Endgame in Israel
Publisher: In-Sight Publishing
Publisher Founding: March 1, 2014
Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com
Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Journal Founding: August 2, 2012
Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year
Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed
Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access
Fees: None (Free)
Volume Numbering: 12
Issue Numbering: 1
Section: B
Theme Type: Idea
Theme Premise: “Outliers and Outsiders”
Theme Part: 29
Formal Sub-Theme: None.
Individual Publication Date: October 15, 2023
Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2024
Author(s): Sam Vaknin (Brussels Morning)
Author(s) Bio(s): Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self-love: Narcissism Revisited as well as many other books and ebooks about topics in psychology, relationships, philosophy, economics, international affairs, and award-winning short fiction. He is former Visiting Professor of Psychology, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia and Professor of Finance and Psychology in CIAPS (Commonwealth for International Advanced and Professional Studies). He was the Editor-in-Chief of Global Politician and served as a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, eBookWeb, and Bellaonline, and as a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent. He was the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory and Suite101. His YouTube channels garnered 60,000,000 views and 305,000 subscribers. Visit Sam’s Web site: http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com.
Word Count: 713
Image Credit: Sam Vaknin
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2369-6885
*Submitted October 8 at 11:16 p.m. Pacific Time.*
*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citations, after the publication.*
Keywords: al-Aqsa, Gaza, Hamas, Iron Dome, Israel, Israelis, Jerusalem, Netanyahu, Palestine, Palestinians, Sam Vaknin, war, West Bank.
Endgame in Israel
On Saturday, October 7, 2023, a Jewish holy day, more than 1000 Palestinian fighters, affiliated with Hamas, penetrated the security wall (fence) from the Gaza Strip and entered the territory of the State of Israel. They also landed from the sea and a few paraglided into Israeli territory.
They took over several villages and towns, killed about 700 Israelis, most of them civilians, including women and children, and abducted more than 130 Israelis, both military personnel and civilians, including children. Another 2,400 are wounded, about 400 of them in critical condition.
At the time of writing, 48 hours later, some of the infiltrators are still within Israels’ territory and in control of several townships.
The whole campaign was accompanied by volleys of thousands of rockets that overwhelmed Israel’s defense system, Iron Dome and caused damage in multiple major cities, including Tel-Aviv, Ashkelon, and Jerusalem.
There was a massive failure of Israeli preemptive intelligence and of the military response once the incursion commenced.
The official reason given by Hamas for the “al-Aqsa Flood” military campaign, is the growing number of Jewish visitors to the al-Aqsa mosque, a Muslim holy site in Jerusalem.
The true reasons are:
1. The decline in the popularity of Hamas within Gaza and the West Bank owing to egregious failures of governance, growing internecine violence, and corruption of its officials; and
2. The imminent normalization of Israel’s relations with the rest of the Arab world – including, soon, with Saudi Arabia – at the expense of the overlooked interests of the Palestinians.
Hamas wants to burnish its credentials as an organization that is fighting for the liberation of Palestine from the Israeli much-hated occupation and, at the same time, restore the Palestinian problem as the main item on the agendas of Middle Eastern, Arab, Muslim, and US politics.
Similar to al-Qaeda and ISIS before it, Hamas deployed and depleted all its assets in one last desperate and self-destructive convulsive attempt. It will not be able to repeat this operation, even if it were to survive.
Hamas intends to use the hostages as human shields and then trade them for Palestinian militants held in Israeli prisons. Executions of hostages can also serve to sway public opinion and to score tactical goals in negotiations with Israel in the future.
Hezbollah in Lebanon has already rocketed targets in Northern Israel, but it was a limited and symbolic attack. Remarkably, there were also no major disturbances in the West Bank or inside Israel. Fatah, the main political movement in the West Bank, must be delighted with the self-immolation of its archenemy, Hamas.
If Israel were to maintain the proportionality of its reaction, the conflict will remain contained.
But, if Israel were to try to reconquer the Gaza Strip and eradicate Hamas, it will find itself at war with all the Palestinians, wherever they are – as well as with Iran and, possibly, Russia. Another outcome could be terrorist attacks in Europe on Jewish targets.
It all depends on Israel’s self-control and statesmanship now. The answer to terrorism should never be state terrorism.
Israel will cleanse the last remaining cells of Palestinians fighters within its territory and then invade the Gaza Strip after heavy aerial bombardments. This war is going to last weeks or months.
Israeli society has never been more divided and polarized: over the anti-democratic judicial reforms pushed by the criminally indicted Prime Minister Netanyahu and his corrupt and extremist allies; over the mushrooming political power of the ultra-Orthodox Jews; over the military; over income inequality and the unsustainable cost of living; over left vs. right; over the never-ending conflict with the Palestinians; and over many more issues of identity and values.
This war will unite the Israelis in the very short-term: a government of national unity is already in the works. But then it will serve to divide Israel and break it apart as the lessons of this surprise attack are learned. Israel is headed to a slow-motion internecine civil war. Its very survival is at risk.
In the process of this soul-searching and power play, Israel will become a way more authoritarian polity, militarized, and ostracized. This siege mentality will result in rogue actions by Israel throughout the oil-rich region. An era of extreme danger is upon us all, wherever we may be.
Bibliography
None
Footnotes
None
Citations
American Medical Association (AMA 11th Edition): Vaknin S. Endgame in Israel. September 2023; 12(1). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/endgame-israel
American Psychological Association (APA 7th Edition): Vaknin, S. (2023, October 15). Endgame in Israel. In-Sight Publishing. 12(1).
Brazilian National Standards (ABNT): VAKNIN, S. Endgame in Israel. In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, Fort Langley, v. 12, n. 1, 2023.
Chicago/Turabian, Author-Date (17th Edition): Vaknin, Sam. 2023. “Endgame in Israel.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 12, no. 1 (Winter). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/endgame-israel.
Chicago/Turabian, Notes & Bibliography (17th Edition): Vaknin, S “Endgame in Israel.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 12, no. 1 (September 2023).http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/endgame-israel.
Harvard: Vaknin, S. (2023) ‘Endgame in Israel’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, 12(1). <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/endgame-israel>.
Harvard (Australian): Vaknin, S 2023, ‘Endgame in Israel’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vol. 12, no. 1, <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/endgame-israel>.
Modern Language Association (MLA, 9th Edition): Vaknin, Sam. “Endgame in Israel.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vo.12, no. 1, 2023, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/endgame-israel.
Vancouver/ICMJE: Sam V. Endgame in Israel [Internet]. 2023 Sep; 12(1). Available from: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/endgame-israel.
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