Netanyahu's comments persisting in the physical destruction of Palestine

The 11th annual Saban Forum was characterised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recurring expectations of Palestinian compliance. Held from December 5-7, the forum was hailed as “a platform for unparalleled dialogue between American and Israeli officials”. Prioritising negotiations while simultaneously declaring the Palestinian leadership incapable of dialogue, Netanyahu’s speech provided a recapitulation of remarks regularly reported in Israeli and mainstream media to the benefit of a biased audience committed to aiding Israel’s ambitions of destroying the remnants of Palestine.

According to Netanyahu, the formation of the Palestinian unity government, as well as the Palestinian Authority’s rejection of Israel’s alleged security concerns, forced the collapse of negotiations.

“For nine months we negotiated with the Palestinians, but they consistently refused to engage us on our legitimate security concerns, just as they refused to discuss recognising Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, while at the same time insisting that Israel recognise a nation-state of the Palestinian people.”

Outlining the conditions for Palestinian oblivion required by Israel, Netanyahu demanded recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, an end to all Palestinian claims, and an Israeli military presence in the West Bank. Describing the Palestinian rejection of Israeli demands as incitement, Netanyahu proceeded to describe Palestinians as “unprepared” for peace.

The alleged incitement, in this case, was applied to a much broader scenario than the usual application to comments divested of context. Divesting Israel from all blame, including that of its inception and maintenance by the international community and in collaboration with the PA, Netanyahu proceeded to outline colonial conquest as stability, declaring that the Palestinian leadership is implanting false hope and pushing peace “further away”.

Netanyahu’s speech would have satisfied the expectations of Israel’s allies – a concoction of illusions concerning a hypothetical peace, rhetoric about solutions and sustained Palestinian subjugation. However, the concept of peace has become a phenomenon heavily marketed also by Palestinian leaders in a manner that marginalises resistance and hence, minimises prospects for Palestinian independence and liberation.

Despite the eventual collapse of the US-brokered negotiations, hypocritically alluded to as a loss by Israel, colonialism cemented its stronghold through a series of intentional aggressions culminating in “Operation Protective Edge”.

Initial requests preventing Palestinians from seeking international recognition provided an interlude in which Israel further expanded its colonial project while PA President Mahmoud Abbas continued to emphasise the bargaining over Palestinian political prisoner’s lives as a major gain.

Having further eroded territory in the West Bank, Netanyahu proceeded to extend the historical narrative of displacement in Gaza by rendering the enclave uninhabitable and Palestinian civilians dependent upon unattainable international benevolence.

Predictably, the PA accepted the conditions of surveillance imposed upon Palestinians by the international community in agreement with Israel, creating further restrictions for the Palestinian resistance and persisting with the pathetic attempt to assert political legitimacy through colonial subjugation. As long as the Israeli government is assured of the routine strategy, occasions such as the Saban Forum will continue to serve as a platform through which Zionist colonialism can construct fabrications of dialogue while persisting in the physical destruction of Palestine.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.