On Thursday, a group of Israeli soldiers published a photograph of some of their comrades lying on the ground, their faces clouded in defeat and exuding an air of brokenness. A short tagline attached to the image read, “Bibi is the loser”; it was uploaded onto Facebook and Hebrew media outlets. The photo has gone viral.
This is not the only evidence of the sense of defeat felt by Israelis since yesterday’s announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian resistance movement. Hundreds of comments left by visitors to the sites are quite clear in their sentiments; and Israelis have no qualms about insulting their leaders in the most egregious terms.
Commenting on the soldiers’ picture, one Israeli posted, “The soldiers are right, but not only Netanyahu is the loser, the three zeros are Netanyahu, Barak and Lieberman.”
Another person wrote, “The soldiers are not just expressing their personal beliefs; their statement is an expression of the current state of all the inhabitants of the regions south of the territories occupied in 1948. Your idea is fantastic and you are more than soldiers, you are kings, and Netanyahu is ‘trash’ who has sold the south to satisfy Obama and in rapprochement with him.”
“Why do we belong to this army?” wondered one anonymous soldier, adding, “Did I sign up just so that I could become a mere toy in the hands of politicians? For this, I am not ready to sacrifice my life. Netanyahu is a mere a zero he is nothing, he doesn’t know who he is or what he wants, and I’m sorry for what he has brought our country to.”
“This feeling is not felt only by the population of the south, unfortunately it is the feeling in the heart of all Israelis,” wrote yet another person. “This government, however it may try to convince us of having made gains and achievement, it will not be able to do so. They pulled out of Gaza and Hamas is still in control of the scene, and now there are those who would be successors of those already assassinated, as the resistance no longer fears Israel.”
One Israeli insulted the whole government: “This is not a government, this is trash which acceded and submitted to the resistance – shame on you Netanyahu, as your people are disheartened and afflicted by a state of defeat and loss of confidence.”
After a week of Israeli aggression during which the resistance fighters were able to respond with missiles targeting the Israelis’ most important cities, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and cause a serious explosion on a bus, Israel accepted their peace terms.