It was reprimanded by the House and found that Tlaib was praised and condemned at home
The Case for a Just War: Why Israel Fails to the ICR, Or Why Israel Has No Right-Handed Legitimacy
Mr. Biden has been no better in identifying a long-term solution. The reality is that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is at the center of the conflict but Mr. Biden has not shied away from describing Palestinians as evil terrorists or innocent civilians. Palestinians are political agents who refuse to be ignored, as well as seek self-determination. The language that Mr. Biden used said that terrorists would not win. Freedom will win.” — ignores that Palestinian terrorism and Israeli occupation are reinforcing injustices, both of which stand in the way of peace.
The standard elements used in assessing a war are cause, intent, legitimate authority, net benefit, and likelihood of success. The case for a just war can still be made even if a few of the criteria are weak.
While applying these standards to Israel is ultimately a theoretical exercise, a perception that it falls short could have major practical effects, potentially damaging Israel’s diplomatic standing and trade and the world economy while strengthening support for its enemies. Israel does not recognize its jurisdiction at the International Criminal Court and if it were seen to have committed war crimes, a trial could be held there, or Israeli soldiers could be arrested and indicted in any of the nations that have adopted universal jurisdiction.
The Israeli government is recognized for having legitimate authority. The government was elected by the people, even if the right-wing coalition tries to undermine the checks and balances.
The Fate of Hamas in the West Bank: Israel and the Challenges of the Middle East and West Bank for the Peace and Security of Israel
If the net benefit is weighed against the harms, it would be possible to remove Hamas from power or its ability to attack Israel in the short term. The war might also provide new opportunities for the Palestinian Authority or some other transitional administration to govern Gaza, and eventually free and fair elections. Israel might also be able to rescue the hostages held by Hamas. The large loss of Palestinian lives will most likely cause an in-tergenerational rage against Israel and make people more likely to join extremists. More groups are likely to rise up even if Hamas is disarmed.
Further, there is a great risk of a wider war, with fire already being exchanged over Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria, and escalating violence in the West Bank. Israel recently signed an accord with certain Arab states, which may cause damage to Israel’s foreign relations.
Israel has been vague on who might administer Gaza if and when Hamas is ousted, even as it comes under increasing international criticism for the humanitarian crisis and spiraling death toll from its airstrikes and subsequent ground invasion of the enclave. More than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to Gazan health officials.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Mr. Abbas, emphasized on Sunday that any Israeli attempt to separate Gaza from the West Bank was destined to fail. In an apparent response to Mr. Netanyahu’s remarks, Mr. Abu Rudeineh said in comments carried by Wafa, the official Palestinian Authority news agency, that “the consolidation of Israel’s occupation in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem would not bring security to anyone.”
The war was sparked by the cross-border assault by Hamas in October in which around 1,200 people were killed and hundreds more were taken as hostages. Israel’s stated goals for the war are to dismantle Hamas’s military strength and ability to rule Gaza, as well as to bring the hostages back home.
Asked about a potential hostage deal, Mr. Netanyahu told Meet the Press there “could be” one, but added, “The less I say about it, the more I’ve increased the chances that it materializes.” Israeli representatives have been engaging in talks with intermediaries including Qatar.
The Netanyahus pointed to the fact that the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the occupied West Bank, was blamed for teaching hatred of Israel to children.
“The massacre of Oct. 7 proved once and for all that in every place that Israel does not have security control, terrorism entrenches itself,” Mr. Netanyahu said on Saturday. In the end it comes back to haunt us in Judea, and that’s also true in the West Bank by its biblical names.
The stability will only be achieved if the Israeli occupation is ended and the Palestinian state is established in those areas.
The Israeli government is of the opinion that Mr. Netanyahu would be weakened if he were to give Mr. Abbas authority in Gaza as a replacement for Hamas.
Perhaps Mr. Biden’s bear hug will give him political cover to reinvigorate the pursuit of a two-state solution, last attempted by U.S. diplomats in the Obama administration. Mr. Biden said there was no going back to the prewar status quo. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to govern Gaza after Israeli forces withdraw. The assumption is that if Israel were to pull out sooner, the PA would demand progress toward a Palestinian state. To have any odds of success, the United States will have to threaten to reduce military assistance and political support and act accordingly. Otherwise Israel will conclude that U.S. talk is just that.
For more than a month, the suburbs of Detroit have played host to vigils where victims of the war between Israel and Hamas are commemorated with prayers, candles and tearful speeches.
Since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, no American politician save for President Biden has featured more centrally in arguments over the Israel-Hamas war than Ms. Tlaib. Since her election in 2018, the congresswoman, who has family living in the West Bank, has been the leading voice for Palestinian rights in Congress.
At a gathering in solidarity with Israeli hostages last week at Adat Shalom synagogue, Jeremy Moss, a Democratic state senator from Southfield, a suburb with a large Jewish population in Ms. Tlaib’s district, spoke with concerned constituents. He said he had a lot of people come up to him and say they don’t feel represented.
Khalid Turaani, a Palestinian-American activist, compared Ms. Tlaib’s censure to that of Joshua Reed Giddings, a congressman and abolitionist who was censured by his House colleagues in 1842 for introducing resolutions opposing the slave trade.
Thanks to the redrawn district, she started representing one of the largest Arab American communities in the country and parts of the largest Jewish community in the Detroit area. The war has put her in the increasingly difficult position of representing both constituencies, whose views of the conflict are both deeply personal and often extraordinarily difficult to reconcile.
The divide would pose a great challenge to any politician. It could be unbridgeable for Ms. Tlaib, who has staked out a position that hurts many of those people.
The congressman voted against condemning Hamas, and against maintaining military assistance to Israel, after the attack on Oct. 7.
On Nov. 3, she posted a video on social media accusing President Biden of supporting the “genocide of the Palestinian people” and including footage of demonstrators chanting “from the river to the sea,” a pro-Palestinian slogan that many see as calling for not only the restoration of Palestinian land claims but also the eradication of Israel.
Ms. Tlaib said it was an aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction or hate. She vowed after the vote that she would keep working for a just and lasting peace that upholds the human rights and dignity of all people, centers peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, and ensures no child has to suffer or live in fear of violence.
Ms. Tlaib’s defense of the slogan drew condemnation from the Biden administration, as well as criticism from Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, and disavowal from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, both Democrats.
Mr. Mellman said that Tlaib was out of step with her peers in Congress and with the Democrats in Michigan. “We hope she will change her views, and if not, perhaps somebody might be interested in running against her.”
