Israelis who lost peace, such as Nadav Tamir, political advisor to the late Shimon Peres during his presidency of Israel (2007-2014), now see, paradoxically, another opportunity for a peace process opening up , albeit after Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza.
Oslo 1993, peace in sight, Gaza 2023, war in sight. Why did everything go wrong?
First, it is important for your readers to know the tragedy that Israel suffered on October 7. It is an unprecedented trauma. We had the Yom Kippur War in 1973, when Israel was surprised by Egypt and Syria, with many casualties, but they were soldiers. This time they were civilians, children, old people or young people who were at a party. They were brutally killed or kidnapped. Barbarism on a scale we hadn’t suffered since the Holocaust. But going to your question, what happened after Oslo is that the leadership did not continue the process. We had the assassination of Rabin (1995) and the subsequent government was not interested in peace. And we got stuck in a situation where the Palestinians ruled their main cities but weren’t really free. Many Israelis thought: we’re fine. We can live with that. One of the tragedies is that when there is no terrorism people take things for granted. Why do we have to touch anything? And when there is terrorism, like now, people say: why should we make a deal with terrorists?
Do you see alternatives to Hamas in Palestine?
There are enough Palestinians who want a diplomatic solution and do not believe in terrorism. We must give these Palestinians hope. I hope that this tragedy will be transformed into action, with the military component of punishing Hamas and dismantling its capabilities, but also sparking diplomatic action, in which we can eventually reach an agreement on the basis of the two-state solution. With elections in Palestine that give legitimate authority for both Gaza and the West Bank. I am sure that in case of elections Hamas will lose its popularity because one of the reasons for its growth was that many Palestinians lost faith in diplomacy.
It doesn’t seem easy…
My message to the international community is twofold: support Israel at this tragic moment, understand the anger and the right to self-defense and attack Hamas, and on the other hand, help us with a negotiation that revives the settlement of the two states
In other words, can this war bring peace?
I think that in history, crises and tragedies always create opportunities, in which people reevaluate and step out of their comfort zone. It’s hard for Israelis to see it that way, but I think it’s the responsibility of the international community to understand a few things: they can’t ignore the Palestinian issue. The Palestine component must be included. We must strengthen the moderate Palestinians. And stop repeating like a mantra that of the two states, we need to act to make it a reality. To use this tragedy to turn it into an opportunity, especially now that the US has understood that it cannot be absent from this region to concentrate on Asia, as was its fantasy.
I don’t see people of peace at the head of both sides, do you?
We have to think beyond Hamas and Netanyahu. Now, we all stand in solidarity with the Prime Minister, but the next day, people know that we need another leadership. This one failed us.
Hamas cannot be explained without the support of Iran.
One of the triggers for October 7 was Iran’s fear of the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. They wanted to interfere, as happened after Oslo. We cannot allow extremists to derail a peace process again.
Are the Abraham agreements positive for stability?
For Trump and Netanyahu (the architects) it was a way to bypass the Palestinians, but at the same time they can be a tool to balance and promote agreements. Many far-right Israelis who used to say that all Arabs were terrorists are now happy to travel to Dubai. There is room to convince the Israelis that they are interested in normalizing the relationship with the Palestinians.
What is Hamas’ game with the hostages?
Hamas wants to postpone the ground operation in exchange for giving things to the Qataris, to the Americans. The US is trying to explain to the Israeli Government that the priority must be the abductees and I understand that they are working intensively, together with the Egyptians and Qataris, to influence Hamas.
This will not prevent the attack.
The Americans are not asking for it either, they are not talking about a ceasefire or postponing the attack… It is a complicated game. For me, their return home must be Israel’s first priority. We can punish Hamas later, it doesn’t have to be now.
In this 21st century, Israeli peacekeepers like you have been wiped off the map.
And so this tragedy has arrived. For the side of peace to be strong again in Israel, international help is needed. Israel’s friends in the US and the EU must lend us a helping hand, warming us up today and at the same time pushing for a deal.
