Israel's New Occupation

"On Monday afternoon, a few hours before the first ferocious attacks of Israel's ground offensive in Gaza City made buildings tremble as far away as Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Jerusalem for an economics conference. With his far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, sitting in the front row, Netanyahu took the stage, looking a little peeved, and berated the event's organizers for muddling his slide show."

"Israel is "facing a new world," he said-and the reason isn't the war in Gaza. Rather, he cited two other factors that imposed "limitations" on the country's prospects. The first, he said, is "limitless migration" of Muslims to Western Europe, where they have become a "significant minority-very vocal, very, very belligerent." The second is a digital revolution that has led Qatar, China, and other countries to invest in social-media platforms that promote an "anti-Israel agenda.""

"Since the war in Gaza began, sparked by the Hamas-led attacks of October 7th, 2023, Israeli officials have experienced growing international isolation. In a sharp blow to Israel's diplomatic efforts, many countries-including its longtime allies, such as Britain, France, and Canada-have declared that they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly next week. Some of these countries have restricted the sale of arms to Israel; a number of others have banned selling weapons to the country entirely."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, moments before major ground attacks in Gaza City, addressed an economics conference and pressed treasury officials to expand the national deficit to finance the next phase of the war. He attributed new constraints not to the Gaza conflict but to what he called "limitless migration" of Muslims to Western Europe and a digital revolution enabling states to fund social-media platforms that advance an "anti-Israel agenda," producing a "sort of isolation." A United Nations commission has concluded Israel is committing genocide. Many countries, including longtime allies, plan to recognize a Palestinian state and have restricted or banned arms sales, with ostracism felt across Israeli society.

Read at The New Yorker