Karishma Manzur, Ph.D. is a science writer living in Exeter. She volunteers with various groups, including the NH Coalition for a Just Peace in the Middle East which includes NH Veterans for Peace, VT/NH. Jewish Voice for Peace, NH Conf. of United Church of Christ, NH Peace Action, and several other organizations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu currently leads a coalition government that espouses the most far-right and most extreme anti-democratic ideology in Israel’s history. Criticism of Netanyahu’s actions and policies is legitimate, and it should not be misrepresented as antisemitic, pro-Hamas, or by any other vile label.

In a recent interview, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described Netanyahu as “a very extreme, selfish, narcissistic prime minister who cares for himself and his personal interest, rather than the national interest of the state of Israel.”

As Netanyahu and his coalition government continue to ignore calls for de-escalation of conflicts in the Middle East and use propaganda to distract from the truth, we can try to understand their actions from the government’s publicly available policy guidelines.

The Israeli government intends to weaken the Israeli judiciary to legalize and expand settler outposts in the occupied territories (in violation of international law). They plan to dismiss Netanyahu’s corruption trial for bribery and fraud, and establish exclusive rights of only Jewish people to the ‘Greater Land of Israel.’

During a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in Sept. 2023, Netanyahu boldly held up a map labeling the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as ‘Israel.’ This encompassed the Palestinian territories of East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Syrian territory of Golan Heights. The map aligned with the current Israeli government’s messianic vision of a Jewish Land of Israel.

Many members of Netanyahu’s government have a history of extremist and hateful ideologies. Two prime examples are Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister for national security. Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are illegal settlers in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank. Both have a history of promoting racist and homophobic agendas and have a history of arrests by the Israeli police for engaging in violence and terrorist activities.

Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are affiliated with Kahanism, Lehava, and Hilltop Youth. These are racist movements of Jewish supremacy that support violence against Palestinians, call for the mass expulsion of Palestinians from the ‘Greater Land of Israel,’ propose banning Christmas celebrations, oppose Christian presence in Israel, and recently, were responsible for blocking aid trucks to Gaza.

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Rabbi Rick Jacobs of the Union for Reform Judaism said appointing Ben-Gvir as national security minister was akin to “appointing David Duke, one of the heads of the KKK, as attorney general.”

Let us take a step back and consider the historical context of how extreme settlers with a history of terrorism and violence moved from the fringes of Israeli politics to hold high-ranking positions in the current Israeli government.

After the First Intifada or ‘uprising’ (1987-1993) resulted in the deaths of 1,962 Palestinians and about 180 Israelis, there was a potential for peace between then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The so-called Oslo Accords were not perfect, but they aimed to establish peace with further negotiation of a two-state solution and the possibility of a Palestinian state encompassing the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

It took incentives from other countries and political courage from Rabin, Arafat, and then-Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to reach the agreements against the growing opposition among their respective peoples. For their efforts to establish peace, the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Rabin, Arafat, and Peres.

During the same period, Netanyahu was the leader of the opposition Likud party in Israel, spoke against a two-state solution, and strongly opposed the peace negotiations. Netanyahu also took advantage of the growing anger among Israeli right-wing ultranationalists who felt betrayed by Rabin and Peres. He partnered with these factions and strengthened his political position.

Around the world, the Oslo Accords were welcomed in the hope of ending the decades-long bloodshed and suffering in the region. Tragically, the optimism was short-lived. In October 1995, Netanyahu gave a fiery speech at a large rally demonizing Rabin as a “traitor” and said, “In blood and fire, we will get rid of Rabin.” Rallygoers chanted “Death to Rabin.”

A month later, Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing Jewish Israeli who opposed the peace process.

Rabin’s wife has publicly blamed Netanyahu and other leaders of the Likud party for the assassination and said, “If you ever heard their speeches, you would understand what I mean. They were very, very violent in their expressions.”

Among the Palestinians, a growing faction also opposed the peace negotiations of the 1990s, wanted to continue an armed struggle against Israel, and carried out a series of deadly suicide bombings in Israel to sabotage the peace process. This faction was Hamas.

Over the ensuing years, the extremist rhetoric from Netanyahu and the leaders of Hamas supported each other’s political rise. As these ideologues gained power, the distrust between the two societies deteriorated as the militancy by both sides increased along with the tragic loss of lives.

Despite repeated claims by American politicians, the conflict between Hamas and Israel did not start with the Hamas terrorist attacks in October 2023; the conflict has been continuing since the 1990s, with recurring cycles of escalating violence by Hamas and Israel.

Effectively, Netanyahu, the extremist Israeli leaders, and the leaders of Hamas had the same goal: to dismantle all peace negotiations of the 1990s, and they have continued in the same trajectory to this day.

A recent NY Times article co-authored by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak states, “Netanyahu has obstructed proposed deals with Hamas that would have led to the release of the hostages in order to keep the war going and thus avoid the inevitable political reckoning he will face when it ends… A large portion of Israelis have lost faith in Mr. Netanyahu’s government.”

As the world is witnessing, the ultimate goal of Netanyahu, Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, and others is the removal of non-Jews from the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea to form a Jewish ‘Land of Israel.’ They have already used indiscriminate bombing, violent warfare, mass displacement, and forced starvation against Palestinians in Gaza to achieve their goal.

The tragedy of such an aspiration is that the land ‘from the river to the sea’ is occupied by 7.5 million people who identify as Jews and an additional 7.1 million people of other faiths.

As the U.S. government and politicians continue to support Netanyahu and his government with military and diplomatic means, we should ask ourselves: Are we Americans willing to support Netanyahu’s quest to expel or annihilate 7.1 million people?

Here in the U.S., efforts by many high-ranking politicians and the mass media to dehumanize Palestinians have had a range of successes. The consequences are an inability to conceive of Palestinians as innocent or as victims, desensitization to the atrocities suffered by Palestinians, and perceiving their killings to be less sorrowful.

As a nation, we must reject such racist rhetoric, appeal to our common humanity, and demand that the U.S. policy towards Netanyahu’s government and the U.S. military support change immediately.