All Eyes on Benjamin

“In the Bibi world there is no value, metric or significance for anything, other than pledging allegiance to the leader Benjamin Netanyahu each and every morning.” writes Chaim Levinson on Haaretz.

Internal divisions in Israel are clearly apparent. Last Saturday night, extreme supporters of ‘Bibi’ attacked Gadi Kedem, a man who lost his family on October 7. “It’s a good thing they killed your children,” they cursed at his wife.

Chaim goes on to write that this is ‘Israel’s second war of independence. It’s not against Hamas. It’s amongst ourselves.’

It is what he says later that I find even more interesting: ‘Israel cannot afford not to be excellently managed. This place is violent and dangerous and rests on very delicate brakes and balances… Countries rise and fall. There were once empires, like Greece. They collapsed due to generation after generation of failed management.’

It’s clear that most Israelis know that Netanyahu is not acting in the best interest of Israelis or Israel anymore. It’s been clear to many for a while, but now it must be really clear to most. Bibi only cares about Bibi and his view of what Israel must be. Even as world leaders try to warn him, he is responsible for the biggest loss of support Israel has seen in decades.

Meanwhile, the world’s population has their eyes turned to Gaza, specifically Rafah. If my own social media were an indication of European sentiment, at least 1 in 3 people, or more, have their eyes on Rafah. “All Eyes on Rafah” is written on every second or third Instagram story, on Facebook, on Twitter, where people speak.

Terrifying images coming out of camps after the recent bombing of Rafah, where people were living, thinking they were in a safe zone, have circulated to nearly every human being with a phone on Earth, or at least in the Western world.

It’s a challenge to be vocal about how one feels, seeing the reality on the ground, without falsely insinuating that somehow, as a European Parliament candidate, you’d have any influence over Benjamin Netanyahu’s mind. And I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: most of us make it clear that we support all people’s right to self-determination, and we must ensure this is done, without professing, that the European Parliament has the direct ability to end or influence the immediate cessation of the ongoing violence.

Israelis are scared, hoping to see friends and family return from tunnels in Gaza. Palestinians are scared, perhaps even hopeless, about the possibility of ever seeing loved ones again, unsure in the fog of war, in the dust, about whether they are separated forever or momentarily. The worst of our humanity has indeed been invoked, to paraphrase myself from October, and I’m unsure where this ends.

From a national, Luxembourgish, perspective, it is clear that our government supports achieving a ceasefire. We do not engage in performance politics however. I believe other people’s plight should not become an electoral wager for politicians in third countries. Our priority must be to assist the people affected by this conflict and ensure the upholding of international law in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, and the wider region.

It is our collective responsibility to ensure we are capable of putting an end to the destruction of indescribable proportions taking place today, the upholding of international law, and to put ourselves in a position to support what comes next. From a European perspective too. But what will it take? I’ve said it again and again, if we are truly friends of Israel, we must help it from making the worst mistake it’s ever made. Benjamin Netanyahu, whether the latest strike was a mistake or not, should no longer feel capable of leading. Of course, we won’t wait for Netanyahu to find a moral center today. Has he ever had one? He won’t find it today.

I am afraid, not only because we mourn thousands of our fellow human beings today. I am afraid for what this conflict is doing to our societies throughout Europe too. It’s pitting us against each other.

Pretending like antisemitism is not on the rise is dangerous. Islamophobia and xenophobia are on the rise too. We’re being divided by our inability to help ensure peace at a time when Europe is not even certain of being able to guarantee its own peace. Maps are being redrawn, and what is happening is being used by various actors to advance their own expansion and agendas (see Erdogan).

I can’t get the images of violence out of my head. But this is not about me, not about any of us typing statements from afar. I remember, was it a French journalist or an ex-politician who said, this is not the time for history lessons; this is not the time for context. Let this be done by historians. This is the time to guarantee peace and ceasefire so both Israelis and Palestinians can stop feeling fear and terror of each other and so that they can live in peace. Whatever needs to happen must happen now. Every now that’s past.

My Jewish friends are scared, my Israeli friends are scared. My Muslim friends are in pain, my Palestinian friends are heartbroken. All of them, human beings, with hearts and fears, like you, like me. What I care about is how we build peace. And I’ve said it again and again, I know my scope and limitations. So what do we do? I ask you.

We are setting up a generation that will hate each other. Once again, what can we learn from our own brutal history, the history of how most European countries chose to forgive aggressive countries from central Europe after World War II? How can we mend the wounds? Because if all we are setting up is a stage for perpetual fear of the other, revenge, and bloodshed, then nobody wins, nobody lives.

All our eyes are on Netanyahu. He stands at a crossroads where his decisions will either further plunge the region into chaos or offer a slim chance for peace. It is not enough to merely critique his leadership and condemn the attack; the global community must take tangible steps to mediate, support, and pressure for a sustainable resolution.

As we watch this tragedy unfold, we must remember that our collective humanity demands we strive for peace and justice for all.