Ehud Olmert on Israel's Catastrophic War in Gaza
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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I don't think it's possible at this point to overstate how hellish life in Gaza's been over the past twenty months. The death count is above fifty thousand people. More than fifteen thousand of whom were children. At least one point nine million of the two point one million Gazans have been displaced. And is placed. And displaced. Some have been forced to flee their homes, shelters, camps, some ten times or more. Starvation is everywhere. Some five hundred thousand people are in a catastrophic condition of hunger. For eleven weeks Israel allowed no aid into Gaza. A hundred and seventy one thousand metric tons of food for Gazans just sat there. Almost half of Gaza's thirty six hospitals are destroyed or non-operational.
Many of the rest are barely holding on. There are only two thousand hospital beds available for more than two million people. About sixty percent of all physical structures full stop. or damaged or destroyed. Twenty months after October seventh. Twenty months after this war began. Israel has no plan for the day after. No theory of who should govern Gaza. And is instead weighing escalation. The plan being considered would herd more than two million Gazans into a small fraction of the Gaza Strip. The argument is that this would isolate Hamas, further break its command and control structures. To the extent such structures still exist, it's really quite hard to see how more devastation would degrade them. In May, a poll found that 55% of Israelis believe Netanyahu's main goal is staying in power, not returning the hostages, not even winning the war.
At the end of May, Ahud Almert, the Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, published a searing op-ed in Haretz. Enough is enough, read the headline. Ізраїль і комитінь воркримс. He joins me now.
Ehud Almer, welcome to the show. Aye. So in your op-ed and Haaratz, you wrote, What we are doing in Gaza now is a war of devastation, indiscriminate, limitless, cruel, and criminal killing of civilians. That's not how you initially saw it. So walk me through what in your view changed.
Well obviously, you know, when it started right after the seventh of October. Israel was in a state of shock. Well over a thousand Israelis were massacred and butchered and beheaded and raped. In their living rooms, in their safe rooms, in the bedrooms with the pyjamas, children, elderly people, mothers. I couldn't remain without a very robust uh military reaction. It lasted for much longer than I thought it should on the first place. I already called for the end of the war perhaps a year ago. But certainly More or less around March this year. B.
What is the humanitarian situation in Gaza after 20 months of war?
Consensus within Israel was Shared by Very important people from the uh background of military, the commanders of the IDF, the commanders of Mossad, the commanders of the Secret Service, not just the average person in the city, but people that are well trained and experienced in judging the military options, they all say the war should stop now. end the war and bring back all the hostages. And the general attitude in Israel now is that The war continues not because it serves any purpose which justifies it or Not because it's going to save the hostages which are still kept in by the uh Hamas. On the contrary, it Probably risks their lives. For a war which is called By the serious uh observers in Israel as a personal war.
For the sake of the political survivability of Netanyahu. This is a state of crime. And this is not something that is tolerable or acceptable.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–4:20
2
What is the humanitarian situation in Gaza after 20 months of war?
4:20–14:52
3
Why does Ehud Olmert describe Israel’s actions in Gaza as war crimes?
14:52–32:58
4
What is the proposed “herding” plan for Gaza’s displaced population?
32:58–48:01
5
How have settlement expansions and settler violence changed the West Bank?
48:01–1:15:58