What is Going on in Israel Right Now?
On Oct. 7 at 6:30 in the morning, Hamas, a terrorist group driven by genocidal racism, launched a planned attack on Israel in an attempt to gain leverage and annihilate the country. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, which is a Palestinian region that borders Israel. Next, Hamas fired a barrage of over 3,000 rockets while terrorists stormed into Israeli settlements, using hang-gliders to fly in and secure the area. Later in the day, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reported being targeted by a Hamas commando unit, and their communications were disrupted. The final part of Hamas’ operation was to seize hostages, which included Israeli children and citizens from at least 18 other countries. At 10:34 A.M. Israel announced a declaration of war against Hamas.
At a music festival in Israel, young Israelis were celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot before Hamas terrorists broke into the open space and started firing. Many Israelis were kidnapped by these armed Hamas terrorists. There was nowhere to hide as the festival was taking place in a rural area surrounded by flat fields, roughly two miles from the Gaza border. Explosions could be heard as civilians were fleeing the festival. As of now, upwards of 260 people have been pronounced dead from the festival alone.
So, why is Hamas attacking Israel right now, especially after convincing Israel it did not want to go to war for over two years? On Monday, Oct. 2, Hamas and Iranian security officials held a meeting in Beirut to plan the surprise attack against Israel, where Iran’s government decided to move forward with the assault. Hamas constructed a mock Israeli settlement in Gaza where they practiced a military landing and storming the settlements. Hamas attacked Israel because of their deep-rooted hatred toward the Jewish people. Palestine’s constitution states that “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” It is not a secret that Hamas is extremely anti-Semitic. Additionally, Article 7 of the Palestinian Constitution continues, “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.” Another example of these anti-Semitic beliefs is conveyed by Fathi Hammad, a Senior Hamas Official who said, “We must attack every Jew on planet Earth. We must slaughter and kill them.” The main goal of Hamas is not to protect Palestine or oppose specific Israeli actions or policies but to replace Israel with a brutal regime of religious supremacy. These ideas are pushed on many Palestinian people, and the Jewish people have become scapegoats for many issues in Palestine.
Hamas does not abide by any rules or morals. The terrorist organization is confirmed to have beheaded babies, raped women and slaughtered the elderly. Hamas stormed into Israeli houses and shot at people while they were sleeping. Furthermore, they have killed at least 30 Americans, and at least 13 more are being held hostage. Many other countries outside the Middle East also have missing citizens in Israel. All this goes to show that Hamas does not fight for human rights or to protect Palestine; they fight for evil.
A large number of Palestinians have also been killed in this conflict. Many Palestinians did not choose to live in the Gaza Strip, nor can they afford to leave. This situation is very difficult and dangerous in the Middle East due to Hamas spreading hate and propaganda. Another reason Hamas chose to attack Israel now is that Israel is distracted from their own internal conflict. Over the last few months, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to withdraw power from the Supreme Court of Israel caused an unprecedented number of protests. For Netanyahu, this is another way to gain power, as it would eliminate checks and balances for the government. Many protesters believe that this overhaul is destroying democracy in Israel and creating a situation of unlimited power. The Supreme Court and lower courts would no longer be able to stop government decisions that are deemed extremely unreasonable. Ultimately, the government would be able to pass legislation that judges can’t review. This conflict was splitting Israel in two, and many reserves in the IDF refused to show up for duty until Netanyahu repealed the act. With the smaller number of reservists, Israel’s national security was weakened when Hamas attacked them.
Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Yariv Levine had different opinions on the matter. As one of the biggest trailblazers of the judicial overhaul, he stated, “This judicial reform is necessary in order to reign in a judiciary that has too much power.” Subsequently, he believes his actions will benefit the people of Israel, claiming that the judicial system works against the people.
Israeli politics are very complex, and not that similar to the U.S. government. A big part of Israel’s politics is embedded in the Knesset, which is the Israeli parliament. In elections, Israeli citizens will vote for the party of their choice, and that party gets a certain amount of parliament seats based on how many votes they get. Then, the party selects the candidates who will represent them in parliament. These new parliamentary leaders will vote for a candidate in parliament to become Prime Minister, who has received a majority. Even though Netanyahu has been criticized for many years in Israel, he has still been picked as the Prime Minister because the most popular parties (such as Likud) selected Netanyahu as their choice. Netanyahu has now served as Prime Minister for 15 years, being the longest-tenured prime minister in Israel’s short history. Netanyahu is on the far right side of Israel’s politics, and many of his supporters are ultra-Orthodox Jews. These ultra-Orthodox are religious extremists and generally hold anti-LGBTQ and racist ideologies as well. These differing parties are not neutral, which is why their strong willed and contradicting ideologies make it so difficult to compromise on issues. The Knesset plays a very similar role to the U.S congress. The Knesset also has a majority of far-right representatives, leaving the courts as the only barriers of what Netanyahu could accomplish.
Israelis, Jewish people around the world, and other allies continue to show support for Israel. When thinking of the Israel-Palestine conflict, it is important to never forget how the Holocaust killed over 6 million Jews; humankind can never let such a catastrophe and terrible genocide happen again. “We will not allow a reality in which Israeli children are murdered,” said Israel Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. “I have removed every restriction — we will eliminate anyone who fights us, and use every measure at our disposal.” Israel is a miracle to the dwindling generation of Zionists because when it was created, it reestablished hope in society in the wake of the Holocaust. But, with the recent developments of war, anti-semitism and decreasing democracy, Zionists are again in fear of losing their safe haven.