Israeli and media misinformation

Author's note. Insights in this article are drawn from an interview by the Vatican Dispatch (5 January 2024) of Fr. David Neuhaus, S.J., an Israeli Jesuit resident of Israel. The interview reflects the perspectives of the Vatican community and the Papacy on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

What has the Israeli retaliation in Gaza achieved?

The question is — what has it not achieved? The goal of the Israeli government and the military of destroying Hamas completely is a distant, almost impossible, reality. It will take years to achieve even half of that goal.

Time is the enemy, as in the US occupation of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, all of which failed miserably in the end. Hamas is intertwined with the Palestinian people, even if there are anti-Hamas elements. Destroying Hamas means destroying the Palestinian people.

The bloody retaliation by Netanyahu and the IDF against the Palestinian populace of Gaza has in fact ideologically strengthened Hamas not only among the local Palestinian populace but also among millions of its worldwide supporters. Take note that Israel has branded legitimate criticism of its government policy as antisemitism.

Massive Misinformation of Israeli People

Israeli government and media are united in, not misinforming, but "un-informing" the Israeli people into believing the genocide in Gaza is a justified war. They report how many Hamas fighters they have killed but fail to report civilian and child casualties. The Israeli people are mostly insulated from what is really happening in Gaza and the West Bank that may lead to a massive retaliation by their enemies.

"Various polls show that the Israeli public strongly backs this war. Does the Israeli media inform them of the bombing of Gaza?" Or do they simply promote hatred as a journalistic theme? Hamas killed about 1,200 Israelis in the 7 October invasion. At a certain point, the IDF had killed more than 22,000 Palestinians, about half of them children, a ratio of 20 Palestinians for every Israeli killed on 7 October — 20 eyes for an eye. Does the Israeli public know this? The Israeli people are thus blind to the real human situation in Gaza and the West Bank.

The Israeli policy in the West Bank is not coexistence but occupation and dislocation, hinting that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will end only when both sides have destroyed each other. "The Israeli government is determined to make the West Bank Israeli territory through land confiscation, expulsion of the population … hand-in-hand with strengthening the Jewish presence there and enthusiastically arming them."

Today, there are 1.75 million Palestinians residing in Israel, a ticking time bomb within Israel's 9.4 million population (as of 2021), close to a worrisome 19 percent.

The genocide issue is a big bone in Netanhyau's throat so that his supporters are taking it to an international court, hoping that they will win by argumentation, while the casualties in Gaza mount.

Pope versus Rabbis

Pope Francis, together with 153 member-nations of the UN, called for a ceasefire, but the Netanyahu government, together with the brainwashed Israeli public, does not want a ceasefire. The Chief Rabbi of South Africa launched a vicious attack against Pope Francis. The Chief Rabbi Lau of Israel sent a letter of condemnation to Pope Francis. "Over 400 Jews engaged in dialogue with the Church asked the Pope for more understanding of Jewish fears."

What are these "Jewish fears?" They fear "an existential threat" to the Jewish nation (americanmagazine-org, 28 November 2023). Israelis believe a short-term ceasefire will lead to more massacres of Jewish people.

Fr. Neuhaus condemns "total and uncritical support for Israel" without mentioning that, in fact, support for Israel comes from support of the powerful Israeli lobby group funding the candidacy of US candidates, to the point that they have been dictating the appointments of key government positions such the Secretary of State in the last few decades.

Netanyahu's gambit and dilemma consist of a strong resolve to destroy Hamas, which will take forever; by which time, the forces of massive retaliation may face Israel. Netanyahu perhaps believes that this reality of massive Islamic retaliation is inevitable, so that it is better to be quick rather than let it slide slowly in a protracted conflict. So, Netanyahu's point is to escalate the war and get it over with, after all Mother America is right behind him.