Amidst the onslaught of so much gloom, our Next Century Foundation trustee, Mr Vivian Wineman, has today penned the following letter to the Times of Israel. They may or may not publish it, but we do. Below which we include our full report on the latest international response to the crisis:

A Ray of Hope

These are miserable times. In more than seven decades of following Israel and the Middle East, I don’t recall any time when morale has sunk so low. The appalling loss of Israeli life, unmatched in any single day since before the state, the viciousness and ruthlessness of the attacks and worst of all, the sinister strategic calculations of the attackers all contribute to the gloom.

Clearly awful as they are these attacks are no more than a pinprick. Though proportionately bigger than 9/11, the fatalities still accounted for less than one-sixth of one-tenth of one percent of Israel’s population. Israel’s military might is not affected one whit by them nor its total military superiority to Hamas. It is hard to see however how any Israeli government particularly this one, which has prided itself, with little justification it seems, as totally competent in handling Israel’s security, could respond other than by exacting condign revenge. Already at the time of writing this piece, the butcher’s bill for Palestinians exceeds that for Israelis. There is no doubt that by the time this operation is over it will do so several times. This clearly was Hamas’s intention.

In the same way as the architects of 9/11 had in their sights, as indirect victims, Muslims around the world, so Hamas have in theirs, the hapless inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. Al Qaeda succeeded in luring the USA into adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. Heaven knows where the recent bloodshed will take Israel. At the moment the world’s sympathy is with her but who knows where it will be as Israel’s operations progress. Hamas’s intention is to initiate a cycle of violence far worse than anything we have seen, possibly bringing in other actors to destabilise not just the region but the entire world. Let us hope they are unsuccessful.

I do find a ray of hope, however. A good friend posted on Facebook, after the vigil outside Downing Street, saying how travelling on the tube he felt he had a Magen David on his back- presumably indicating vulnerability to antisemitic attack. I travelled on the tube the same day with a rather different experience. In the first place in a crowded carriage, I seemed to be the one person for whom people stood up. I saw an old colleague who certainly used to be older than I and offered my seat to him. He refused it whereupon the people in the carriage seeing these two old men unable to agree who was senior all stood up for us. It seems that the courtesy of the average London underground traveller remains intact.

But, seriously, so also is the essential decency of British society. I have had numerous messages of support from inter-faith organisations with whom I am involved. More surprisingly I have received messages from people with whom my connections are purely commercial. I was surprised that some even knew that most of my family live in Israel. Similarly, I am involved in a charity with no connection with the conflict where one of my Co- trustees is a proud Palestinian but the message of support and concern was just the same. We live in a decent society. There is antisemitism and it is increasing and that is and will be extremely painful but the Government and the mainstream of public opinion rejects it. Those Jewish schools that have closed have not been advised to do so by the CST the central body which looks after the welfare of British Jews. Their advice to us is to carry on our lives as usual. We are not in mortal danger. As the Times pointed out in its Editorial yesterday morning Multiculturalism is a quiet unsung success.

The World Responds to the Israel-Palestine Conflict:

Hamas’ unprecedented assault on Israel’s soil on 7 October reinstated the Israel-Palestine conflict firmly at the forefront of international discussion, with nations across the globe uniting in their exhortation of restraint and rapprochement.

Notwithstanding this broad consensus on the need for peace, these countries have reached vastly different conclusions in their apportionment of blame for the flare-up and the most appropriate course of action to be followed. On the one hand, the USA immediately rushed to its ally’s defence with an extensive supply of military and geopolitical aid. Conversely, other nations, such as Iran and Malaysia, have pointed to Israel’s long history of encroachment on and annexation of Palestinian territory. Indeed, as news of the humanitarian crisis precipitated by Israel’s aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip continues to pour in, many have sought to qualify their earlier statements of support for Israel’s cause. Notable for being at the forefront of the growing tidal wave of criticism was Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s denunciation of Israel’s proscription of Gaza’s access to power, food supplies and water. This act, he declared, constituted a contravention of humanitarian international law and a form of collective punishment.

The international community’s responses to the Israel-Palestine conflict have shifted in the week since Hamas’ initial attack.

Biden’s Partial Volte-Face

In an interview aired on Sunday, President Biden cautioned Israel against a full-scale reoccupation of Gaza, his first public effort to restrain the latter’s retaliation effort. “I think it’d be a big mistake,” he told CBS, “Look, what happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people. And I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again.” But “taking out the extremists,” he added, “is a necessary requirement.”

This moderation of his original, emphatically pro-Israel stance comes as the President considers whether to travel to Israel in the coming days. On the one hand, this would be a powerful symbol of American support for and sympathy with the Israeli people. But on the other hand, Biden’s personal presence risks being interpreted as a provocative move by Iran, and, as such, a valid casus belli for opening a second front in the conflict.

The USA must now attempt a delicate balancing act in showing its support for its main Middle Eastern ally without inciting hostile regional powers.

Egypt and Jordan

Both Egypt and Jordan have warned against a Palestinian displacement from the Gaza Strip, giving voice to long-standing Arab fears that the present conflict might trigger the permanent exodus of the Palestinian population from the land where they had intended to establish their future state.

“This is the cause of all causes, the cause of all Arabs,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Thursday. “It is important that the (Palestinian) people remain steadfast and present on their land.” On Sunday, he recapitulated and elaborated on his country’s position: Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip has “exceeded the right to self-defence” and amounted to collective punishment. He added that Egypt’s priority was to end the violence and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians trapped in the blockaded enclave. However, wary of the political and security repercussions of a significant influx of Palestinian refugees into Egypt, the Rafah border crossing remains closed despite rumour that it was about to reopen to foreign nationals.

Likewise, Jordan’s King Abdullah expressly cautioned “against any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from all Palestinian territories or cause their internal displacement.”

Iran 

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has, meanwhile, expressed concern that time is running out to find political solutions to the crisis and Israel’s subsequent attacks on the Gaza Strip before the scale of the war between Hamas and Israel expands.

UN Aid  

On Monday, the United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths announced his intention to travel to the Middle East to streamline negotiations to allow aid into Gaza.

Griffiths affirmed his office was in “deep discussions” with Israel, Egypt and other countries, but he lamented the lack of progress on the matter of the release of hostages. He said their capture was “an egregious, illegal, unacceptable, immoral act” and “they have to be released immediately.” As previously stated in an NCF report, Hamas has thus far only released three of the almost two hundred hostages they now hold, a woman and her two children.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Martin Griffiths issued a plea for international assistance and collaboration: “We need aid in. We need clarity about places of safety which will…not be attacked, will not be a part of the war between the two sides and, of course, we need a corridor which people can rely on.”

UN agencies have pre-positioned supplies of food and medical supplies at the border in Egypt, but, to get to Gaza, the crossing must be opened with consent from Israel. However, with Israel’s authorities making the safe passage of humanitarian vehicles conditional on the release of the hostages seized by Hamas, an impasse has been reached to the detriment of the Palestinian people left without food or water in Gaza.