Hamas ' Fear - A Lesson for Populistic Politicians

By Yuval Noah Harary ) “author Sapiens”, “Homo Deus” and “Unstoppathable Us” and history professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem*

The Israelites are trying to understand what has just hit us. At first, we compared the current disaster to the 1973 Yom Kipur War. Fifty years ago, the armies of Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel and caused a series of military defeats before Israel's Protection Forces could regroup, regain the initiative, and restore the situation.

But as more and more stories and terrible images emerge about the slaughter of entire communities, we realize that what has happened is nothing like the Yom Kipur War. In newspapers, in social media and family meetings, people are making comparisons with the darkest hours of the Jewish people as when the Nazi mobile units of murder, the Einsatzgroupp surrounded and killed Jewish villagers during the Holocaust, or when it had “progma” (Surves and mass murder), against Jews in the Russian Empire.

I personally have family and friends in the bush, Beacher and Kfar Aza, and I've heard many terrible stories. Hamas had full control of these two communities for hours. Terrorists went from house to house, systematically killing families, killing parents in front of their children, and taking hostages, even babies and grandmothers. The terrified survivors were locked in cabinets and cellars, calling the army and police for help but not reaching them until it was often too late.

My 99-year-old uncle and his 89-year-old wife are members of Beyer. All contact with them was cut off right after Hamas took control of the kid. They hid in their home for hours while dozens of terrorists were furious at the massacre. I received news that they survived. I know many people who have just received the worst news of their lives.

My aunt and uncle are two strong Jews born in Eastern Europe in the years between the two wars, they have already lost a world of Holocaust. We grew up with stories of defenseless Jews hiding from Nazis in closets and basements, without anyone coming to help. The state of Israel was founded to ensure that this would not happen again.

So how did it happen? How did the State of Israel disappear?

In a way, the Israelites are paying the price of years of presumptuousness, during which our governments and many ordinary Israelites thought we were so stronger than Palestinians that we could simply ignore them. There is much to be criticised about the way Israel has abandoned trying to make peace with Palestinians and has kept millions of Palestinians under an occupation for decades.

This does not justify the atrocities committed by Hamas, who in each case has rejected the possibilities for a peace treaty with Israel and has done everything in his power to sabotage the peace process in Oslo. Anyone who wants peace must condemn and impose sanctions on Hamas and seek the immediate release of all the hostages and the complete disarmament of Hamas.

Moreover, no matter how much blame is placed on Israel, this does not explain the failure of the State. History is not a moral tale.

The real explanation for Israel's failure to function is populism, not any supposed immorality. For many years, Israel has been governed by a strong populist man, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is a genius of public relations but an incompetent prime minister. He has repeatedly preferred his personal interests over national interests and has built his career in dividing the nation against himself. He has appointed people in key positions based on loyalty more than on qualifications, has taken credit for any success, never taking responsibility for failures, and seems to give little importance to saying or hearing the truth.

The coalition, founded by Netanyah in December 2022, has so far been the worst. It is an alliance of the zealous men of the Mesia and the shameless opportunists who ignored Israel's many problems, including the deteriorating security situation, and focused on the seizure of unlimited power for themselves. In pursuit of that goal, they adopted extremely divisive policies, spread scandalous conspiracy theory to state institutions that oppose their policies and labelled elites in the country's service as traitors to the “deep states”.

The government was repeatedly warned by its security forces and by numerous experts that its policies were jeopardising Israel and were eroded Israeli prevention at a time of increasing external threats. However, when IDF Chief of Staff called for a meeting with Netanyah to warn him of the government's policy safety implications, Netanyah refused to meet him. When Defence Minister Yoav Gallant sounded the alarm, Netanyah fired him. He was then forced to restore Gallan only because of the outbreak of popular anger. Such behavior over many years enabled disaster to strike Israel.

No matter how one thinks of Israel and Israeli-Palestinians in conflict, the way populism eroded the Israeli state should serve as a warning to other democracies worldwide.

Israel can still save itself from disaster. He still enjoys a decisive military advantage over Hamas as well as many of his other enemies. The long memory of Jewish suffering is now promoting the nation. IDF and other state bodies are recovering from their initial shock. Civil society is mobilised as never before by filling out many gaps left by the government's malfunction. Citizens are standing in long lines to donate blood, welcome refugees from the war zone to their homes, and provide food, clothing, and other necessities.

At this time of need, we also urge our friends worldwide to stay close to us. There is much to criticize about Israel's past behavior. The past cannot be changed, but we hope that after victory over Hamas is secured, the Israelites will not only seek responsibility for our current government, but will also abandon populist plots and Messianic fantasies ♫ and make an honest effort to realise Israel's founding ideals for democracy in the country and peace abroad.