Price Israel pays for its war crimes

By Latheef Farook

Settler colonial state of Israel,planted by US-European imperialism in the heart of Middle East to destabilize the region, seems to be paying a heavy price for its war crimes and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians in  Gaza .

To begin with  Hamas’  surprise  attack on October 7 pricked the arrogance of Israel    since the US-European backed  June 1967  Six Day War  against Egypt,Syria,Jordan and Lebanon when it captured Sinai , Gaza,West Bank,Jerusalem Golan Heights and parts of South Lebanon.  Israel fought against four  armies in 1967.

However  Israel  seems to be learning some home truths  today in its   war with Hamas-a freedom movement fighting to  liberate its people from Israeli occupation and atrocities. It  is two and half months since Israel began its aerial bombardment destroying villages and cities    besides  killing new born babies ,children, men, women  and the aged .

However Israel has miserably failed to achieve its   target of eliminating Hamas todate 

Israel Prime Minister turned Crime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,  a war criminal  soaked in Palestinian blood, declared at the early stage of his  war on Palestinian civilians   that Israel would never talk to Hamas  vowed to wipe out Hamas without a trace. 

Two and half months later  today Hamas  remains alive and active killing Israeli forces, firing rockets to Tel Aviv and other places , holding Israeli hostages,negotiated with Israel to release few hostages  and   negotiate  again  in Cairo to release few more Israeli hostages.

On the other hand Israel’s barbarity unleashed in Gaza since October 8 depriving   Palestinian civilians  of water, food, medicine, fuel and electricity  besides killing more than 20.000  Palestinians- more than half of the children including  newborn babies   and women- has made   Israel the most hated country in the world.

The hatred built up even in the West  was such that people  of all walks of  life come out on  demonstrations demanding Israel  stop its  killings and destruction in Gaza forthwith .A survey among youths showed 30 percent of them  in US wanted to dismantle the state of Israel  in view of its crimes  and lawlessness.

Israeli soldiers are getting killed on a daily basis.People in Israel started coming out in massive demonstration demanding the government to get the  hostages held by Hamas released.Some  demand Netanyahu’s removal as prime minister.

On going Israeli genocide  seems to be  affecting a more significant swathe of the Israeli population and disrupt supply chains to a much greater degree. Israeli officials have estimated the value of lost production at $14 million a day, or nearly $100 million a week. This would mean more than $5 billion at an annual rate, or two-thirds of the projected GNP of $8.7 billion.  

A poll by Israeli food-security charity Latet finds 45% fear economic hardship due to the war; aid charities have vastly expanded activities since October 7. About 20 percent of Israelis who responded to a survey carried out in November said their income has declined greatly or very greatly

Many of Israel’s best educated and young have left the country to places like Canada, Australia and the U.K., with as many as one million moving to the United States.  Around 470,000 Israelis have left the country since Oct. 7. Within Israel, human rights campaigners, intellectuals and journalists — Israeli and Palestinian — are attacked as traitors in government-sponsored smear campaigns, placed under state surveillance and subjected to arbitrary arrests. The Israeli educational system is an indoctrination machine for the military.

Almost half of the university students from Israel’s periphery (46%) and students who have been called up to serve as reserve soldiers cannot afford to pay tuition for their academic studies, a new survey by Israeli Channel 13 has found. The survey also found that 35% of the students from Israel’s periphery are experiencing economic difficulties as a result of the war, and that 56% of them are entitled to additional financial assistance beyond what they are owed as reserve soldiers.

 

Bar-Ilan University is one of Israel’s leading institutions of higher education, serving a diverse population of students from all over the country

Daily flights to Israel which stood at around 500 has dropped to 100  forcing  Airport authorities to retrench 600 workers and sent another 600 on compulsory leave.  

 Agricultural sector has virtually collapsed .

Globally, Israel is recognised as a high-tech economy, with technology sector exports amounting to more than $80bn annually. The war  hurt this important sector in many ways. As one example, the Israeli military summoned 350,000 reserve soldiers, a large portion of whom work in the technology sector. Failure to carry out duties will lead to noncompliance with contracts signed with Israeli tech companies. Many of these contracts are with governments and countries around the world, which will put pressure to limit foreign currency flows into their economies.

 About 500 multinational companies are investing in Israel’s technology sector, including Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Google, Nvidia, and many others. These companies may reconsider continuing their investments in an unstable country like Israel.

 Israel is a pariah state. This was   on display in public on Dec. 12 when 153 member states at the U.N. General Assembly voted for a ceasefire, with only 10 — including the U.S. and Israel — opposed and 23 abstaining. Israel’s scorched earth campaign in Gaza means there will be no peace. There will be no two state solution. Apartheid and genocide will define Israel. This presages a long, long conflict, one the Jewish State cannot ultimately win.

The human toll of the Israel-Hamas war is horrific. The loss of life and trauma will shape a generation to come. At the same time, the economic costs of this violence—which could cause Israel to lose some $400 billion in economic activity over the next decade—threaten Israel’s economic future.

One columnist pointed out that everything has shelf value  and   Israel seems to be fast losing its shelf value due to its genocide of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.