Netanyahu and his “gang of pogromists” have willed this war – Ehud Olmert

The supreme aim of the far-right duo National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is not the occupation of the Gaza Strip.

Even settlement throughout the devastated Strip is not the final goal of the bunch of messianic hallucinators that has seized power in the state of Israel. Gaza is just the introductory chapter, the platform this gang wants to build as the foundation upon which the real fight they are eyeing will be conducted: the battle for the West Bank and the Temple Mount.

The ultimate aim of this gang is “purging” the West Bank of its Palestinian inhabitants, cleansing the Temple Mount of its Muslim worshippers and annexing the territories to the state of Israel. The way to achieve this goal is blood-soaked. Israeli blood, in the state and in the territories it has been controlling for 57 years now, as well as Jewish blood in places elsewhere in the world. As well as a lot of Palestinian blood, of course, in the territories, in Jerusalem and if there is no alternative – also among Arab citizens of Israel.

This aim will not be achieved without extensive violent conflict. Armageddon. All-out war. In the south, in Jerusalem, in the territories of the West Bank and to the extent necessary also on the northern border. Such a war will bolster the impression that we are fighting for our lives, for our very existence. In a war for survival, it is permissible to do insufferable things, and the hilltop youth are proving daily that among them are many who are capable of precisely that.

This gang of pogromists has been successful in the first stage prior to the uproar and all-out war that they apparently hope will erupt here. They have taken control of the government of Israel and have made the man who heads it into their servant. The possibility that they will dismantle the government and kick the prime minister out of running the matters of state is not outlandish. It is a process that is taking place at this very moment, step by step.

First, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich decided in effect to sacrifice the hostages. With the intention of preventing the possibility of an end to the successful military campaign that has thus far brought impressive successes to the Israel Defense Forces, even if at a high price. It is clear that we are far from “total victory.” Such a victory is not possible. Even if the military action continues for many more months, the price it is exacting is not worth the “vision” of a victory there is no real possibility of achieving.

Continuing the military action now will drag Israel into Rafah – and that is what they want. Such a move will palpably and immediately endanger the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. There is no doubt that Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and also the Palestinian Authority and Saudi Arabia are all hoping for Hamas to crash and collapse. However, Egypt knows there is a considerable chance that continuation of Israeli military activity will stir the Muslim Brotherhood out of its dormancy.

Egypt has already seen how the Egyptian regime imposed harsh military discipline to block those fundamentalist extremist elements. It was not able to withstand demonstrations by hundreds of thousands at Tahrir Square in the heart of the capital, Cairo. Only tremendous effort, with tacit backing from the international community, enabled more moderate elements headed by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi to take back control in Egypt and lead it as a diplomatic and military entity that is helping to stabilize the Middle East.

Sissi and the military leadership will not take a risk that is liable to plunge Egypt into chaos from which it will be difficult to save itself. Continuation of the military campaign in Rafah, which is overcrowded with more than a million Palestinians, is exactly the fuse that will ignite the streets of Egypt’s cities, and after that also those in Jordan – another country whose relations with Israel are essential to our security.

Before events degenerate, we will be facing several Arab countries that will have lost the remnants of the trust they have in the ability to create a relationship based on cooperation with Israel. However, the United States of America – the ally that inspiringly leapt to help Israel in its moment of unprecedented crisis, when the government was in shock and its leader had lost his last shreds of good judgment and responsibility – will take measures that will shake up Israel’s ability to conduct the military and diplomatic battle and its economic stability.

Amid all this, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to set the Temple Mount on fire. When the riots start around freedom of worship for the Muslim citizens of Israel and the Palestinians from the West Bank and Jerusalem – an extensive wave of terror will crest. This decision is deserving of special condemnation in light of the recent manifestations by Israeli Arab citizens of responsibility and solidarity with the distress their country is experiencing.

Instead of respecting the Arab community’s solidarity, Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir are antagonizing it and inciting against it. Every reasonable person can certainly see this inevitable dynamic. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich and with them the violent hilltop youth and many others in the territories, who are still maintaining a degree of restraint, also understand this.

There is no way to explain their conduct apart from the understanding that this is exactly what they want. This is what they are hoping for. And when the wave of terror erupts, the messianic hallucinators will explain to us that force is necessary to prevent terror. Thus, war will seethe throughout the West Bank.

And we haven’t said anything yet about the northern border. It is possible to try to reach understandings with Lebanon about a solution to the border issue, which could tame the flames that have already been lit there and have forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes.

Possibly sensible, restrained management without boastful declarations and endless threats will create an equation that will enable Hezbollah to depict the appearance of an achievement by a solution to the years-long conflict focused on a few points along the current border and justify withdrawal to the line north of Lebanon’s Litani River. This would enable Israel to restore the feeling of security to inhabitants of the Galilee and bring them home for another 17 years of quiet. As was accomplished by the Second Lebanon War.

But Ben-Gvir and Smotrich do not want quiet on the northern front. A war there too will only reinforce the claim that there is no choice but to destroy all our enemies, on all the fronts, in all the sectors – whatever the price of this conflict may be.

The prime minister understands the inevitable consequences arising from this total surrender to the gang of pogromists that controls his government. He sees, he understands, but he collaborates. Ultimately (and perhaps a priori), Netanyahu is prepared to relinquish the hostages and undermine the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, which are essential pillars in the state of Israel’s security infrastructure.

He is prepared to undermine relations with the United States to the point of a visible crisis with the president most committed ever to Israel’s security, Joe Biden. Netanyahu understands that the continued reckless process will lead to Israel’s isolation in the international community as it has never experienced before. Things are so dire that there is no way to avoid saying them loud and clear: Netanyahu, this will end in a lot more blood. Take heed – you have been warned.