{"id":104569,"date":"2025-08-08T08:19:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T06:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/gershon-baskin-on-the-war-in-gaza\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T08:19:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T06:19:05","slug":"gershon-baskin-on-the-war-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/militaeraktuell.at\/en\/gershon-baskin-on-the-war-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Gershon Baskin on the war in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our five questions this time go to the Israeli columnist and political activist Gershon Baskin. We have worked with <\/span>spoke to the Middle East expert about the war in Gaza and why he believes the two-state solution is the right way forward.
\n<\/p>\n

Mr. Baskin<\/span>, what do the majority of Israelis think about the war in Gaza? Do they support the continuation of hostilities and thus the policy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?
\n<\/strong>A clear and clear majority of up to 80 percent of Israelis want this war to end and the hostages to come home. Up to 80 percent of Israelis – perhaps even more – are also calling for a national commission of inquiry to find out what happened on October 7 (note: the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023), what led up to it, what was the cause and what happened afterwards<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Netanyahu has not had a majority among the population in polls since the beginning of the war – not even today. But it has to be said: A large number of Israelis – I don’t know how many – believe at the same time that there are no innocent people in Gaza. That is the contradiction. <\/p>\n

\"\u00a9Military<\/a><\/p>\n

Government circles keep saying that Hamas is not prepared to negotiate or is to blame for the failure of previous negotiations. How do you see this?
\n<\/strong>As far as I know, Hamas has been ready for over a year to conclude an agreement that would end the war. This would involve an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners and in return all hostages still held by Hamas would be released. Hamas has repeatedly stated that they are prepared to accept a technocratic Palestinian government in Gaza in which they themselves are not involved. <\/p>\n

The problem is that they are not prepared to lay down their arms – and there is no clear statement from Mahmoud Abbas or the Palestinian Authority on how Gaza should be governed after the war.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu claims that if Israel withdraws from Gaza, Hamas will remain in power, rebuild itself and so on – therein lies the difficulty. I think the main responsibility for the failure of the negotiations lies with Israel. Israel is trying to negotiate a partial agreement that will keep the war going. Hamas, on the other hand, does not believe that Israel would seriously refrain from further fighting even in the event of a ceasefire – because Israel has a proven history of broken ceasefires. <\/p>\n

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“EU statements sound good, but everyone in Israel knows that they have no effect.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

More and more countries, including Germany, are criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza. Why does this not impress the Netanyahu government? What would have to happen to exert effective pressure?
\n<\/strong>Declarations by Germany or the EU sound good, but everyone in Israel knows that they have no effect. They end up as meaningless papers in the bin. Perhaps something would change if there were real sanctions – for example, if settlers were no longer allowed to travel to Europe. Or if the free trade agreement was suspended and visa-free entry for Israelis was revoked. Such measures would carry more weight. <\/p>\n

Even the threat of recognizing Palestine does not really shake Israel. Because the Israelis know that this will not – and will not – change the reality on the ground. Israel does not recognize the state of Palestine. <\/p>\n

Tschechiens R\u00fcstungsindustrie: von der Vergangenheit in die Zukunft<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n