A deep disagreement between leaders of the government and society over the recruitment of religious Haredim, who constitute 13% of the population (Al Jazeera)

Before the State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948, on the land of historic Palestine, with David Ben-Gurion’s declaration of its establishment as an independent Jewish state, the Jews and the idea of ​​the Jewish state received special patronage. It practically began with Britain’s declaration of the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917, according to which it granted The British government has the right for the Jews to establish a national homeland for themselves in Palestine. The decision was an expression of the power of victory in World War I, and the power of colonialism, which sponsored Zionist gangs and militias that created a state for them at the expense of the Palestinian people, 57% of whom were forcibly displaced, and 500 towns and villages were destroyed in a way. complete.

In order for Israel not to remain a colonial state that steals land and kills people, it quickly went to the United Nations General Assembly to consolidate its legitimacy. The General Assembly issued Resolution No. 273 on May 11, 1949, accepting Israel as a member on the condition that it pledge to implement Assembly Resolution No. 181 issued on November 29. November 1947, calling for the division of the land of Palestine (42.3% Arab state for the Palestinians, 57.7% Jewish state for the Jews), and the implementation of Resolution No. 194 issued on December 11, 1948, calling for the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes from which they were forcibly displaced.

That state that emerged from the wounds and blood of the Palestinians, as usual, accepted the international resolution and did not implement it, at a time when it created greater glory for itself than imaginable when it was able to defeat Arab armies in the year 1967, and defeated them all together with a surprise strike and occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian Sinai, and other Arab lands in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. In just six days, this was a shock to Arab consciousness.

Israel's strong features:

Jewish Israel arose as a colonial power, sponsored by Great Britain, and then sponsored by the United States of America, to be an extension of the values ​​of the imperialist, colonial West, and a fortress to protect the interests of the Western system in the region. Thus, Israel was established on a mixture of Jewish and Western specificity and with features, the most important of which are:

First: Israel is a Jewish state, especially for Jews who claim “purity of race and blood” and a relationship with Palestine as a land of promise and salvation, in light of the promotion of the oppression of Jews who were subjected to persecution on the European continent. Israel created for itself a historical religious narrative by which it melted the Jews into a society and state, a narrative that allowed it By attracting the world's sympathy through media, cinema, art and public relations supervised by agencies and companies owned by the Jewish-Zionist financial cartels.

Second: Relying on a qualitative military force that is superior to its opponents, individually or collectively, and allows it to eliminate its opponent with a swift, decisive knockout blow, as it had in its wars with the Arabs and Palestinians in the years: 1948, 1967, 1956, and 1982, which formed a deterrent force and immunity for it. .

Third: Enjoying open Western American cover and support with a strategic dimension that allows it to excel and compensate for any loss that may befall it, which has made Israel an exceptional state and an entity above the law and accountability, and it has not adhered to international laws or resolutions related to the Palestinian issue, which amounted to nearly 900 resolutions during the year. 75 years old, without fear of prosecution or accountability in international or national courts with international jurisdiction due to American influence across borders and international institutions.

Multiple challenges:

The Zionist society in Israel, in the last decade and prior to October 7 (the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood), began to exhibit multiple symptoms in light of the feeling of economic prosperity and relative security stability based on the decline of the Palestinian struggle in light of the Oslo Accords for more than 30 years, and the expansion of The cycle of normalization with many Arab countries resulted in political, social, and identity diseases that now threaten its stability and civil peace, even in the eyes of the Israeli elites themselves who did not hesitate to warn. These symptoms include, for example:

First: The absence of established historical leaders, the decline of the secular left, the advancement of extremist religious parties such as Shas and United Torah Judaism, and the right such as Likud, and the rise of populist nationalist right-wing figures - such as National Security Minister Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Smotrich, and their defense of the state’s religious identity in the face of the secular majority, by promoting The media - and their attempt to reduce the powers of the Supreme Court in Israel in favor of the government and the executive authority that they control; In preparation for the enactment of laws of a religious nature at the expense of the secular identity of the state, which led society into a deep identity conflict between religion and secularism, expressed by huge and massive demonstrations of secularists in the streets of the city of Tel Aviv in the last months before the battle of the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” in reference to the growing division and alignment. In Zionist society, the threat to the environment and the internal front of the State of Israel.

Second: After October 7, and with the Zionist community mobilizing for the war on Gaza, the resistance, and the Hamas movement, and after six months of continuous battles, the occupation army became in urgent need of more soldiers after it called in about 350,000 reserves (they constitute 8% of manpower), high rates of deaths and injuries (580 dead and approximately 3,160 wounded), and about 30,000 soldiers and officers undergoing psychological treatment that hinders joining military service, so the army needed to recruit about 20,000 new soldiers, which opened the door to controversy and deep disagreement between the leaders of the government. And in society about the recruitment of religious Haredim, who constitute 13% of the population, enjoy economic privileges as students in religious schools, and are not obligated or obligated to serve in the army; Due to superior ideological considerations that elevate them above military service in the Israeli army, which is described as secular in conflict with their religious beliefs, which provoked broad segments of the secular Zionist society and pushed them to demonstrate. As a result of their feelings of injustice and cheap exploitation, which revealed an aspect of the fragility of society and its weak immunity to the demands of blood and fighting.

This is something that is still interacting in the corridors of the government and among its ministers, after National Security Minister Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Smotrich threatened to resign if the Haredi recruitment law was approved, in exchange for Minister Gantz’s threat to resign if the opposite happened, with Defense Minister Galant and Minister Gadi Eisenkot objecting to the continued exemption of the Haredim from the military. Recruitment.

This, in turn, revealed the deep, old level of division in the country, both vertically and horizontally, and demonstrated the severity of the superior class within Zionist society on contradictory religious and secular grounds.

Third: The October 7 strike (the Al-Aqsa flood) created a deep rift in the Israeli theory of deterrence, and this rift deepened further with the failure of the occupation army to achieve its declared war goals: (crushing the Hamas movement, recovering the prisoners by force, and returning the settlers to the Gaza envelope). Without a threat) against the Palestinian people and the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip for the sixth month in a row, which is likely to continue, as the report of the American intelligence community (18 agencies) for the year 2024 stated that the goal of destroying Hamas is unrealistic, and that Israel may wage a war against Hamas for years.

At a time when it is not unlikely that the battle will turn into a long-term war of attrition against Israel in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with Lebanon and Yemen, in the Red Sea and in the entire region, which is a historical precedent, and if it continues at its current pace, it will erode the Israeli economy from within, as national production has declined by about 20%. The war bill rose to more than $170 billion, and Israel became an investment-repelling environment, which will encourage large segments of the Zionist community to immigrate to Europe and the United States, at a time when reports are circulating about the departure of about a million Jews from Israel.

Fourth: The occupation narrative is rapidly collapsing. What Israel built during 75 years of oppression began to crumble in a few months. Because of the level of brutality leading to the commission of war crimes against humanity, to the point of accusing Israel of committing genocide before the International Court of Justice, which in turn accepted the case on January 26, and ordered Israel to take precautionary measures to prevent the commission of this crime, with the necessity of opening corridors for entry. Aid to civilians throughout the Gaza Strip.

This was also confirmed by the United Nations Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese (March 26), in her report submitted to the Human Rights Council, at a time when the number of martyrs reached about 32 thousand martyrs, 70% of whom were women and children, in addition to 74 One thousand wounded so far, equivalent to 4.6% of the Gaza Strip’s population.

In the same context, Israel's isolation became apparent internationally, when 14 members of the Security Council voted on a ceasefire resolution during the month of Ramadan, which would later lead to a sustainable cessation, while emphasizing the necessity of bringing in aid immediately, contrary to the will of the occupying entity. It was noteworthy that Washington abstained from Vote after using the veto 3 times against previous draft resolutions, which were calling for a ceasefire during the six months of the aggression on Gaza, in reference to the escalating level of disagreement between Washington and Tel Aviv, and the former’s embarrassment at the Israeli violations and aggressive behavior against children and defenseless civilians, in front of The American people and international public opinion.

If this was at the level of international institutions, the people also expressed their rejection of this exceptional Israeli brutality against civilians in modern history, and expressed their anger by continuing to demonstrate in most of the world’s capitals from Japan to Canada, especially in the Western capitals, to the extent that it became The aggression against Gaza is one of the influential topics in the US presidential elections. The American public, known for its overwhelming support for Israel traditionally, began to change its view of it after what it witnessed of the systematic facts and policies of the occupation against children and defenseless civilians, even the use of the weapon of starvation as a tool to achieve political and military goals.

This new trend in public opinion was expressed by segments of American youth, progressive liberals, and Arab and Muslim minorities, and was reflected in the latest opinion poll published by the American Gallup organization, which indicates that 55% of Americans oppose the Israeli army’s operation in the Gaza Strip, compared to only 36% who support it.

The future of the entity on its internal front:

According to the above, Israel faces sensitive challenges at the level of cohesion and unity of the internal front, due to the conflict over the identity of the state, and the dispute arising from the absence of a standard of equality and justice between segments of Israeli society, which was recently expressed in the major dispute over the law on conscription of religious Haredim.

The narrative of the occupation, characterized by historical oppression, also collapsed, and its image as a democratic, civilized state in accordance with Western values ​​and human rights was broken, until it turned into a moral burden on its traditional friends in America, Canada, France, Britain, and many other countries.

The continuation of the war on Gaza in the same brutal manner without a political horizon, and the continued ability of the Hamas movement, the Palestinian resistance in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Ansar Allah in Yemen to withstand and confront according to the logic of self-defense, the right to self-determination and getting rid of the occupation, especially if The battle has turned into a long-term war of attrition against Israel. This will expand the circle of internal unrest in Israel and deepen the state of social, political and economic instability that will have a profound impact on the ability of state institutions to carry out their assigned tasks, especially the army institution, which constitutes the last wall of an occupied state.

This is the biggest existential challenge that Israel can face. It takes precedence over the external American supply of weapons and money, which cannot save a society whose trunk and branches are being ravaged by weevils from within.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.