The editor-in-chief of the Palestine Chronicle newspaper, Ramzi Baroud, wrote that Israeli officials constantly claim that Israel is fighting on multiple fronts, but the truth is that it is choosing to fight on multiple fronts, and the difference between the two sentences is clear.
The writer pointed out, at the beginning of an article published by the American “Counterpunch” website, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in a speech he delivered earlier this month, that these “defensive” wars are also being waged in the name of protecting “civilization from those who seek to impose a dark age of “Intolerance is upon us all.”
Baroud stressed that Israel is not fighting a defensive war on multiple fronts, but rather fighting for colonial expansion and regional and military hegemony driven by religious prophecies, because “self-defense in international law refers to the inherent right to use force in response to an armed attack.”
Genocide is not a defense
He stated that there is no need to respond to what Netanyahu says because the genocide his government is carrying out cannot be classified as self-defense, and “preserving human civilization” does not include burning people alive.
The writer wondered why Israel is fighting on 7 fronts? To confirm that the official Israeli line is keen to exaggerate the number of war fronts in order to continue benefiting from generous military and political support from the United States and the West. For Israel, more wars also translate into more money.
He said that, of course, Israel is also waging real wars, which are a war of extermination and genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank, and is waging them with a specific goal, which is to subjugate all forms of resistance, so that Israel can accelerate its settler-colonial project in the occupied territories.
They do not hide their real project
Baroud continued to say that there are Israeli officials who do not hesitate to reveal their true project. Netanyahu said that their goal was security control over all the lands west of the Jordan River. More precisely, he said, “Between the sea and the Jordan River there will be nothing but Israeli sovereignty.” “Security control” is an Israeli euphemism for territorial expansion.
As for Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, he was more clear, as he said in an interview with the European public service channel RT that Israel will expand “little by little” to eventually include the entire Palestinian territories, in addition to Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and other Arab countries. He said “It is written that the future of Jerusalem is to expand to Damascus.”
Religious sentiment has taken center stage in recent years under a series of far-right governments, mostly shaped by Netanyahu. He sees his army as Israelis fighting the Amalekites, and the Gaza war as an opportunity to achieve what Smotrich called, “Israel’s decisive plan.”
Religious wars and international law
Smotrich’s plan, which he calls “One Hope,” focuses primarily on annexing the entire West Bank, which Netanyahu likes refer to as “Judea and Samaria,” in its entirety, with “simultaneous settlement actions,” such as establishing cities and towns, with the aim of “creating a clear reality that does not… There will be a return to it on earth,” after its owner became one of the kingmakers in the Netanyahu government.
Baroud explained that Israel may claim that it is waging a war on 7 or 70 fronts and may attribute to itself the role of savior of civilizations, but the truth cannot be hidden, especially when the Israelis themselves are the ones who reveal their evil intentions, as some of their politicians and supporters from the right promote the war in the south. Lebanon as a quest for “Greater Israel”.
The writer concluded his article by saying that Netanyahu and Smotrich do not care much about international or humanitarian laws. They are driven by ominous expansionist agendas, and if they succeed, more deadly wars will certainly follow, which means that the international community must do everything in its power to ensure their failure.