After more than two months of conflict in the Gaza Strip, the divide between the parties could not be deeper. On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that the current phase of the conflict, with its violent ground fighting supported by the air force, could last for weeks more — and continue under other conditions. forms for months.
The day before, from Qatar, the diplomats gathered at the annual conference of the Doha Forum hardly brought more hope by affirming that the reopening of ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel was not possible. before “several weeks”. A dark outlook in the war imposed by Tel Aviv on the Palestinian enclave after the trauma of the Hamas terrorist attack perpetrated in Israeli territory on October 7.
Anchored in the violence of its present, the conflict hardly shows any way out in the near future. But that should not prevent the authorities from looking now at the “after”, believes former senior Israeli diplomat Élie Barnavi. A critical voice of the extremist and authoritarian government of Benjamin Netanyahu, he is one of the strong figures in the movement calling for the appeasement of relations between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East.
“Is it too early to talk about the post-conflict period? From my point of view, it is already too late,” said Mr. Barnavi, met by The duty a few days ago in Brussels, where he was visiting to discuss the future of things in this hot spot on the globe with elected officials and senior European officials. “Some people think that we must first win the war before thinking about this “after”. But that’s absurd. It’s in the middle of war that you have to have an idea of how you’re doing. Obviously, Benjamin Netanyahu does not know this. But the only reasonable outcome to this war, once Hamas as a power structure has been dismantled and the hostages freed, is the creation of a Palestinian state. »
And he adds: “It is a solution which, in the unprecedented situation in which we have found ourselves since October 7 in Israel, will certainly have to be imposed once and for all on Israel by the international community. This is a method that we have never tried to date. But the current crisis, by its acuteness, by its brutality, has just created the conditions for such progress. »
Netanyahu and Hamas
This two-state solution has been fought for more than 20 years by Benjamin Netanyahu. To prevent the Palestinians from finally achieving self-determination, he preferred to support Hamas in order to ensure that the terrorist group divides Palestine between the two occupied territories: the Gaza enclave, led by these extremists, and the West Bank, under the control of a Palestinian Authority weakened by the Oslo Accords, ironically signed to lay the first milestones for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The strategy backfired dramatically. And the Israeli Prime Minister now finds himself in an ejection seat, after having failed to ensure the security of the Israeli people on their own territory. Today, between 70% and 80% of Israelis want him to leave, which is less and less about “if” and more and more about “when”.
“The scale of the October massacre caused enormous trauma,” says Mr. Barnavi. But he also brought the Palestinian question back to the international scene. We thought the question was settled. But instead we are faced with a new internationalization of the Israeli-Palestinian problem, which now requires us to enter a new paradigm. »
The only solution, according to Élie Barnavi
“If there was another solution other than the creation of a Palestinian state, we would know,” adds the ex-diplomat, who also teaches history at Tel Aviv University. And who already, in 2014, during the previous Gaza war, had called, in a letter signed with 660 other Israeli public figures, European parliamentarians to immediately recognize the Palestinian state.
Nine years later, he goes further. “From now on, we must understand that there is no solution to Palestine that is not imposed by the international community on Israel. This community must therefore assume its responsibilities and create as quickly as possible the parameters necessary for the implementation of this solution, otherwise we will start again as before, with the same results, falling into the same impasses. »
At the beginning of December, the American Vice-President, Kamala Harris, took advantage of her visit to Dubai to hold meetings with several regional leaders on the sidelines of a climate summit which she ultimately attended very little. All in the hope of advancing this project to create a Palestinian state, more than ever supported by Washington. “The United States knows what needs to be done, and it understands that it is necessary to work with the Sunni states of the region: Saudi Arabia, but also Jordan and Egypt, whose two fragile regimes have need a quick and solid political solution to this conflict to protect their power. It is a coalition like this that is needed, driven by determined action from the Americans and Europe, to impose the creation of a Palestinian state on Netanyahu. »
A solution in which Canada should also take part, believes Mr. Barnavi. “Canada is certainly not a coercive power in the region. But on the international level, he has a discreet diplomatic power that he could put to good use if he took the trouble. It is a very respected country, with a moral voice that we listen to. When he says something, he is not accused of defending particular interests and he should get more involved” to implement in the region, among others, expertise from which Israel and Palestine could benefit, he continues.
“The creation of a Palestinian state can be seen as a first historical phase, which could subsequently lead to a federation, a federal state, as there is in Canada,” said Mr. Barnavi before concluding. In the ongoing tragedy, we are finally experiencing a privileged moment to finally make this solution a reality, because everyone is talking about it… and must continue to talk about it. »