One year of war and the ground is crumbling. One year of war in Gaza and not only is there no end in sight, but new fronts have been opened. A regional conflagration is possible, Joe Biden’s fear since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Three simultaneous wars are emerging in the region, led by Israel – in Gaza, Lebanon and against Iran – and no one seems capable of force Benjamin Netanyahu to restrain himself. Visit, October 6, on a basis of 36my army division, near the Lebanese border, the Israeli Prime Minister told the commanders: “You are the generation of victory. » An extraordinary change, a year after the historic collapse of the Israeli security apparatus, unable to prevent and then respond to a major terrorist attack on its territory.
As Israel considers a response to the latest missile attacks carried out by Tehran, Western and Arab capitals fear further escalation. Constantly, for a year now, Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet have ignored the insistent advice, even the red lines drawn by the American protector, incessant supplier of weapons and ammunition, diplomatic umbrella in the United Nations and valuable contributor to its security thanks to a massive deployment of naval aviation in the eastern Mediterranean.
“Since October 7, Westerners have been faced with four seemingly contradictory mandates: support Israel’s right to exist; your right to defend yourself; ask for respect for international humanitarian law and guarantee a political solution to advance towards a Palestinian State”explains Nicole Gnesotto, geopolitics expert and vice president of the Jacques-Delors Institute. “After the shock and obvious condemnation of the massacres committed by Hamas, many people had a somewhat naive appreciation of what it meant to insist on Israel’s right to defend itself, observes a diplomat based in the region. It was very difficult to reason with a deeply wounded country eager to take revenge for such humiliation. »
Don’t let anger “consume you”
From day one, the Biden administration has sided with Israel, militarily, politically, and morally. The visit of the American president to a grieving and disoriented country, on October 18, 2023, was full of empathy. “Justice must be done, has said Joe Biden in Tel Aviv. But I warn you: if you feel anger, do not let it consume you. After 9/11 [les attentats de 2001]We were furious in the United States. While we have sought justice and obtained it, we have also made mistakes. » A warning whispered and quickly forgotten.
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