the ongoing Carnage in Gaza is deeply intertwined with the overall lack of human empathy that has come to define the relationship between the original Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza and the European settlers who established the state of Israel this strained connection has been marred by Decades of violence hatred and Terror with both sides experiencing intense conflict ever since the arrival of Jewish refugees who claimed a large portion of the land to establish what is now the state of Israel with the endorsement of the United Nations the consequences of this act for the indigenous Palestinian population have been profound and far reaching Daniel Levy is a former senior adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister's office and going back to the early 90s was part of Israel's negotiation team during the oso peace process he knows Israeli politics from the inside out and is now the president of the US Middle East peace project Daniel leevy welcome to the program thank you let's start with the hundreds of thousands of Israelis we saw on the streets protesting this week demanding that Benjamin Netanyahu resign even calling for a ceasefire in order to get those captives home but not demanding an end to an 11mon long genocide in Gaza right unpack that for us please so let's be clear that there is a cohort within that protest movement Daniel Levy a former Israeli negotiator who played a key role in the failed Oslo Accord peace process has offered this summary of the tense situation his insights particularly in response to the views of two nice Jewish boys a popular Israeli podcast reflect a concerning reality according to Levy the extreme rhetoric from the podcasters although troubling mirrors the prevailing sentiment among many Israelis in his assessment it's not just the isolated opinions of Fringe voices this lack of sympathy and understanding towards the Palestinian plight runs through the broader fabric of Israeli Society Levy suggests that the unresolved issue of Palestinian resistance continues to loom large over Israel's future the survival of Israel as an occupation state is in many ways contingent on the suppression of this resistance the Persistence of Palestinian Defiance against Israeli occupation sends a clear message that Israel cannot rest comfortably the very existence of this resistance serves as a constant reminder of the unresolved nature of the conflict generating anxiety and frustration within Israeli Society forgive us if we don't give a if you know everybody there dies it's just the way we feel if you gave me a button to just erase Gaza every single living being in Gaza would no longer be living tomorrow I would press it in a second how accurate a reflection is that of Israeli public opinion unfortunately this is much more widespread than one would want to imagine it's not the only voice I don't know how exactly to quantify it but I think what we can say is there's a strategic significance to the prevalence the ubiquity of this kind of discourse in the media because the sense among a significant body of Israelis is we've maintained an occupation we've denied these people their right for decades but this is the moment where maybe we can put an end to this displace the Palestinians finish the job that benuron began so to do that you have to inoculate your public from the ugliness of a nudge nudge wink wink we know what's going on but it has to happen and it's okay we all think like this right there is more to this certainly than security because it's not going to bring security there is more to this than revenge this is for some part of a program where Palestinian territories will be uninhabitable permanently for Palestinians and I think that there is a legal question here here as to the culpability as to the responsibility of these broadcasters for incitement to genocide and after the Rwanda genocide many of the leadership of the rtlm radio station were held accountable and we should remember that and remind people of that and look to that kind of redress finally you wrote recently that it would be smart to come up with a new starting point the fact you said that America is not a friend of Peace in the Middle East but in fact an enemy explain why you think that and what should journalists understand about the changing face of politics in the Middle East right now the reality we still seem to live in with the Middle East is as if geopolitics power politics in the world hasn't shifted since the Oslo process began 1994 1994 are you the unique unipolar American moment and the us could make the claim that it can organize things we're not there today the US didn't deliver for the Middle East there was more war of course I'm not suggesting that there is an alternative Global hegemon who we should be welcoming what I'm saying is the US acts in what it perceives to be its interest it's not a friend of Peace if peace isn't sufficiently in its interest that's how the US acts and it's not like the jury is still out we have the evidence that the US is not going to deliver what that behooves us to do is twofold first of all to correctly set the expectations of what the US can be encouraged and prevented from doing mitigate some of the damage stop the US from being able to continue some of the worst excesses of what it's doing in the Middle East the other part of that story is the US is not the only player and the more we exclusively focus on the US we more we feed into that narrative I would like when you know the UN Security Council meets the two minute sync the next day on a media channel may include one other country but it will invariably mostly be what did the US ambassador say at the UN I want to know what the Chinese Ambassador is saying at the security Council the French the I want to know what the Russians are saying it's important I want to know what those global South voices who have in the case of South Africa taken Israel to the icj in the case of the broader icj opinion what Malaysia Indonesia the African Union some states in the region what they have done is to shift the legal discourse on this question and if we are stuck in this American Centric approach we encourage the idea that it's not your responsibility because let's just wait to see what America says enough of waiting they're not going to get us out of this problem and that's something that the Palestinians I think have largely internalized but not their leadership you have a larger cohort of Israelis who are skeptical about the leadership Natan yahu benav smotrich they may know that not everything is okay but the preponderance of what they're identifying with here is the fade of those hostages and they're saying look you neglected those people once on October 7th the failures that led to that and now you are neglecting them again by refusing to do a deal and they are placing the lie and share of the blame at the feet of prime minister Netanyahu but if you want to understand at a deeper level why are we not seeing more of an outcry as to what is going on there then sure October 7th let's not make light of it that's a traumatic experience but it's 11 months later what Israelis have been treated to is a Relentless media barrage which has served this idea that nothing to see there anything that's happening in Gaza is hamas's fault a prime minister of course and a leadership that continue to offer a lot of lies we saw that in the uh press conferences rare press conferences given by prime minister Netanyahu and opposition that does not offer opposition so the entirety of the Zionist political Spectrum in Parliament is behind this war none are questioning the war if you dig further the Decades of dehumanization of Palestinians the inability to see that humanity and equality in a way you couldn't keep Palestinians living under those conditions you couldn't maintain what the international court of justice has now called an aparte regime if you weren't dehumanizing Palestinians long before all this began the fate of the captives is Central to the media debate in Israel right now it's personal for a lot of israelies let's face it but is anyone really confronting the reality that Netanyahu has no intention of a deal that would bring them home that in the Warped world of Israeli politics a country that we continually hear described as the only democracy in the Middle East somehow it suits the prime minister to continue this War I think it's important to pause on how personal this is not just because yes there would be people who knew those being held in Gaza but also because for three 300 plus days those personal stories have been piped into everyone's home an Israeli FR for many Israelis as Levy argues The Logical conclusion seems to be that the problem of Gaza and the larger Palestinian territories should be dealt with through the total displacement and occupation of the remaining Palestinian lands this notion while extreme is gaining Traction in some circles reflecting a growing sentiment that the only way to ensure Israel's long-term Security is to fully assert control over all the land that makes up present day Palestine the implications of such thinking are profound as they point to a future where the possibility of peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians seems more distant than ever Levy's remarks shine a light on the dark undercurrents of Israeli public opinion where empathy for the Palestinians is in short supply and the desire to secure Israel's future at any cost has taken precedence over the consideration of alternative more Humane solutions to the conflict in essence the situation in Gaza and the broader Palestinian territories remains unresolved because of this entrenched mindset the belief that Palestinian resistance must be eliminated through forceful means continues to shape Israeli policy further entrenching the occupation and deepening The Divide between the two peoples this lack of human sympathy as Levy points out is not just a political issue it is a societal one where the long history of conflict has eroded the ability to see the humanity in the other leaving both sides locked in a seemingly unending cycle of violence and retribution for