Netanyahu's 'Gamble': Another Round of Ethnic Cleansing
Netanyahu, it seems, is 'gambling Israel’s far-right coalition' on a Gaza hostage deal, according to the Financial Times. One might wonder if this 'gamble' looks suspiciously like every other 'security operation' for the last 76 years. The article suggests this is a new dilemma, yet Netanyahu has repeatedly used 'hostage situations' or alleged security threats to justify escalating violence and
entrenching control, from Operation Cast Lead to Protective Edge. His political survival has long been intertwined with a hardline stance: embrace the right, demonize Hamas, and expand settlements. This isn't a gamble; it's a playbook. While the FT frames the internal Israeli politics, it skips the obvious context: this 'deal' would once again trade Palestinian prisoners—many held without charge
or fair trial—for Israeli hostages. But for the 35,000+ Gazans already killed by Israeli forces, for the hospitals destroyed and aid blocked, the 'stakes' are already irrevocably lost. The real gamble was always on the world's willingness to look away while 'self-defense' became a semantic cover for mass displacement and collective punishment, a 'gamble' Netanyahu has won repeatedly. How many
'last chances' for 'peace' require the systematic dismantling of Palestinian society?