By Daanyaal Matthews
The death of Ismail Haniyeh has continued to stir discussion on implications, especially as Israel has not yet confirmed nor denied any role in the assassination, even though reports indicate that Israeli intelligence had communicated with Western leaders on the assassination just moments after it took place. While Israel’s silence on the entire debacle has spoken volumes, so have its detractors with the Islamic State of Iran and resistance group Hamas, stating that they believe that Israel was responsible for the attack.
The idea of Israel orchestrating this attack is not unfounded, as in the history of the struggle of the Palestinians, assassination of high-profile leaders of Hamas has been a mainstay of Israel’s offense, and, recently, Israeli authorities bombed a high-profile member of Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon. However, a larger question arises from the idea of this being orchestrated by Israel: What is the endgame?
For international relations analyst Donovan E. Williams, the objective of Israel is not peace, but rather, peace and the autonomy of the Palestinian populace via a recognized Palestinian state is a threat to Israel’s very existence.
“This is how it can be summarized: Israel does not want peace. That’s clear. Any peace talks are a threat to Israel. Remember, they have just passed legislation in Israel that a Palestinian country is a threat to Israel. So, any notion of a Palestinian state is a threat to Israel,” said Williams.
The argument of Williams would craft pandemonium for the Middle East because of the desire from Israel’s allies, chiefly the United States of America, for a two-state solution in the long term, which would require the establishment of a Palestinian state and a ceasefire in the immediate future.
Both options seem unattainable as Hamas, believing the attack to be the work of Israel, has expressed vitriol in response to the attack, with Iran having daily meetings between executive members of its state to discuss the way forward, which is feared to include a plan for a direct conflict with Israel. This could possibly lead into a plethora of realities, none of which is congruent with the concept of peace in the Middle East and none of which is beneficial for Israel’s partners, who, having already donated billions to the Israeli cause, would more than likely be dragged into a conflict the likes of which have never been seen on the continent in the modern era.
For Williams, this is the goal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to escalate the conflict beyond the confines of the Levant to not only ensure his longevity in government, as presently his stature in the eyes of his constituents has sunk, but also ensure the expansion of Israel as a state.
“What do they want? He is clearly saying he wants to expand the conflict; there must be no peace talks, no ceasefire. In other words, they want to be attacked, but not just be attacked; they want to create a full-on war. So, a state of war exists, and Netanyahu remains the Prime Minister,” argued William.
VOCNews
Photo: Khamenei.ir
