Israel’s reaction and the Arab world
Israel is having to deal with an unexpectedly powerful and bloody onslaught. Hamas’ attack is Israel’s 9/11 and it will remain etched in the nation’s subconscious memory as such. It is in such an emotionally charged atmosphere that the Israeli military, for its part, is having to act decisively and effectively, avoiding as much as possible the use of excessive force.
Serious Israeli interlocutors stress that the operations against Hamas will be preceded by evacuation warnings for specific buildings or areas, though not to the extent of the past. They acknowledge that since Hamas operates inside residential areas, civilian lives will be lost.
It will take an enormous amount of composure for Israel to maintain the balance between a symmetric reaction and the message of force and determination it wants to send. There is a risk that a tactical success in the short term may end up being a costly one down the line.
The Abraham Accords and the rapprochement with Saudi Arabia are extremely important for Israel and the region. Given the risk of the war’s expansion with the involvement of Hezbollah, and even Iran, indirectly, the need to calmly weigh all the factors should not be overshadowed by the understandable rage of the Israeli people – conveyed even by their most experienced diplomats.
Reprisals are inevitable, but a reasonable and symmetric reaction can send an adequately forceful message while keeping intact the support of the international community and curbing the damage to ongoing efforts to reach out to the Arab world. The latter point not only refers to bilateral agreements, energy partnerships and other economic initiatives, but also to the stance of society in Arab states.
Right now the international community is staunchly – and rightly so – on Israel’s side, without caveats or fine print. But a new generation of radicalized Arabs will not serve Israel’s interests, nor those of the West, or Greece for that matter. Even if this proves difficult to prevent in the short term, it is important that the situation remains manageable.
Geography dictates coexistence between the Israelis and the Arabs, and the significant inroads made in the past few years between the two should be preserved to the extent that this is possible.
Greece, for its part, is ready to play a useful role, as a member of the European Union, with its own particular voice given its geographic proximity to the hostilities, as the United States’ most reliable regional ally, and as a strategic partner of Israel that also maintains traditional friendships with the Arab world, without hostilities against or rivalries with nations or leaderships.
