It is an heated topic. So far I only read media articles later I want to read scientifical articles to get a better picture of the situation.
My conclusions are so far provisional and still can change,
I am from Germany and the relation between Germany and Israel is controversial. Angela Merkel said the German "Staatsräson" reasons of state is the security of the Israel state. Due to our past we have a special duty to protect Israel. I agree on that.
The German population though questions whether Israel is really the victim in this conflict. Especially many leftwingers see Palestine as the less powerful state which has many disadvantages. I don't have a strong opinion on that. I needed to read more literature on the history of that conflict.
I think it is easy for people to judge Israel if they themselves live in peaceful countries, where they never have to fear an assault. If you yourself lost a loved one to terrorists it is hard to stay rational and not be overwhelmed by your emotions. I think many Western politicians fear an over-reaction of Israel. I think Scholz and Macron found the right words. It is similar (in my opinion) of what happened after 9/11. One seeks for revenge for some justice but this clearly can lead to collateral damage. I think it would lead to way too many deaths of civilians if they cut off huge parts of Palestine from their resources. In the longrun this won't stop the terror it would make everything way worse. Or sending the ground troops in certain areas has also devastating consequences. The Hamas stops the evacuations and people in hospitals cannot leave anyway. So many of them would be doomed to a very cruel death.
I sympathize a lot with many liberal Israelis who warned the nation that inevitably retaliations will happen if the conflicts is does not get solved by cooperation. There are right wing extremists in the Israeli government who certainly do not act in favor to solve this problem with peaceful means. However I think the Hamas is probably worse than these extremists. But both fuel this conflict so much that a further bloodbath is seemingly unavoidable.
The Hamas probably aided by Iran and other nations wanted to attack Israel in a vulnerable state i.e. the constitutional crisis that Netanjahu provoked to save his own ass from prison. I once made a thread it is a great example how some states men put their own well-being over the well-being of the country.
I really hoped that the constitutional court came to a reasonable solution to save the Israeli democracy. However the Hamas shamelessly attacked Israel. They are fully responsible of what is happening now. They wanted that attack and now the civilians on both sides are once again the victims.
I don't see any improvement in the next future. The situation probably escalates very much soon but I hope no other nation will declare a war on Israel this could happen very easily. One should not consider the safety of Israel self-evident. I am too young to have experienced how Israel won wars against nations which wanted to eradicate it. I am scared whether the US and the rest of the Western world will be able to help Ukraine and Israel at the same to time to defend their right to exist as an independent country.
The current political situation can be pretty depressing. But maybe we in peaceful countries can see how greatful we must be for freedom, liberal values and that we should not take democracy for granted.
My conclusions are so far provisional and still can change,
I am from Germany and the relation between Germany and Israel is controversial. Angela Merkel said the German "Staatsräson" reasons of state is the security of the Israel state. Due to our past we have a special duty to protect Israel. I agree on that.
The German population though questions whether Israel is really the victim in this conflict. Especially many leftwingers see Palestine as the less powerful state which has many disadvantages. I don't have a strong opinion on that. I needed to read more literature on the history of that conflict.
I think it is easy for people to judge Israel if they themselves live in peaceful countries, where they never have to fear an assault. If you yourself lost a loved one to terrorists it is hard to stay rational and not be overwhelmed by your emotions. I think many Western politicians fear an over-reaction of Israel. I think Scholz and Macron found the right words. It is similar (in my opinion) of what happened after 9/11. One seeks for revenge for some justice but this clearly can lead to collateral damage. I think it would lead to way too many deaths of civilians if they cut off huge parts of Palestine from their resources. In the longrun this won't stop the terror it would make everything way worse. Or sending the ground troops in certain areas has also devastating consequences. The Hamas stops the evacuations and people in hospitals cannot leave anyway. So many of them would be doomed to a very cruel death.
I sympathize a lot with many liberal Israelis who warned the nation that inevitably retaliations will happen if the conflicts is does not get solved by cooperation. There are right wing extremists in the Israeli government who certainly do not act in favor to solve this problem with peaceful means. However I think the Hamas is probably worse than these extremists. But both fuel this conflict so much that a further bloodbath is seemingly unavoidable.
The Hamas probably aided by Iran and other nations wanted to attack Israel in a vulnerable state i.e. the constitutional crisis that Netanjahu provoked to save his own ass from prison. I once made a thread it is a great example how some states men put their own well-being over the well-being of the country.
I really hoped that the constitutional court came to a reasonable solution to save the Israeli democracy. However the Hamas shamelessly attacked Israel. They are fully responsible of what is happening now. They wanted that attack and now the civilians on both sides are once again the victims.
I don't see any improvement in the next future. The situation probably escalates very much soon but I hope no other nation will declare a war on Israel this could happen very easily. One should not consider the safety of Israel self-evident. I am too young to have experienced how Israel won wars against nations which wanted to eradicate it. I am scared whether the US and the rest of the Western world will be able to help Ukraine and Israel at the same to time to defend their right to exist as an independent country.
The current political situation can be pretty depressing. But maybe we in peaceful countries can see how greatful we must be for freedom, liberal values and that we should not take democracy for granted.
