Gaza's graveyard of illusions: How Israel's narrative collides with military failure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a skilled salesperson, though the product he peddles is deeply flawed. His current challenge is to convince himself, his people, the region, and the world that, despite significant setbacks, he is winning the strategic war against his adversaries.

Former Israeli national security officials, while employing different terminology, essentially convey the same conclusion. They describe Netanyahu as a "master tactician" but "not a master strategist," as reported by CNN. In an article detailing one of Netanyahu's grandiose, yet hollow, pronouncements of aspiring to control the Middle East, CNN's headline declared that "The Endgame is unclear as ever."

Netanyahu and his extremist allies are acting in defiance of reality. They either believe, or wish to believe, that the endgame is perfectly clear.

According to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Israel is operating under a grand military strategy, one that will culminate in "Syria being dismantled, Hezbollah being severely defeated, Iran being stripped of its nuclear threat, Gaza being cleansed of Hamas, and hundreds of thousands of Gazans being displaced to other countries." 

Smotrich's extensive list, communicated at the end of April, concluded with Israel emerging "stronger and more prosperous." This wish list aligns closely with a similar list presented by Netanyahu last March.

However, Netanyahu, desperate for immediate political capital, chose to boast about purported achievements rather than future goals. He claimed to have already brought his enemies to their knees and "destroyed the remnants of the Syrian army."

This latter claim refers to Israel's unilateral actions against Syria last December, a nation embroiled in internal strife and not actively engaged in war with Israel. In essence, Israel fabricated a major war front in the absence of actual conflict and declared itself the decisive victor.

Rarely do Israeli leaders publicly articulate their nation's true intentions with such stark language. They often frame war, colonial expansion, and even genocide using terminology palatable to Western mainstream media and public: Israeli aggressions are portrayed as self-defense, and the construction of illegal settlements as self-preservation.

However, the political discourse emanating from Israel lately strikes a different tone. One might argue that Israel, ostracized by much of the world and led by individuals facing criminal charges, no longer feels compelled to conceal its genuine aims. This is incorrect, however, as Israel is now more than ever desperate to provide any rationale, however feeble, to justify its extermination of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Indeed, were Israel not concerned about accountability, it would not dedicate significant time and resources to defending itself in the world's highest legal and criminal courts, nor would it issue travel warnings to its soldiers or conceal their identities for fear of prosecution.

Israel's inflated political rhetoric and its pronouncements of imaginary achievements are a form of hype aimed at preserving its image as a powerful regional player capable of not only influencing political outcomes but fundamentally shaping the entire Middle East.

The irony of this hype is that Israel has been attempting, and failing at an unprecedented cost, to conquer Gaza, a devastated, tiny territory with a starving population still reeling from the impact of the ongoing Israeli genocide. Even venturing a few hundred meters into Rafah or Khan Yunis continues to result in deaths and injuries within the Israeli army, which is struggling to amass the necessary numbers for large-scale offensives within the Strip.

One must, however, distinguish between Israel's intentions and its failure to realize them. Indeed, dominating the Middle East has been the formula driving Israel's actions for decades. In fact, there is an official document that details Israel's regional ambitions: "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm."

This document was prepared in 1996 by Richard Perle, a prominent neoconservative intellectual and a close associate of Netanyahu, for the so-called Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000. It aimed to guide Israel toward a more assertive policy that rejects the "comprehensive peace" notion, advocating for destabilizing the region and "rolling back" threats, specifically those emanating from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, among others.

The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 presented a golden opportunity for some of these goals to be achieved, though the ultimate outcome fell short of the overall objectives.

Humiliated by the failures of his army and intelligence throughout the Gaza war, and facing immense pressure from a deeply discontented public, Netanyahu knows that his legacy, which he had hoped would be remembered as the greatest among all Israeli leaders, will instead be marred by controversy and disgrace.

Thus, Netanyahu is re-engaging in Perle's old strategy, though under entirely different circumstances. To "secure the realm" would imply that Israel is indeed in control, possesses incomparable military strength, and that its adversaries are willing to accept their diminished role in this Netanyahu-crafted Middle East.

But even a skilled salesman, or "great tactician," cannot market genocide as a victory, nor can a disreputable and dysfunctional army secure a strategic triumph.

Israel has clearly failed to secure any genuine or lasting victory, and the obvious solution is for Israel to be reined in and held accountable for its crimes in Gaza and throughout Palestine. The Middle East would then be poised for true stability, peace, and even prosperity, free from Israeli scheming and the relentless pursuit of more war fronts and illusory victories.

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is ‘Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out’. His other books include ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The Last Earth’. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA).