Ali al-Jarbawi, a professor of political science at Birzeit University, said that the Israeli “flags’ march” is tantamount to a demonstration to prove existence, through which the occupying state seeks to resolve the conflict instead of managing it, by annexing the largest amount of occupied lands, expecting new repercussions and developments to occur later.
He explained – in his interview with the “Beyond the News” program (18/5/2023) – that this is happening in light of the “shivering” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for fear of the collapse of his government, after which he will not be able to form another, due to the threats of its participants. from the extreme right by overthrowing it, and then he clings to its continuity by appeasing them.
This comes against the background of the participation of a number of ministers in Netanyahu’s far-right government, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, in what is known as the Israeli flags march in Jerusalem, which sparked angry reactions among the Palestinians at the regional and international levels, as the PA and Palestinian factions held the Netanyahu government responsible. fueling violence.
Two states for Israel
Al-Jarbawi said that Israel has become two states, one within the borders of 1948 and the other a state of settlers that always seeks through such moves to ensure the annexation of the largest amount of occupied lands to Israel by imposing control over it, which is not necessarily a guarantee of success due to the presence of a lot of internal and international pressure against it.
It was considered This march is tantamount to a demonstration to prove their existence, by raising the flag of their state, which contradicts what the occupation asserts that Jerusalem is their eternal capital, and proves that there is no sovereignty of the occupying state in Jerusalem.
And whether the official participation in the Israeli “flag march” would explode the situation, the Palestinian political analyst said that the situation on the ground is in fact explosive and does not need escalation. Every day there are Israeli incursions into the camps and cities of the West Bank, but Netanyahu will be surprised when the first operation takes place. In the West Bank, after he thought he had succeeded in restraining the Palestinians through his recent operation in Gaza.
He explained that perhaps there is no room for clashing with the “flag march” in light of the reality imposed by the occupation forces to empty Jerusalem of the Palestinians, but its repercussions will certainly witness the continuation of the explosive situation and the occurrence of new developments later.
change of facts
In turn, Ryan Paul, a Middle East affairs analyst at the American Stratfor Center for Strategic Studies, said that the official participation in the “march of flags” sends a message that the right-wing Benjamin government’s concern and goal is to annex the settlements, which are moves against the American point of view and international diplomatic demands.
He explained in his interview with the “Behind the News” program that the Netanyahu government wants to keep the power of the extreme right in the Knesset, citing the threats of right-wing representatives to topple the government, and it seeks through supporting the “flag march” with official participation to change the facts on the ground and impose them.
The American analyst believes that Netanyahu at this stage is weaker than it was in the past, and he is trying to cling to the continuity of his government, and he realizes that if he does not resolve this round in favor of the aspirations of the extremists in his government, he will lose his ruling coalition and will find nothing to protect him from the charges and trials of corruption that he faces.
Regarding the American position on these developments, Paul believes that the Palestinian issue does not occupy a large place on the agenda of the current US administration, and their position will not go beyond public statements, nor will they try to impose any pressure or twist the arm of any party in the conflict, and the US administration believes that regional players such as Egypt and Jordan Qatar and Saudi Arabia are the best able to reduce tensions in the region.