transplant and dialysis patients”.
Perhaps, with or without Netanyahu’s re-election, Israel might still move towards normalisation with Qatar – a breakthrough by way of the former relaxing and easing blockade measures alongside opening up for greater and more visible role for the latter to play in the reconstruction and development of Gaza. On Feb 26, it’s been reported that Qatar has pledged USD60 million for the construction of a natural gas pipeline running from Israel into the Gaza Strip. With such a proposal, who needs the Deal of the Century (DOTC)? The DOTC is, anyway, a relic of history now.
So, will Qatar be key, among others, in allowing Israel to gain what it covets in the eyes of the international community, namely that moral legitimacy especially in the eyes of the wider Muslim and Islamic world?
The one and only issue was, is and has always been the viability of the two-state solution: The State of Palestine co-existing and flourishing side-by-side with the State of Israel.
So long as a two-state solution remains a forlorn hope, Israel’s moral legitimacy as nation born out of victimisation is completely and unequivocally hollow and in fact shouldn’t be “paraded” before the world every now and then, even in conjunction with the Holocaust (Shoah). If Israel can “decouple” the two-state solution from its normalisation deals, why can’t the Holocaust be “decoupled” from Israel’s moral legitimacy. In fact, by now, it should be kept separate even as Israel’s behaviour and acts against Palestinians in Occupied Palestine has gone from bad to worse over the decades.
Recently, the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s Pre-Trial Chamber I by a majority announced that “the Court's territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine, a State party to the ICC Rome Statute, extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem”. This means that the ICC which is the international court that rules on war crimes can now judicially (read: authoritatively) decide on the atrocities committed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) or related security apparatus in Occupied Palestine which as a sovereign country in its own right is a party to the Statute of Rome (which governs the ICC).
In conclusion, the elephant in the room – the two-state solution which remains elusive as ever particularly under Netanyahu’s watch – shows that the triumphalism from the normalisation deals is just illusory. Israel’s moral legitimacy can only be gained if it pursues peace and normalisation with the State of Palestine as vigorously as she does with the selected Arab countries.
Jason Loh Seong Wei is Head of Social, Law & Human Rights at EMIR Research, an independent think tank focussed on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.
** The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of Astro AWANI.
Jason Loh Seong Wei
Mon Mar 08 2021
Netanyahu is also capitalising on his normalisation deals with the selected Arab countries in a (vain) attempt to win over and garner Arab votes. Filepic/REUTERS
35 laluan bas Rapid KL terlibat penyelarasan operasi bermula hari ini
Sebanyak 35 laluan atau 13 peratus daripada keseluruhan 264 laluan bas Rapid KL di Lembah Klang termasuk bas perantara Laluan Transit Aliran Massa (MRT) terlibat dalam penyelarasan operasi.
AWANI Ringkas: Kes Bunuh | Korporat | Net Zero 2050
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
AWANI Ringkas: Beli Kondo Mewah | Komoditi | UNESCO
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Pemecatan salah: Bekas pengurus menang saman terhadap BNM
Mahkamah Tinggi hari ini memutuskan bahawa pemecatan bekas pengurus Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) kerana menyertai aktiviti politik pada 2016 sebagai tidak sah dan menyalahi undang-undang.
AWANI 7:45 [29/03/2024] – Malaysia ada undang-undang | Sindiket seludup membabitkan Kastam | Pegawai polis lindungi kegiatan haram
Ketua Polis Negara beri amaran jangan ambil tindakan sendiri.
Rugi RM2 bilion akibat seludup.
SPRM jangka ada bos lebih senior lindungi kegiatan haram.
RM37.6 juta tampung kos tol percuma sempena Aidilfitri.
Rugi RM2 bilion akibat seludup.
SPRM jangka ada bos lebih senior lindungi kegiatan haram.
RM37.6 juta tampung kos tol percuma sempena Aidilfitri.
Guru wanita cabul pelajar direhatkan - Fadhlina
Guru wanita yang didakwa mencabul seorang pelajar lelaki dalam kes tular baru-baru ini, direhatkan sehingga siasatan kes itu selesai.
Umat Islam perlu pertahan tradisi ilmu, akliah Al-Azhar - PM
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menggesa umat Islam di negara ini untuk terus pertahankan tradisi ilmu serta akliah, yang dihidupkan oleh Universiti Al-Azhar (Al-Azhar), Mesir.
Haji furada: Syarikat pelancongan diperintah bayar RM634,000 kepada 25 bekas pelanggan
Kesemua 25 individu selaku plaintif berjaya membuktikan tuntutan terhadap syarikat itu yang dinamakan sebagai defendan dalam saman berkenaan.
Kerajaan Pahang pertimbang bonus raya penjawat awam - MB
Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail berkata pihaknya sedang meneliti kedudukan kewangan terlebih dahulu sebelum sebarang keputusan dimuktamad.
P. Pinang pantau rapi kapasiti Empangan Air Itam
PBAPP mengambil langkah awal sejak Februari, dengan melaksanakan Pelan Tindakan Empangan Air Itam 2024 (AIDAP 2024) menerusi beberapa strategi.
Amaran Perancis pada Israel: “Pemindahan paksa rakyat Palestin adalah jenayah perang”
Macron beritahu Netanyahu hasrat Perancis untuk bawa draf resolusi kepada Majlis Keselamatan PBB yang menggesa "gencatan senjata segera dan berkekalan."
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Netanyahu arah penjara Israel bersedia untuk terima 'ribuan' tahanan baharu
Lebih ramai lagi akan ditangkap di Gaza dan Israel akan kehabisan ruang penjara jika tidak melakukan sesuatu sekarang, dakwa Netanyahu.
Ribuan rakyat Israel turun ke jalanan protes kerajaan
Penunjuk perasaan juga menuntut kerajaan membuat perjanjian untuk 134 tebusan yang ditahan di Gaza.
Netanyahu enggan berundur dari Gaza
Sumber Palestin mendakwa Netanyahu menghalang sebarang usaha untuk mencapai perjanjian gencatan senjata dengan Hamas.
Netanyahu ulangi ikrar untuk hapuskan Hamas
Netanyahu tetap berkeras mahu memperluaskan kempen pengeboman ganas di Rafah meskipun berdepan tekanan antarabangsa.
Netanyahu setuju sekat akses penduduk Palestin ke Al-Aqsa sepanjang Ramadan - Laporan
Sekalipun sudah diberi amaran tindakan itu akan tingkatkan kemarahan, Netanyahu tetap mahu hadkan kemasukan umat Islam.
Israel akan tetap serang Rafah
Netanyahu turut tidak memberi sebarang indikasi bila serangan itu akan berlaku atau ke mana ratusan ribu penduduk akan pergi.
Netanyahu dakwa Hamas tidak kemuka cadangan baharu
Netanyahu turut memaklumkan Israel tidak akan menyerah kepada tuntutan Hamas.
Joe Biden semakin kecewa dengan sikap Benjamin Netanyahu
Presiden AS sangat kecewa PM Israel abai nasihatnya untuk kurangkan krisis kemanusiaan di Gaza.