Blog Post: The War Is “Over,” The Work Is Not

Reflections on 2025

by Mark Gold

Israelis and Diaspora Jews around the world found a grateful relief when an agreement to end the fighting in Gaza was reached and the hostages taken on October 7, 2023 were finally returned. Celebrations were widespread and there was hope that Israel could, at last, turn from the horrible events of the previous two years and initiate a process of creative renewal.

Unfortunately, the agreement which stopped the fighting was flawed; it paused the fighting but did not end it. Israeli soldiers remain in Gaza, as do Hamas fighters. There are no practical provisions for achieving Hamas disarmament and Hamas has made clear it will not do so willingly. No country has expressed a desire to send its troops to disarm Hamas, but the countries that have expressed a willingness to help rebuild Gaza premise their support on Hamas disarmament and a stable self-governing Gaza authority which neither the current Israeli government nor Hamas are willing to permit. 

Indeed, while trumpeting throughout the war that its aim was the destruction of Hamas, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government prefer to maintain an armed Hamas, just as they had before the war, as an impediment to a unified Palestinian self-governing authority that might win international recognition. Consequently, there is no war – but there is no peace. There is a volatile and unstable situation which periodically flares into explosive episodes and casualties while the general population of Gaza lingers in a condition of homelessness and utter dependence.

The fact that there is no peace means that the Netanyahu administration can still use the Gaza conflict as a cover, while armed Israeli settlers terrorize West Bank Palestinians with violence as an instrument of an unofficial but very real government program of displacement.

The Gaza War and the West Bank violence promoted by the Netanyahu administration have caused an enormous erosion of international support for the State of Israel. Faced with mounting political pressures and the tremendous financial burdens the conflict has imposed upon it, the country is highly dependent on the US for political protection and both military and financial support; a support which is increasingly tenuous given the growing criticisms in Congress and the highly transactional character of Trump administration policy.

Because the current conditions are a product of Israeli government policy, little can be expected to change unless the government changes. 

Israeli elections are scheduled for 2026. What we here can do, beyond expressing our pointed criticisms of Netanyahu government policy, is to support and promote the voices of Israelis and Palestinians struggling for political and social change. That is what they have asked us to do. Let us help them to make a difference in the coming year.

Mark Gold is the Board Treasurer of Partners for Progressive Israel.