Forever War

In the recently held CNN presidential debate Biden blamed it on HAMAS for stalling the process of a permanent cease-fire deal. But the reality is completely otherwise. Only a few days ago, before the much-publicized presidential debate that was telecast live across the world, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he would not accept any permanent ceasefire. He forecasted that the most intense period of Israeli military violence may be drawing to a close, but allowed only for negotiations to continue for prisoner swaps. These are plain lies. Israeli forces have started fresh operations in northern Gaza which has been turned into a ‘graveyard’. UN is repeatedly issuing warnings that the situation in Gaza is unbearable and it is already a human catastrophe by any standard. ‘In truth they have opened the door to hell’. For the Gazans ‘The Night Won’t End’.

Beyond the nine-month-long genocide that Israel has wrought on Gaza, Netanyahu is now pushing toward full-scale war with Lebanon–which could drag Syria, Iran, and the entire region into the conflict. In other words, America will have to depend on Israel to manage the Mid-East conflict.

For months, the Israeli government has been dragging its feet and creating impossible conditions during ceasefire negotiations, though HAMAS is being targeted for putting ‘impossible conditions.’ Militants are on the defensive, no doubt, but the Israeli military will not be able to wipe out HAMAS completely anytime soon.

Now that the Israeli government has engineered a total humanitarian crisis in Gaza, it can continue its genocide by attrition, so long as there is no permanent ceasefire deal. Meanwhile, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which is strongest in southern Lebanon, has expanded in recent weeks.

Netanyahu is pushing to expand Israel’s bombing of Lebanon into a second front of the war, one which could destabilise the entire region. Since October, the Israeli military has been regularly bombing southern Lebanon, including chemical attacks using illegal white phosphorus. But a full-scale war would likely drag in Syria and Iran–and have devastating consequences in Lebanon and beyond.

Netanyahu’s fragile coalition government depends on support from ultra-right-wing parties and will fall apart whenever the fighting stops. Extremist Israeli politicians Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have threatened to quit if any ceasefire deal is reached, and their exit would collapse the coalition. If Netanyahu’s government collapses, he’s not only facing an end to his time as prime minister–but also a corruption trial which could well end up with him behind bars.

When the US sends billions to Israel to buy weapons, those weapons are purchased from US firms. So the US government spends billions in tax dollars to Israel, which sends billions back to the US military-industrial complex, to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and others. Expanding the war means expanding Israeli purchases of US arms.

 Israel’s entire military strategy, and its ability to continue the genocide, depends on a steady flow of US weapons–so Netanyahu is doing everything he can to keep them coming. Expanding into another front of the war, even if Biden is vocally opposed to this plan, is one way he can force Biden’s hand.

For one thing, US weapons manufacturers play a massive role in the US economy, with an equivalent amount of influence on the US government, particularly in terms of defense and foreign policy. Following a $14 billion weapons deal between Israel and the US in April, they’re just as happy to keep profiting off their role in arming a genocide.

Biden’s pause on weapons shipments to Israel in May was the first real indication that he could stand up to these pressures and stop funding a genocide that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. Ultimately Biden cannot do much other than play with the gallery because his election managers need money and the merchants of death are always ready to oblige the Biden brigade.

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Frontier
Vol 57, No. 3, Jul 14 - 20, 2024