This is the best news on the antiwar front since Meir Dagan went public – a poll published today by Dahaf, Israel’s leading public opinion surveying firm, found that only 19 percent of Israelis are in favor of Israel bombing Iran on its own, which is what most everyone, myself included, is predicting Israel will do.
The poll results, though, are not all peace and love – a plurality of 42 percent favor a joint U.S.-Israeli attack, which means the pro-war camp has a 2-1 advantage over the peace camp. (32 percent are against an attack on Iran, period.)
But if you judge by the public statements of Israeli politicians, there’s 0 percent opposition to war. If you judge by the news coverage and the commentators, there’s maybe 5 percent opposition. There’s been such a brainwashing campaign going on in this country, such a colossal amount of self-censorship by all the politicians, security establishment types and other influential figures over the war issue, so I find it remarkable that only 19 percent of Israelis are behind Netanyahu and Barak, that one-third of the public doesn’t want a war of any kind, no matter who’s behind us.
I hope to God that Obama brings this up in his meeting on Monday with Netanyahu, and in his speech the day before to AIPAC. This is powerful ammunition. And I hope to God that Peace Now, Meretz, Hadash, David Grossman, Amos Oz and everyone else who’s ever fought for peace in this country takes this poll as a wake-up call. There’s a movement waiting to be born. There’s a chance to stop this thing.
Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war – the atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel and the massive retaliatory Israeli attacks on Gaza. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing violence.
We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed unleashed by these events has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Hamas’ murderous assault in southern Israel has devastated and shocked the country to its core. Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Gaza is wreaking destruction on the already besieged strip and killing a ballooning number of civilians. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to escalate their attacks on Palestinians.
This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 13 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, the entrenched occupation, and an increasingly normalized siege on Gaza.
We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives.
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