Three years after October 7, a region still in search of hope

THE October 7, 2023the State of Israel was experiencing one of the worst human tragedies of its young existence, although it had not been spared much in 75 years of unfailing resistance in the face of so many neighboring countries who wanted its end. Three quarters of a century enamelled with warsattacks, unjust deaths on both sides, periods of respite, dashed hopes, and resumption of endless cycles of hatred. Three quarters of a century after its creation, and although it had been created precisely to safely accommodate all the Jews who had suffered so much during the World War IIas a refuge intended so that never again Jews could be cowardly murdered, without reason, and because they were Jews above all, repeat: the Hebrew State was going to experience on October 7, 2023 a disastrous morning and a tragedy which will forever enter into the history of the country.

In the space of just a few hours, pick-up trucks full of Hamas commandos and several Palestinian armed groups crossed the border from Gaza with Israel to commit the largest pogrom since the Second World War: in the various localities in the area, 1,200 people will be attacked, raped, savagely killed, notably those present during the Nova music festival and in the kibbuts of Kfar Aza, Be’eri, Nir Oz. The deaths are tragic, but what the 251 people taken hostage will experience for months is beyond comprehension. Hamas has succeeded in his attempt and is filming and broadcasting unbearable images of his abuses everywhere on the networks. They retreated to Gaza with ideal prey that would serve as a bargaining chip and life insurance for months after the attack.

A lifelong trauma for the country

Three years later, the wounds are raw and the trauma remains intact in Israel, even if the resilience of Israeli society has always been strong and is in the DNA of the Jews. It remains intact because nothing has been resolved: the situation is more depressing than ever, more unstable, and it is not at all certain that Israelis are any safer today than they were on October 6, on the eve of the massacres. Cornered, Benjamin Netanyahuwho bears part of the responsibility, having pushed for the strengthening of Hamas in Gaza to weaken thePalestinian Authority for twenty years and prevent any reunification of the inter-Palestinian camp but above all any creation of a Palestinian state which he never wanted. The choice of the status quo and hazardous management of Hamas, which has become almost a Frankenstein’s beast, taken over by Iran, but also of the promotion of colonization in the West Bank to satisfy its rightist coalition like never before, have made it difficult to avoid this tragedy. Netanyahu played with fire, he had the worst fire of his career.

However, not only would Bibi have been sufficiently warned by his internal services just like the Emirates a few days before October 7, but because it will take hours for the Israeli army to get there while they were in West Bank mainly to protect the Colonists. The most paradoxical thing about Hamas’s strategy is that what happened next was perfectly calculated by the Islamist organization: the first victims of Netanyahu’s revenge would be the Palestinian civilians in Gaza. It was sewn with white thread. The other paradox is the very nature of the 1200 deaths committed by the Islamists : they were not Israeli settlers, activists of Israeli nationalist and religious supremacist parties, but quite the opposite: members of this Israeli pacifist left who still believed that living in a kibbutz a few kilometers from Gaza would immunize them and spread a message of peace towards Hamas while awaiting the next reconciliation; the second victims were the festival-goers, young people also on the left, who saw no risk in partying in the Western style opposite Gaza.

A counterproductive war

Netanyahu then sets himself up as a warlord who threatens Hamas with eradication. For weeks, the operations carried out will see the gradual elimination of a large number of executives of the Islamist organization, of Yahya Sinwar the leader of the armed wing of Hamas and the local architect of October 7, but also of many civilians. But if the war of retaliation led by Benyamin Netanyahu subsequently caused devastation in Gaza, it did not succeed in defeating the Islamist organization. Israel has certainly demonstrated considerable military power, against all its enemies from Hamas, to Hezbollah, to the Houthis, including the Iranian godfather of course, but the fundamental question remains: the enemies ofHebrew State have still not given up their arms. Will they ever do it? Unfortunately, nothing is less certain.

Little hope in the vote

The Israeli elections coming up on October 27 could once again see a plebiscite in favor of Netanyahu, who has always come out of the worst situations, such as Donald Trump Besides. He is still a warlord, and his main rival and former chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot, shot himself in the foot by considering opening his lists to Arabs. It is a safe bet that many Israelis deep down, even if they can no longer bear the war, the dead, Netanyahu, continue to support him because in front of him there is emptiness. He still represents power and might in powerlessness, which few of his challengers are capable of having.

This whole situation leads to a real bitter assessment: Gaza is devastated, the Israelis continue to mourn their dead, the enemies of the Hebrew State are still there, there is no Palestinian State and there probably never will be, and the risk of mutual destruction would be the worst of choices or non-choices, but an option that we can hardly rule out at one time or another, as the hatred is at its peak between the two societies. And that there is no one determined today to extend a hand. Three years after October 7, Benjamin Netanyahu can still convince Israelis that he is the man who will win their wars. But Israel is still waiting for the one who will finally be able to avoid the next one.