Middle East Press On: Palestinians, Gaza, Egypt-Syria, US, Israel, Iran, Hamas, Nazi Ideology and Antisemitism: New Age Islam's Selection, 26 March 2025
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
26 Mar. 25
· Fake compassion will not protect Palestinians in Gaza
· Complex dynamics hinder Egypt-Syria rapprochement
· Is the new US approach to Iran a pragmatic turn?
· Israel is no longer the democracy the West once loved
· Going back to battle against Hamas is the only option left for Israel
· Finish line in sight: Israel is about to achieve total victory against Hamas
· 52 deaths in 3 months: Gov't must fight bloodshed in Israeli Arab society
· Palestinian Authority antisemitism resembles Nazi ideology
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Fake Compassion Will Not Protect Palestinians In Gaza
March 25, 2025
In a message to AFP, Fatah spokesman Monther Al-Hayek said that Hamas must show compassion for Gaza’s population and called upon the resistance movement to “step aside from governing and fully recognise that the battle ahead will lead to the end of Palestinians’ existence.”
If Palestinians are annihilated, though, it will be because of Israel’s genocide carried out with the full complicity of the international community, especially the US, UK and Europe. So, what message is Fatah trying to convey?
Since the beginning of the genocide, the discrepancy between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas was made more evident by the former’s insistence that it will govern Gaza when Israel is finished destroying the enclave. The international community was swift to latch on to the idea; after all, there has been no greater advocate of the two-state compromise than PA leader Mahmoud Abbas himself.
Moreover, working towards a hypothetical scenario with the PA in charge of Gaza does not disrupt the international community’s state-building and humanitarian paradigms.
In the absence of real political action against Israel, the international community has not come up with an alternative to genocide. Repeating worn out condemnations and reminding Israel that its actions are contrary to international law have not provided any protection for Palestinians in Gaza and, increasingly, in the West Bank. What affected the outcome – more genocidal bombings and killing of civilians by Israel, including 15,613 children to date – was the international community’s decision to blame Hamas, ignore the role of Israel’s settler-colonialism and uphold the occupation state’s false security narrative.
And in Israel’s narrative, as well as that of the international community, Hamas is the obstacle to security and, therefore, the obstacle to Palestinians’ protection. Hamas has not been around since 1948, however. Israel has, though, and therein lies the security problem. A colonial entity occupying stolen land is by definition an act of aggression, and thus a threat to security. Israel has been killing and oppressing Palestinians for decades, not only since October 2023. World leaders cannot pretend not to know how colonialism functions; how it terrorises the indigenous people and how it steals land.
Likewise, Fatah is no stranger to the workings of colonial politics. However, it has chosen to abandon its roots and align itself with the oppressive, external impositions that refuse to recognise the legitimacy of anti-colonial resistance. Which means that Palestinians are experiencing a betrayal from within, because blaming anti-colonial resistance for Palestinian annihilation is straight out of the Israeli narrative and state terrorism handbook.
Fatah’s issue is the question of governance and finance to run a faux government. In his meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, Abbas requested, among other diplomatic and humanitarian needs, “the Palestinian Authority’s assumption of full responsibility in the Gaza Strip, and [the EU’s] support for the Palestinian government’s reform efforts and its funding.” We are yet to see any “reform efforts”, and I for one am not holding my breath.
However, blaming Hamas is, in Fatah’s narrative, essential for the PA’s survival. Palestinians facing genocide in Gaza are the backdrop that accentuate Fatah’s demands. But if Fatah is so concerned that the resistance movement is endangering Palestinians, why did Abbas keep postponing the elections? Palestinians could have chosen their own representatives in a democratic process that might have swayed resistance against colonial rule in a different direction.
Abbas chose repression to stay in power, not to mention violence and collaboration with the Israeli occupation forces. How can the PA with its fake “compassion” guarantee safety for Palestinians in Gaza, when it cannot even guarantee it for the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank due to its allegiance with Israel and the international community?
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250325-fake-compassion-will-not-protect-palestinians-in-gaza/
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Complex Dynamics Hinder Egypt-Syria Rapprochement
March 25, 2025
By Mahmoud Hassan
The relations between Egypt and Syria remain stalled amid caution and anticipation, despite the participation of interim Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa in the emergency Arab summit hosted by Cairo earlier this month. The Egyptians have yet to come to terms fully with the sudden shift in the Syrian political landscape — the fall of Bashar Al-Assad, his flight to Moscow, and the opposition coming to power — fourteen years after the Arab Spring first swept through the region.
A breakthrough in bilateral ties appears challenging, given Egypt’s deep-seated security concerns, political reservations and strategic red lines directed at the transitional authority in the new Syria. Cairo has been notably slow in signalling any acceptance or engagement with the new Syrian leadership. On the contrary, Al-Sharaa has faced harsh criticism from pro-government Egyptian media, which labelled him as a “terrorist” and reminded both Egyptian and Syrian audiences repeatedly about Abu Muhammad Al-Julani, the Syrian president’s nom de guerre during his leadership of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham.
Egypt’s hesitation remains evident, as it has yet to send any high-ranking official for formal contacts with Syria’s new leadership since Al-Assad’s ouster on 8 December.
In an interview with Al Arabiya, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty referred to the current Syrian administration as the “de facto authority”. This came before a Turkish-brokered meeting with his Syrian counterpart in Ankara, held on the sidelines of concurrent visits, and attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in February.
Two days after Al-Sharaa was appointed interim president, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi posted on social media: “I extend my congratulations to Mr Ahmad Al-Sharaa on assuming the presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic during the transitional phase, and I wish him success in fulfilling the aspirations of the Syrian people for greater progress and prosperity.”
However, official displeasure was apparent in the cold reception that Al-Sharaa received upon arrival at Cairo International Airport, where he was met by Egypt’s Minister of Supply Sherif Farouk, ahead of the Arab summit about Gaza reconstruction. Although Al-Sisi held a bilateral meeting with his Syrian counterpart — the first of its kind — it failed to allay deeper concerns and lingering doubts.
However, it was difficult to overlook without risking tension with Saudi Arabia, Egypt’s ally and the first overseas destination that Al-Sharaa visited in February.
During the meeting, Al-Sisi reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to Syria’s unity and territorial integrity and called for a comprehensive political process that includes all components of Syrian society and excludes no one, according to the Egyptian presidency’s spokesperson. For his part, the Syrian president emphasised his desire to open a new chapter of relations with Arab states, especially Egypt, and expressed readiness to work jointly in ways that serve the interests of both countries.
Egypt’s diplomacy faces three primary concerns in dealing with post-Assad Syria: the fear of revolutionary fervour spreading to Egypt; the potential hosting of Egyptian opposition figures and fugitives; and the possibility of Syria falling under growing Turkish influence.
These fears intensified following the appearance of Mahmoud Fathy alongside Al-Sharaa. He is an Egyptian sentenced to death for the assassination of former Public Prosecutor Hisham Barakat. Moreover, Egyptian dissident Ahmad Al-Mansour appeared in a video calling for the formation of a “January 25 Revolutionaries Movement” aimed at confronting the Egyptian regime and overthrowing Al-Sisi, mirroring Assad’s downfall.
Amid these fears, Egypt also has three primary aspirations: preventing Islamist dominance in Syria’s government; the repatriation of nearly 1.5 million Syrian refugees currently in Egypt; and securing a stake in Syria’s post-war reconstruction.
These complex dynamics are unsettling for Egyptian decision-makers, torn between apprehension over Al-Sharaa’s political orientation, growing Gulf engagement with the new Syria, increasing international recognition of the transitional authority and deepening Israeli military involvement on Syrian territory.
Nevertheless, signs of goodwill from Damascus — reflected in the diplomatic tone adopted by Al-Sharaa and his Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani, along with the arrest of Al-Mansour — may help defuse Egyptian concerns and lay the groundwork for a more constructive relationship, based on mutually agreeable terms.
Thus far, Egypt’s approach to Damascus has been exploratory, slow and cautious, and informed heavily by intelligence and security priorities. It appears to be awaiting behind-the-scenes understandings that could shape the framework for relations between a new Islamist-led Syrian regime and an Egyptian government that ousted Islamists in a 2013 military coup.
Cairo seeks to impose clear parameters for engagement, led by three red lines: non-interference in Egypt’s internal affairs, no support for Islamist or jihadist groups, and resistance to falling under Turkish influence.
Egypt is not merely looking for conciliatory rhetoric from Al-Sharaa and his team; it seeks concrete guarantees of power-sharing arrangements that would prevent Islamists from monopolising authority in Damascus, the extradition of individuals wanted by Egyptian authorities, and a denial of any Turkish military foothold in Syria.
It is worth noting that Al-Sharaa had previously called in a 2015 interview with Al Jazeera on the Muslim Brotherhood — designated as a “terrorist” organisation by the Egyptian authorities — to take up arms and overthrow Al-Sisi. This history continues to be a major stumbling block to normalisation.
That perception is reinforced by attempts by Egyptian opposition groups to capitalise on the Syrian example, raising the spectre of a renewed Arab Spring uprising and drawing lessons from Syria’s experience in toppling Al-Assad.
It is undeniable that Al-Sharaa as an individual does not sit well with Cairo. Like other counter-revolutionary regimes in the region, Al-Sisi harbours deep concerns over any form of Islamist rule, especially in Syria, a country that shares historic ties with Egypt, exemplified by their political union in 1958.
According to political analyst Mohamed Ismail, Al-Sharaa first faces a daunting task within Syria in order to gain the Syrian people’s trust in his ability to preserve national unity and resist sectarian fragmentation. Should he succeed, Cairo will likely be compelled to take serious steps towards rapprochement. Ismail added that if Al-Sharaa secures full Gulf backing under terms favourable to Gulf capitals, Egypt will likewise be compelled to engage and initiate formal diplomatic exchanges.
However, full and genuine rapprochement between the two regimes will not come easily or swiftly. It will likely face significant obstacles, chief among them the Islamist leanings of the Syrian government, which remains Cairo’s principal concern.
Egyptian political researcher Mohamed Gomaa believes that interests stand in opposition to fears and whichever side prevails will determine the future of relations between the two countries.
In the end, Egypt is in no hurry to pursue this rapprochement, preferring to wait for the completion of Syria’s institutional rebuilding, an assessment of the transitional period’s success, and the new regime’s ability to dispel existing concerns.
More precisely, the Egypt-Syria file will remain, above all, a security and intelligence matter, governed by complex dynamics and narrow political calculations, and shaped by the will of an Egyptian president deeply opposed to both the Arab Spring and the rise of Islamist governance.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250325-complex-dynamics-hinder-egypt-syria-rapprochement/
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Is The New Us Approach To Iran A Pragmatic Turn?
March 25, 2025
By Reza Asadian
US policy towards Iran has been defined for years by confrontation, with successive administrations oscillating between diplomatic engagement and economic warfare. After President Donald Trump’s return to office in January, many expected a revival of the maximum pressure strategy, a policy that previously sought to isolate Iran through sanctions, military threats and diplomatic coercion. Initially, Trump’s approach to Iran was marked by paradoxical signals: on one hand, he signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum reinstating maximum pressure, threatening Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and regional influence; on the other hand, his administration refrained from outright military escalation, leaving room for diplomatic manoeuvring.
Now, recent developments suggest that the Trump administration may be pivoting toward a more pragmatic stance, one that focuses on nuclear verification rather than total Iranian capitulation.
In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Steve Witkoff, the US Special Envoy to the Middle East, disclosed the content of the letter that Trump had sent to Iran, signalling an opening for dialogue. Witkoff emphasised that the US is exploring the creation of a “verification programme” to ensure that Iran’s nuclear programme remains peaceful. Unlike previous demands, which linked nuclear negotiations to Iran’s regional activities and conventional military capabilities, Witkoff made no mention of pursuing Iran’s missile or drone programmes.
This rhetorical shift is notable. It suggests that Washington is considering an approach that could make an agreement with Tehran more feasible. Instead of insisting on Iran’s withdrawal from regional conflicts or the dismantling of its conventional military arsenal — conditions that have long been deal-breakers for Tehran — the administration is now focusing on the nuclear issue itself. If this approach remains consistent, it could open a path toward rapprochement.
This shift contrasts sharply with the stance that Trump adopted initially upon returning to office, when his administration revived the policy of maximum pressure, reinstating sanctions and leveraging diplomatic tools to corner Iran. This strategy bore a striking resemblance to the policies of George W. Bush in the early 2000s, when Washington sought to isolate Iran through the US military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq. Back then, Iran responded not by capitulating, but by doubling down on its regional influence and accelerating its nuclear development.
Trump’s early months in office seemed to repeat this cycle. By banking on Iran’s economic vulnerabilities and internal divisions, his administration appeared to believe that Tehran would be forced to accept stringent conditions.
After Trump signed his memorandum and issued a clear threat to Tehran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei categorically rejected the possibility of talks with Washington, stating that negotiating with the US would not be “intelligent, rational or honourable.” Later, during a parliamentary session on the day of the Iranian Minister of Economy’s impeachment, President Masoud Pezeshkian reinforced this position, saying that while he had personally supported negotiations, he would follow the Supreme Leader’s directive not to engage in talks with the US.
This sequence of events demonstrated that, rather than forcing Iran into submission, Trump’s actions reinforced Tehran’s resistance, with both the Supreme Leader and the President aligning on a firm rejection of dialogue with Washington.
What has changed, then, to prompt this shift in tone? Three factors stand out. First, a consistent US a. If the Trump administration is serious about shifting gears, it must avoid the contradictions that doomed past negotiations. This means keeping the focus on the nuclear file rather than tying an agreement to broader demands about Iran’s regional activities or domestic policies.
Then there is Iran’s willingness to engage. Although Tehran remains deeply sceptical about US intentions, given previous diplomatic failures, if Washington signals a genuine willingness to negotiate under reasonable terms, Iran may reciprocate, especially if economic relief is on the table.
Moreover, negotiations must develop quickly, as they must conclude before mid-summer, when the European troika (France, Germany and the UK) will face a critical deadline on whether to invoke the snapback mechanism. If the troika determines that Iran is noncompliant with its nuclear commitments, it can reinstate UN sanctions under the snapback clause, placing Tehran under Chapter VII of the UN Charter and potentially paving the way for military action. If talks do not yield results before this deadline, Iran could find itself under renewed international pressure, making a diplomatic resolution far more difficult to achieve.
If Trump’s team sees diplomacy as a tool to extract even greater concessions down the road, Tehran is unlikely to engage. However, if Washington focuses narrowly on nuclear verification — without attempting to dismantle Iran’s entire defence structure — it could finally create conditions for meaningful engagement.
US-Iran relations tend to have been defined by cycles of confrontation, broken agreements and lost diplomatic opportunities. The Trump administration now faces a choice: continue down the path of insisting on maximalist demands, an approach which has historically failed to yield results, or pursue a more targeted negotiation strategy that could lead to a viable nuclear accord. Witkoff’s recent remarks suggest a potential shift in policy, but whether this change is real or temporary remains to be seen.
If the US maintains a pragmatic approach — one that prioritises nuclear verification while setting aside broader demands — then a breakthrough with Iran may finally be within reach. However, if this is merely a tactical shift aimed at securing European backing for future pressure tactics, then the cycle of conflict will persist. The coming months will reveal whether Washington is truly interested in a deal, or if it is simply manoeuvring to keep Tehran in check.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250325-is-the-new-us-approach-to-iran-a-pragmatic-turn/
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Israel Is No Longer The Democracy The West Once Loved
Osama Al-Sharif
March 25, 2025
For decades, Israel’s Western supporters and apologists boasted that it was the only democracy in the Middle East. As a liberal democracy, they perceived that it shared the West’s values of safeguarding human rights, protecting freedom of expression, honoring the rule of law, holding free elections and maintaining equality among its citizens.
But while democratic practices were indeed observed and implemented to varying degrees within the state of Israel, its occupation of Palestinian territories demonstrated a starkly different reality. Israeli citizens lived under a civilian administration, while millions of Palestinians were subjected to a ruthless military law that denied them the most basic of human rights.
The contrast between Israel, the democratic state, and Israel, the occupier of another nation, has always been bleak but nothing compared to its horrific violations of Palestinian rights in recent years: the genocidal war on Gaza and the deliberate targeting of women, children, journalists, aid workers, medics, farmers, doctors and teachers. This duality, a modern-day Janus, has placed Israel in a class of its own among countries — a functioning and thriving democracy, on the one hand, and an apartheid state on the other.
It is today a democracy whose leader is wanted for war crimes, while the country is being investigated for committing genocide.
But in recent years, and especially under Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government, prominent Israeli politicians, political activists, representatives of legal bodies and various unions have been warning that the country is drifting away from its democratic heritage toward authoritarianism, or what pundits sometimes describe as an illiberal democracy.
In the Israeli system of government, the prime minister wields almost absolute power. Still, the Supreme Court can overrule his decisions with oversight by the country’s attorney general and, in some cases, by the internal security agency, better known as the Shin Bet.
For decades, successive Israeli premiers had respected this form of separation of powers and the system of checks and balances. In a number of cases, they accepted rulings by the Supreme Court that invalidated government decisions. Unfortunately, when it came to issuing rulings on Israeli policies in the West Bank, the courts almost always sided with the government and the occupation.
But for Netanyahu, this was not enough. With the demise of Israel’s liberal left, represented by the Labor Party and others, the man who took the right-wing Likud party to more victories than any other saw an opportunity to push for a complete takeover of the political stage. His agenda — indeed, his legacy — is to kill the notion of the two-state solution forever and expand Israel’s area by annexing the Occupied Territories.
To do so, he wanted to ensure that the implementation of his plans, which coincided with those of the smaller ultrareligious and ultranationalist parties, would not be interrupted by snap elections or the interference of the independent judiciary.
No sooner had he partnered with extremist parties in 2022 to form Israel’s first far-right government than he began preparing legislation to undermine the country’s Supreme Court: the so-called judicial reforms. This overhaul sought to limit the Supreme Court’s power to review legislation by introducing an “override clause” that allows the Knesset to overturn court rulings and politicize judicial appointments.
However, a public backlash in the form of almost daily protests throughout the summer of 2023 forced Netanyahu and his extremist partners to postpone the debate of the so-called reforms. Then, the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks took place, which presented a beleaguered Netanyahu with a lifeline. He took Israel to war while freezing the debate of the reforms. While facing serious corruption charges, Netanyahu and his supporters pushed to pass laws to shield sitting leaders from prosecution.
But Netanyahu’s efforts to circumvent any oversight of the government and himself have resumed in recent weeks. He has decided to fire the head of the Shin Bet, claiming that he has lost confidence in him, and his Cabinet this week voted to sack the country’s attorney general on similar grounds. Both had challenged Netanyahu over the way he negotiated the release of the Israeli captives and his refusal to form an independent inquiry into the Oct. 7 attacks.
The Israeli opposition has warned that Netanyahu is becoming a dictator with unchecked powers and that Israeli democracy is under threat. Opposition figures have warned of a civil war breaking out because of such behavior.
But his ardent supporters on the right and the far right see an opportunity to hold on to power so that Netanyahu can fulfill the rest of his agenda: annexation of the West Bank and the transfer of Palestinians. They also see him as delivering on his promises, such as when, in 2018, he pushed the Knesset to pass the controversial so-called Nation-State Law, which prioritizes Israel’s Jewish identity over democratic equality and the rights of minorities. He also proposed laws to weaken nongovernmental organizations, such as “transparency laws” that target groups critical of government policies seen as marginalizing minorities and stifling dissent.
Netanyahu’s efforts to shield himself and concentrate powers in the Knesset, thus weakening Israel’s democracy, must be viewed from the perspective of the country’s “Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel.” In this May 1948 declaration, the signatories declared that the new state “will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice, and peace; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
After more than seven decades, Israel today is what Netanyahu and his far-right partners want it to be and nothing like what its founding fathers had envisaged. Today, Israel is a regional superstate that has subjugated the native Palestinians and has, by now, overcome its neighbors. But despite its regional supremacy, it is deeply divided, with warnings that, under Netanyahu, it is now inching closer to authoritarian rule and is no longer the region’s only democracy.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2594794
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Going Back To Battle Against Hamas Is The Only Option Left For Israel
By Jpost Editorial
March 26, 2025
Nearly a thousand soldiers have lost their lives since Israel launched its invasion of Gaza in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas. Additionally, 16,000 soldiers have been wounded in fighting.
Those numbers are worth remembering as the IDF expands its invasion of Gaza following the collapse of negotiations to secure the release of the remaining 59 hostages in Hamas captivity, 24 of them presumed to be alive.
Since the beginning of the renewed fighting, many top Hamas officials have been killed, along with hundreds of civilians. On Monday, in an indication of a widening of the invasion, IDF forces encircled Tel Sultan in Rafah and maneuvered into eastern portions of Khan Yunis. The IDF also destroyed over 100 Hamas pickup trucks in Gaza, which it said were a major aspect of Hamas’s invasion on October 7.
These moves are explained by the government and army as efforts to exert pressure on Hamas to return to the negotiating table, but, with so much of Gaza destroyed in the 18-month war, it’s unclear how destroying trucks will help in achieving those goals.
On Monday, Hamas published another propaganda video, this time of hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana. Bohbot, 35, and Ohana, 24, were both kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7.
The video shows Bohbot and Ohana sitting on the floor, looking pale. Ohana explained that the conditions that they had endured before the ceasefire started were difficult.
“There was almost no food,” he said. “There was no safe place.”Testimony like that does what it’s intended – to melt the resolve of a country exhausted from war and at odds over how to get the hostages home.
Protests against the government
It was a unified nation that went to war against Hamas after October 7. It’s a different country now, marked by fiery protests against the government over what the demonstrators see as a policy to place the elimination of Hamas over the release of the hostages.
Of course, the protests are also against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to oust both Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Ronen Bar and Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, the renewed judicial reform legislation, and just Netanyahu, in general.
One thing is certain, though – they are not against Hamas, the core reason why the hostages are still in Gaza. Since there’s no possibility for the Israeli in the street to exert pressure on Hamas to “bring them home,” the protesters are focusing their well-deserved wrath solely on the Netanyahu government for its alleged intransigence or unwillingness to go the extra mile.
But what does “bring them home now” really mean? In the weeks between the last hostage release and the return to fighting, there appeared to be no movement toward any more agreement between Israel and Hamas on continuing the lopsided hostage for Palestinian terrorist/prisoner formula.
Is it the protesters’ hope and demands that Israel agree to a full withdrawal from Gaza and leave Hamas in control of the enclave, even though there’s no guarantee that Hamas will free all of the hostages?
There’s no way to ascertain if the return to warfare, which has been endorsed outside of the government by the likes of former defense minister Yoav Gallant, will hasten the softening of Hamas’s resolve or if it simply places the hostages in greater peril.
But we do know that it will be harder on everyone this time around. The nation spent most of 2024 with its heart in its hands every morning, when the previous day’s casualties were announced. Day after day, the names and images of young, fresh-faced Israelis who lost their lives defending their country – still having so much to live – blared out of the headlines, followed by the wrenching funerals and the radio and TV interviews with the fallen’s loved ones.
Are we ready to return to those days, but this time more disjointed and internally torn over the strategy and goals of another prolonged conflict?
Going back to battle against Hamas may be the only option that’s left, but before the invasion becomes full-fledged and sees an Israeli presence throughout Gaza, as Defense Minister Israel Katz has warned, it’s imperative for Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir to explain clearly to the nation why this is necessary and to shore up domestic legitimacy for a campaign that – yet again – will necessitate tremendous sacrifice.
We owe to those who are going to have to fight and those who have been captive for more than 500 days, with their time rapidly running out.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-847581
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Finish Line In Sight: Israel Is About To Achieve Total Victory Against Hamas
By Daniel M. Rosen
March 26, 2025
Israel stands on the precipice of a decisive victory over its adversaries. As the military campaign in Gaza resumes, Hamas finds itself with almost no options and even fewer allies. Its infrastructure is decimated and its argument that the war with Israel was over has been unraveled.
Meanwhile, the Houthis are preoccupied with their own battles against US forces. Hezbollah finds itself deeply wounded and withdrawn from southern Lebanon and Syria and unable to help Hamas. Similarly, Iran is in no position to help or support Hamas at this time.
Israel, undeterred, continues its operations in Gaza, while Hamas struggles to assert any meaningful control. This decisive shift is further reinforced by a looming geopolitical earthquake: the Saudi-Israel-US normalization deal.The Arab world is realigning, and Hamas – along with Iran and its proxies – can see the writing on the wall. Adding to this, in a stunning reversal, Cairo has agreed to allow up to half a million Palestinians to “temporarily” resettle in the Sinai.
This is more than just a policy shift. It is an admission that Gaza, as it once was, is no longer viable. This is no small concession.
At the core of this shift is the simple fact that as long as Hamas refuses to surrender hostages and relinquish control, no meaningful reconstruction in Gaza can take place. Israel has shown no indication that it will cease military operations while Hamas has shown no willingness to de-arm, evacuate, or return all the hostages.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that Somaliland has agreed to take in Palestinian refugees, further eliminating the argument that Gaza cannot be emptied of its terrorist rulers. Slowly but surely, the pieces are falling into place for a long-term solution that neutralizes Hamas once and for all.
With the newly appointed IDF chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, Israel is poised to complete its mission.
Total victory is within reach
Paradoxically, the primary opposition to Israel’s march toward victory comes from within the country itself. Elements of the Israeli Left, segments of the retired military establishment, and certain political factions continue to resist the full realization of this military and strategic objective.
However, the return of 198 out of 250 hostages is a testament to the effectiveness of Israel’s operations and its willingness to engage in “deals” with its barbaric enemies to secure its people.
It is important for the whole society to recognize that the status quo of partial victories where reservists are required to return to the same positions every four to six years is untenable and is not fair to them or to Israeli society at large.
The broader strategic landscape only reinforces this total victory. The Trump administration’s unflinching support for Israel – its direct action against the Houthis in Yemen, its maximum pressure campaign on Iran, and its willingness to “open the gates of hell” on Hamas – has provided Israel with a perfect window to complete what it started.
It is no coincidence that Defense Minister Israel Katz has recently reiterated the message: If Hamas does not return every last hostage: “The gates of hell will open.”
It is now clearer than ever that Hamas’s October 7 attack was not just an act of terror – it was an act of desperation. Hamas saw normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia coming and recognized it as the final nail in the coffin of the so-called “Arab-Israeli conflict.”
They understood what that meant for their prospects of realizing their dreams of destroying Israel; their brutal assault was a last-ditch effort akin to a Hail Mary pass in American football to stop it.
As events continue to unfold, Israel’s position continues to reveal itself. The world is witnessing the final unraveling of Hamas, the crumbling of Iran’s regional proxies, and the emergence of a new Middle East order. Israel is winning decisively.
The question that remains is whether Israeli society can realize this or will it allow for internal discord to squander what could be a defining victory. Israel is on the last leg of a long marathon and it needs to be patient to realize that the finish line is right around the corner.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-847532
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52 Deaths In 3 Months: Gov't Must Fight Bloodshed In Israeli Arab Society
By Hanadi Shaer
March 26, 2025
Since the beginning of this year, 52 Arab Israelis have been murdered. Most of them were young, in their 20s and 30s. Many young people are paying the price for the growing influence of criminal organizations within Arab-Israeli society, the ongoing incompetence of the police and security forces, and the neglect of Arab lives, particularly the youth.
In recent months, we have witnessed commendable initiatives by local Arab leaders who have turned to “sulha” (mediation) committees that work to reconcile feuding families. These initiatives reflect the responsibility that local leaders and religious figures feel to prevent the next murder and victim.
Alongside these efforts, civil society organizations are working in the field to support youth and young adults through informal educational programs, academic and employment integration initiatives, and the establishment of community resilience teams.
However, key questions remain unanswered: How is it possible that the national security minister has failed to implement a comprehensive plan, in collaboration with Arab leadership, to eradicate crime?
Crime in Arab Society is a national crisis
Why is crime in Arab society considered an “Arab problem” rather than a national crisis? How can the Israeli police abandon their fundamental duty of ensuring safety and security for all citizens? How is it possible that in just three months, 52 Arab citizens of Israel have been murdered, with the numbers rising to the point where almost every day, another person is killed?
In the 2000s, there was a severe crime wave in Netanya, primarily involving Jewish crime organizations. In response, the government swiftly convened an emergency committee and devised a comprehensive action plan to uproot organized crime from the city.
This intensive operation included deploying a special force of 200 police officers, implementing numerous strategic measures, and allocating significant financial resources. Today, Netanya has transformed from a city plagued by violent crime into a thriving hub of technology, industry, and security innovation.
The Arab community is caught between despair and hope, helplessness and responsibility. We see this through various grassroots efforts to take action rather than giving up.
Whether through the previously mentioned sulha committees, diverse programs aimed at young people at risk of being drawn into crime, or volunteer initiatives to promote a culture of reconciliation – especially during Ramadan, a month of mercy, compassion, and solidarity.
Unfortunately, this sacred period has turned into a month of bloodshed, fear, and confinement. Young people are afraid to leave their homes, and their lives have become cheap and disposable.
The crisis has reached such a critical point that it has been widely acknowledged – both in Arab society and across Israel – that crime is a national issue requiring direct leadership from the prime minister.
It must be prioritized with all necessary resources dedicated to its daily eradication. The time for committees, endless discussions, and speeches has long passed.
It is time to act
Action must be taken immediately. The same model that successfully transformed Netanya and other Jewish areas must be applied here. Arab Israelis must be treated as equal citizens whose lives are valued – not as expendable statistics.
Many countries worldwide have faced severe crime waves, and in all cases, the solution has involved a combination of relentless law enforcement and substantial community investment, with a strong focus on youth and young adults.
Where the government fails, civil society attempts to step in; but this is not a sustainable solution. A broad government initiative is needed – one that strengthens security forces, intensifies law enforcement, introduces appropriate legislation, and allocates significant funding for community-based crime prevention programs, particularly for at-risk youth.
Only a combination of consistent policy, cooperation with Arab society, and concrete action on the ground can bring about real change. Crime is not an inevitable fate. It’s time to act!
Arab society demands proper support and reinforcement through resource allocation and programs aimed at closing security, educational, and social gaps.
This includes continuing to strengthen the government’s multi-year development plan for the Arab sector, supporting civil society organizations and local municipalities, and ensuring the proper development and monitoring of implementation mechanisms.
The time has come for a multi-pronged approach: strengthening government responses while reinforcing community-driven solutions. Expanding funding for employment and education programs targeting disengaged youth – those labeled as “idle youth”–is critical.
These young people, lacking purpose and economic prospects, are easy prey for criminal organizations. Supporting and expanding initiatives that empower Arab youth must be a priority.
The bloodshed in Arab society must end. This requires responsible and courageous leadership. If the government does not take immediate action, crime will only worsen, and its devastating consequences will spread throughout the country.
This is not just an Arab problem – it is a national crisis. Every citizen in Israel must demand actionable, well-funded solutions and ensure their implementation. The government has a duty to provide security for all its citizens, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or background.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-847535
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Palestinian Authority Antisemitism Resembles Nazi Ideology
By Itamar Marcus
March 26, 2025
This week’s International Conference for Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem takes place 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz. After the defeat of Nazism in 1945, Jews hoped that Nazi antisemitism would vanish forever.
But as Jew-hatred proliferates worldwide in 2025, there is one antisemitic ideology that closely resembles that of the Nazis – and that is the antisemitism of the Palestinian Authority.
What was the Jewish problem for the Nazis? The Nazis said that the Jews ruined every society in which they lived; that they endangered Germany and all humanity.
In Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote: “The Jews are the eternal archenemy of the human race. They manipulate, corrupt, and destroy societies” (vol. 1, chap. 11). “The Jews … are a race of parasites… systematically undermining the fabric of societies” (1,10). “If the Jew, with the help of his Marxist creed, is victorious over the peoples of this world, then his crown will be the funeral wreath of humanity” (1,11).
The Nazi message was that the Jews, by imperiling all humankind, had brought Jew-hatred upon themselves.Although dormant for many years, these Nazi messages have been resurrected and constitute the backbone of Palestinian antisemitism.
The Palestinian hatred comes from the top. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas explained that Palestinians see the Jews just as the Europeans and Hitler saw the Jews. Abbas’s own words: “They said that Hitler killed the Jews because they were Jews, and Europe hates the Jews because they are Jews. No!… They fought [the Jews] because of their social role…
“Hitler… fought the Jews because they worked based on usury and money. In other words, they caused ruin in his opinion, and therefore he hated them” (PA TV, August 24, 2023).
In the months following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 atrocities, when horrified world leaders expressed support for Israel, the PA had a unique explanation for it: “They – Europe and America – succeeded in getting rid of the Jews, whom they view as human waste, and they threw them out into Palestine… far away from Europe. They don’t want reverse migration now and their return to Europe again.” (PA TV, October 24, 2023).
Nazi and PA ideologies
A fundamental component of both Nazi and PA ideology is that the Jews’ alleged negative impact on all societies is not unintended but is part of the Jewish scheme to dominate and subjugate the world.
Three times in 2023, the PA’s official TV station chose to broadcast a warning about this Jewish ambition: “Their [Jewish] thinking is based on racism that caused them to be hated everywhere. In The Protocols of the Elders of Zion… [it says] ‘He created them [Jews] so that they would be masters over them [non-Jews]… The Europeans hated them and wanted to get rid of them, so the European countries... had the idea of establishing a Jewish state’” (January 17, February 27, and May 14, 2023).
The PA’s official daily recently published an editorial that warned of Jewish aspirations, saying: “From all corners of the globe, I see and understand the harm they have caused… They want to subjugate the entire world” (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 15, 2024).
Hitler warned the world of the same threatening Jewish plan: “The Jewish people, by virtue of their innate characteristics, were driven to world domination” (Mein Kampf, 1,11).
A menace to all humanity of this scope is beyond natural human abilities. Hitler’s warning – that “the personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew” (1,11) – is echoed by Abbas’s adviser on Islam, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, the top religious figure in the PA.
He has said on PA TV: “Satan does not have to be in the form of a demon. He can also be in your form… And they [Satan-Jews] are still fighting us” (July 7, 2023). Palestinians are taught that Allah has warned that the Jews, who are linked to Satan – the source of the world’s evil – are the primary force of evil and danger to humanity.
What the Nazis believed is now being disseminated to Palestinians and it is not merely an exercise of minor prejudice. This is a way of understanding the world and being convinced that the Jews are behind all that is wrong with the world, all that is evil in the world, and all that is dangerous and threatening to humanity.
'Jewish threat': Annihilate all Jews
For the Nazis, and now for Palestinians, since the Jewish threat was lethal, the necessary and just solution to protect all humanity was extermination. Hitler was explicit: “The Jew’s existence is a crime against humanity, and the only solution is his removal from our midst” (2,13).
“The result will not be the… victory of Jewry but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe” (Hitler to the Reichstag, January 30, 1939).
According to Hitler, since everything that had been previously tried had not stopped the Jews, the Nazi Final Solution to save humanity, i.e., genocide/extermination, was packaged as self-defense. With the extermination of the Jews, humanity would be saved. This was Nazism, and this is also Palestinian antisemitism.
Jew-hatred is taught and encouraged
Countless times, official PA religious leaders, including the Abbas-appointed PA mufti, have taught that the Hour of Resurrection is conditioned on Muslims “fighting the Jews and killing them.”
Five times in recent months, PA TV broadcast PA religious officials praying for genocide: “Allah, count them one by one, kill them one by one, and do not leave even one” (January 10 and January 24, 2025).
The PA’s Religious Affairs Ministry, just 11 days after Hamas’s October 7 pogrom, published talking points for Friday sermons in all PA mosques. Imams were told to teach that Muslims killing Jews hiding behind rocks and trees, as happened on October 7, was the fulfillment of Muslim destiny:
“The Hour [of Resurrection] will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them, until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, and the rock or a tree will say: ‘Muslim, O servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him’” (PA Religious Affairs Ministry’s Facebook page, October 18, 2023).
According to this Islamic worldview, every person who takes a step to minimize the Jews’ power and eliminate even one Jew is doing Allah’s will on behalf of humanity.
Significantly, Hitler also justified fighting the Jews as God’s will: “I am acting according to the will of the Almighty Creator: When I defend myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord” (Mein Kampf, 1,11).
The Nazi leaders’ pride in its Final Solution is evident in the protocols of their meetings. Heinrich Himmler, in a speech to SS officers in 1943, said: “It’s part of our program, elimination of the Jews, extermination... This is a glorious page in our history that has never been written and shall never be written… We had the moral right, we had the duty to our people, to destroy this people that wanted to destroy us” (October 4, 1943).
Jibril Rajoub, a top PA leader and Fatah Central Committee Secretary, likewise sees glory in killing Jews: “What happened on October 7 was an earthquake… full of epics and acts of heroism” (Al-Anba, November 26, 2023).
Thinking ahead
Today, as world leaders contemplate the future of Gaza after Hamas is removed, many countries led by Egypt are insisting that the Palestinian Authority should rule the Strip. Some have used catchy terms to argue that the PA merely needs to be “revitalized.”
When one understands the depths of PA hatred and loathing of the Jews that the PA has been transmitting to its people for years, the PA clearly cannot be an option. Israel would do well to internalize the words of Robert H. Jackson, chief justice to the Nuremberg Trials, who described with amazement that the Nazis had proclaimed every crime they would commit in advance, and yet the world ignored them.
He concluded: “We must not forget that when the Nazi plans were boldly proclaimed, they were so extravagant that the world refused to take them seriously.”
The PA’s plans and justifications regarding the Jews and Israelis are just as “extravagant” and just as “boldly proclaimed” as the Nazis’ plans. Let’s not make the same mistake the world made in 1939, or that Israel made in 2023. When people say they want to kill you and back it up as God’s directive, they must be taken seriously.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-847538
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