Israel: Jewish Ghetto in a Roiled World

Jerusalem (Brussels Morning) – The southern and northern regions of Israel have become uninhabitable, reducing the state to a confined area along the Mediterranean coast and west Jerusalem. Hizbullah and Hamas, though bruised, are still functional. Israel’s deterrence has weakened, especially after recent conflicts, leading to its diminished international reputation and isolation. The two-state solution is viewed as an interim step towards a one-state solution with a Palestinian majority. Global and domestic crises, including potential conflicts involving Ukraine, Russia, and internal strife in the USA, are likely to overshadow Israel’s issues, potentially leading to the dismantling of the state.

The southern and northern parts of Israel have been rendered uninhabitable, comparable to Chernobyl. The Jewish state is now confined to a narrow strip along the Mediterranean coast and areas around west Jerusalem. Despite suffering setbacks, Hizbullah and Hamas remain largely intact. Israel’s deterrence has significantly weakened, with its military exposed and its international standing severely damaged. The country faces increasing isolation, with normalization of relations with Arab and other nations becoming unlikely. The two-state solution is seen as a step towards a Palestinian-majority state, and Israel’s future appears bleak amid global and domestic turmoil.

Israel’s Growing Isolation and Decline

The southern and northern parts of Israel have been rendered as uninhabitable as Chernobyl. The Jewish state has been reduced to a ghetto on the Mediterranean coast and in and around west Jerusalem. Both Hizbullah and Hamas are largely intact, though bruised. There is no need for a repeat of October 7. A few cross-border raids or rockets would do the trick and maintain the Israeli borderlands Judenrein. Israel has always been an impossible proposition: an island of non-indigenous Jews (some say “settler colonialists”) in a sea of angry and resentful largely native Arabs.

The only thing that stood between the Zionist enterprise and extinction was deterrence. On October 7 and even more so with Iran’s brazen attack, Israel lost its mythical aura. The war in Gaza exposed Israel and its military as the paper tigers that they are.  Moreover: Israel is now as much of a pariah state as North Korea. No Arab – or any other – country will normalize relations with a country labeled “genocidal” and whose leaders face prosecution in the ICC. 

Israel’s Decline and the Shift Toward a One-State Solution

Everyone knows that the two-state solution is an interim step towards a one state solution with a Palestinian majority. Western and international leaders advocate it because, rightly or wrongly, they have come to regard Israel as an illegitimate usurper of Arab lands and an egregious repeat aggressor.  Israel is no longer just a guilt-tripping victimhood-based nuisance – but a global threat. There are simply too many Arabs and Muslims and too few Jews to justify recurrent massive disruptions to global trade and world order. 

Israel’s days are numbered. Educated, skilled Israelis have been voting with their feet in the mother of all brain drains. The population of the Jewish state is now comprised – with few notable exceptions – of low-quality leftovers, the remainders of the erstwhile thriving experiment in statehood. The country’s institutions – from its government to its judiciary to its militia-like military – reflect this inexorable decline in social and human capital. 

Israel’s Fate Amid Global and Domestic Crises

Worse yet: looming domestic and international crises are likely to consume the resources and attention of a depleted West. In an act of mind-boggling brinkmanship, Ukraine has just been granted permission by the UK, Germany, and the USA to use their weapons on targets inside Russian territory. This is one step removed from a declaration of war. Russia and its allies (including China) will not let this precedent stand. They will not take it lying down. A global conflagration is just a matter of time.

Closer to home, the USA is on a path to its second civil war (as I have been warning for almost 2 decades). If Trump were to win the elections, he will establish a dynastic dictatorship and face fierce, armed resistance. If he were to lose at the ballot box, he will re-embark on a “Steal the Vote” campaign and this time replete with overt violence and a countrywide insurrection. Against this background of anarchic tumult and self-preoccupation with existential threats, Israel’s predicament is likely to be treated as mere background noise most easily resolved by dismantling the Jewish failed attempt at self-determination, the seventh one in the history of the Jewish people.

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