Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to reporters before meeting with Senators in the Capitol in Washington, DC, on July 9.
Photographer: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Israel Intends to Fully Take Over Gaza Despite Global Isolation
Emboldened by military successes and Trump’s backing, Netanyahu shows no signs of letting up in the face of increased international pressure
As pictures of malnourished Gazans flood world media, pressure on Israel is intensifying not only to dramatically increase the supply of food and end the fighting but to accept a Palestinian state. Tens of thousands have been killed in nearly two years; Hamas isn’t destroyed; hostages are still held: the Jewish state is turning into a global pariah.
But as international condemnation intensifies — arms embargoes, arrest warrants, cultural boycotts — Israel is not merely defying the pressure, it is redefining itself. Once a besieged secular outpost with an agrarian economy, it has evolved into a Middle East superpower: an aggressive military and intelligence juggernaut with a GDP per capita higher than the UK, an increasingly populist ethno-religious government with an unflinching security ethos.