Why Is Israel So Successful?
By Dr Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD

 

After eleven days of relentless pounding, the Israeli bombs stopped falling on Gaza on May 21, 2021, so did the rockets from Hamas targeting Israeli cities. Most of the latter were caught and neutralized by the iron dome, the Israeli air shield developed with the help of the US. The ceasefire was finally negotiated by the Egyptians, who maintain relations with both Israel and Hamas. This was the fourth round of fighting between the two combatants and, as usual, civilians in Gaza suffered major losses of life and property.

Gaza is one of the most densely populated and highly immiserated regions on earth. Before the recent destruction, Oxfam estimated that more than 80 percent of its population was receiving assistance from some international agency, and half of its youths were unemployed. Also, as estimated by the Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and cited by the Washington Post, during the recent Israeli assault, over 500 businesses, including 50 factories, were destroyed. In addition, numerous multi-storied buildings were demolished, making thousands homeless and destitute.

Gaza’s Health Ministry estimated that 248 Palestinians, including 66 children and 39 women, were killed by the Israeli bombs. The loss of life on the Israeli side was much lighter, with 12 people killed including two children. An unusual feature of this conflict was that Arabs, who constitute 20 percent of Israeli population, for the first time rose to protest the Israeli bombing of Gaza, raising the specter of civil war. The new generation of Israeli Arabs are better educated, more prosperous than their parents, and less afraid to confront the Israeli authorities.

As casualties mounted, there was a worldwide clamor for a ceasefire. However, the only country that can effectively pressure Israel is the US. Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu this time discovered that the political landscape in the US had shifted perceptibly. President Joe Biden, although an avowed supporter of Israel, is not as obliging as was former president Donald Trump. The Biden administration has already restored the humanitarian aid to Palestinian territories and has announced that Consulate office in East Jerusalem, closed by the Trump administration, will reopen. The traditional, unquestioning bipartisan support of Israel by the American public no longer exists, even though a majority, mostly older white males, still favor Israel.

There are other reasons why Israel does not enjoy the kind of support it once did. Many young Americans, including Jews, do not subscribe to their parents unreserved support of Israel. Some progressive members of Congress and the Senate, that include three Muslims, among them a Palestinian, are unabashedly critical of Israeli policies that are demeaning and unfair to the Palestinians. Senator Bernie Sanders, who came remarkably close to winning the Democrat nomination in the last presidential election, is Jewish and a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights. As President Biden initially dithered, more than 500 staffers and members of his 2020 campaign, which included both Jewish and Arab Americans, released an open letter urging him to do more to protect Palestinians rights.

The Israel-Palestinian dispute has become intractable with time and needs some introspections on the part of Muslims and Arabs. On the face of it, it is easy to assign all the blame to Israel and much of it would be justified. In a recent article, Fareed Zakaria, an Indian American journalist, recounted the successful evolution of Israel since its creation in 1948. It has a population of 9.0 million, about two-third the city of Karachi (14.9 million), and in just over 70 years it has achieved stunning success, becoming a superpower in the Middle East. Its per capita income is 14-times that of Egypt, nearly twice that of Saudi Arabia, eight times that of Iran, 34 times that of Pakistan, and nearly 5 times that of Turkey.

Israel has a living standard that is approaching that of Western Europe. In a military contest with any combination of Arab countries, Israel enjoys an overwhelming superiority. It spends more on its military than does Iran which has ten times more population. Finally, it is equipped with nuclear weapons, the ultimate defense.

Israel’s economy, trade, and technology bases are extraordinarily strong; its universities and hospitals are of world class. Consequently, many countries that declined to have any dealings with this country are now clamoring to start a new relationship. The Arab countries--UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan--have recently normalized relations with Israel, under the so-called Abrahamic Accord. Even Saudi Arabia was reported to be close to a decision to have an agreement with Israel. Besides, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan already have longstanding diplomatic ties with Israel. These countries have not discovered a new love for the Jewish state. They are driven by the prospects of potential benefits, trade, commerce, tourism and access to Israel’s technology and electronic base that they can benefit from. India and Russia have already been courting Israel.

Unfortunately, while Israel has made spectacular advances in the military and civilian sectors, the Palestinians and some Arab countries have regressed over time. In 2005, when Israel lifted its 38 years of occupation of the Gaza strip, it left behind a thriving industry of greenhouses that grew loads of vegetables that were exported, providing many jobs. Later, a combination of an Israeli siege and the inability of Palestinians to take over, destroyed the entire enterprise.

Hamas, a militant Islamic organization that is unalterably opposed to Israel’s existence, has been at loggerheads with the Palestinian Authority (PA) based in Ramallah. In 2007, after a fight with Fatah. Hamas took complete control of Gaza. It is supported by Iran and Qatar, but is abhorred by other Arab countries, Egypt, Saudi Arabia among them. It has been involved in several destructive wars with Israel, even knowing that the superior might of the Jewish state, will inflict much suffering and pain on the civilian population of Gaza. As it is, the enclave subsists mostly on foreign and UN donations.

The situation in the PA is only slightly better than the Gaza strip. Its per capita GDP is $1,924 (Israel’s is $43,592) and it has had no elections for the past 15 years, when now 85-years old president Mahmoud Abbas was elected. The PA is widely believed to be corrupt and incompetent.

The Israel-Palestinian dispute has defied many attempts by the international community to resolve it. The Camp David Accord (1978), negotiated by President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and prime minister Menachem Begin of Israel, and orchestrated by President Carter is the only agreement that proved durable and led to the restoration of Sinai to Egypt. The long-cherished two-state solution, one Jewish and the other Israeli, living peacefully side by side seems out of date. Israel has established many illegal settlements in the West Bank, making the formation of a contiguous Palestinian state difficult if not impossible. The only ultimate viable solution may be a single, secular state in which all citizens have equal rights and responsibilities, but this is unlikely to be acceptable to Israel.

(Dr Syed Amir is a former Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School, and a health science administrator, US National Institutes of Health)