Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's much-awaited speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday was pure political theatre. It was mainly aimed at addressing the constituencies in the US and Israel. One thing was, meanwhile, clear from the speech, Israel is not going to end the war against Hamas unless its objectives are met.
Netanyahu had vowed to destroy Hamas. He said that if Hamas retook power in Gaza, it would regain its strength and would attack Israel again, a risk he did not want to take.
Netanyahu’s speech conveyed the sense that he was not yet prepared for negotiations. There have been efforts by Egypt, the United States and Qatar to put an end to the war, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. But Netanyahu, it seems, wants to finish off Hamas once and for all.
"Israeli forces have destroyed 90% of Hamas' rockets and killed or captured half of its forces," he said. Peace will be back in Gaza only after Hamas is destroyed completely, he said. The only other way to end the war was for Hamas to surrender unconditionally and return all the remaining hostages.
While Netanyahu sounded uncompromising on Hamas, he did not rule out negotiations completely regarding the ongoing operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, Hezbollah has been attacking Israel, using rockets and missiles.
"Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for almost a year. Well, I've come here today to say: Enough is enough," Netanyahu said. It has forced nearly 70,000 Israelis in the northern parts of the country bordering Lebanon to evacuate. Israel vowed to continue the attacks against Hezbollah till its citizens can return safely to their homes.
As Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu came to address the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, many delegations walked out in protest. pic.twitter.com/xZ2R99ND7P
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) September 27, 2024
Moreover, compared with the Gaza war, the attacks on Hezbollah enjoy public support as well. So those attacks too could continue. However, it appears that negotiation is possible at least at the later stages when it comes to Hezbollah given it's a powerful entity, unlike Hamas. It is not easy for Israel to wage another long, sustained and large-scale war with Hezbollah at this point.
Netanyahu will not forget the fact that Israel had to end its occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000, as Hezbollah proved a tough nut to crack. Later, in 2006, Hezbollah fought a war against Israel and the result was a stalemate. So it was not surprising that Netanyahu's speech hinted that he was not completely against the 21-day ceasefire proposal put forward by France and the US on Wednesday.
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With Netanyahu facing corruption charges and other legitimacy issues back home, he wants to stay in power so that the immunity granted by the prime minister’s office keeps him out of jail and safe from prosecution. He cannot end the war and allow normalcy to return.
The moment the war ends, the anti-Netanyahu factions within Israeli politics and the existing public sentiment against him would force him out. So Netanyahu is keeping his far-right wing coalition happy, which does not want any sort of compromise with Hamas or Hezbollah.
The upcoming US elections also play a role in Netanyahu’s calculations. Till the elections end, the Biden administration is unlikely to put any significant pressure on Netanyahu to make compromises as it would be detrimental to Kamala Harris’s chances. And if Trump wins on November 5, it will be a win-win situation for Netanyahu. So, in a sense, he is also playing for time.
Netanyahu’s speech was not all threats and bluster. In some moments he tried to appear like a visionary and a statesman when he showed his two maps--The Curse and the Blessing.
One showed the India-Middle East Europe economic corridor that will pass through Israel and Saudi Arabia--it was pitched as a great civilisational linkage between the continents and a major economic opportunity.
On the other hand, he pointed out how Iran had created an arc of terrorism and uncertainty in the region. In this context, he pitched hard to normalise ties with Saudi Arabia and stressed taking forward the Abraham Accords.
