Follow-ups - FiMED

Israeli researcher Michael Milshtein has warned of the escalating repercussions of internal division in Israel and the decline of its image and standing on the international stage, arguing that the rising rhetoric against Arab citizens, alongside Israeli policies in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, reinforces the external impression that Israel is undergoing a profound transformation that could threaten its future.

In an article published by the Hebrew newspaper «Yedioth Ahronoth» Milshtein said that Israel's adversaries, foremost among them Hezbollah and Hamas, view the deepening division within Israeli society as an indication of the possible fulfilment of what he described as the «prophecy» of Yahya Sinwar, namely that the attack of 7 October 2023 would deliver a shock that shakes Israel's stability and ultimately drives it toward collapse, despite the military losses suffered by the forces of the Axis of Resistance.

Milshtein quoted Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem as saying that the election results reflect Israel's defeat, and that the confusion and crises it is experiencing at various levels will be reflected in its future. He noted that Israel's adversaries draw part of their optimism from the decline in its international standing and the rising debate within Israeli society about emigration and leaving the country.

The researcher focused on the repercussions of Israeli rhetoric toward Arab citizens, arguing that the debate that followed the election results, accompanied by questioning of the legitimacy of Arab political participation and calls to exclude Arab parties from any future government, is no longer an internal affair but has become a subject of scrutiny and concern abroad.

He noted that Israel's adversaries invest this rhetoric to portray it as a state founded on discrimination against the Arab minority, and use it to demand international pressure and sanctions against it. He argued that the escalation against Arab citizens intersects with what he described as the ongoing deterioration in the West Bank, reinforcing Israel's image as a state heading toward further exclusion and discrimination against non-Jews under its control.

Milshtein warned that the signs of deterioration are not limited to political rhetoric but include interference in security investigations, disordered performance of governing institutions, the marginalization of opposition voices, and the refusal to recognize the role of the Arab minority in political life, as well as the emergence of calls to arm in anticipation of possible confrontations between Jews and Arabs.

In the international context, he noted that the United States and other countries avoided exerting decisive pressure on Israel during the election period over the Gaza, Lebanon and West Bank files, but warned that the continuation of the political impasse or a move to new elections could narrow the margin of international leniency and open the door to harsher pressure, including the imposition of European sanctions over the escalating chaos in the West Bank.

The researcher criticized what he described as the normalization of concepts and rhetoric previously rejected within Israeli society, including the saying «there are no innocents» and the term «voluntary transfer», alongside the rise of racist manifestations in political and media discourse. He warned that the widening gap between rhetoric and practice could bring words and deeds closer together.

Milshtein concluded that Israel faces growing damage to its image before the world that cannot be addressed merely by improving its media campaigns, arguing that its growing preoccupation with identifying enemies at home, especially Arab citizens, may make its new image one of the most dangerous threats it faces.