Despite increasing international pressure, including from its staunch allies in the west, why is Israel continuing its offensive in the Gaza Strip? Is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu driven solely by political self-interest? Does he have the support of his people for the killing of civilians, including children, trapped in the strip, as his forces hunt down the Hamas terrorists still holding at least a 120 Israeli hostages? Has Hamas won the war of narratives? Has there been an increase in anti-Semitism across the world post the Israeli response to the heinous October 7 attack by Hamas? How valid is the argument that recognising Palestine is actually rewarding Hamas for rape, murder and terrorism? And finally, what will it take for this war to end?
Those were some of the questions we posed to Dr Joshua Krug, Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies currently in Germany, Writer, Educator, analyst and entrepreneur. After clarifying that he does not speak on behalf of the Israeli government, but as someone who is keen to see peace return to the neighbourhood, Dr Krug explains that “this is sort of an existential fight for the state of Israel.” Without ignoring the political compulsions of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who “wants to keep his job,” he says that from Israel’s perspective, it is not responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians, because the Hamas “strategically uses civilians as human shields.”
While acknowledging that it is Israel that is dropping the bombs that are killing civilians and children, he argues that “I want to see more pressure being put on Hamas to see that they care for their neighbour’s children,” instead of using them as shields and then blaming Israel for their deaths. “Strategically and practically, Israel wants to reinstate deterrence which basically failed on October 7, because Israeli security failed to protect its people,” says Dr Krug. “So it has made a choice to take out the authority that is currently threatening it, and is willing to risk its popularity in the process.”
He then goes on to explain the incredibly complex dynamics at play in a fairly unbiased manner. These include the clearly hypocritical position of the west, which condemns Israel publicly for its offensive in Gaza while continuing to sell weapons that allow it to inflict more damage, the malignant and mischievous role of Iran and its proxies including the Hamas and the Hezbollah, and why Israel has a problem with the two-state solution.
Watch the full interview to get a clearer perspective of this seemingly intractable conflict, and some possible solutions.
