Germany's misguided fight against anti-Semitism
"Aggressive rhetoric is not helpful when it comes to protecting Germany's Jewish minority from anti-Semitic aggression," writes Dembowski. "We need diligent and discerning analysis"
(image: REUTERS/Annegret Hilse)
Assessing Israel more critically than other nations is considered anti-Semitic. Yet treating Israel more favourably is problematic too. Philo-Semitism – the unquestioning endorsement of anything Jewish – does not help in the fight against anti-Semitic prejudice
Assessing Israel more critically than other nations is considered anti-Semitic. Yet treating Israel more favourably is problematic too. Philo-Semitism – the unquestioning endorsement of anything Jewish – does not help in the fight against anti-Semitic prejudice
Commentary by Hans Dembowski
·01.06.2024
We generally expect Muslims to disown extremism and make a commitment to Israel's right to exist. Otherwise, they will not be listened to.
That is not how we treat Israelis. Zionist extremists who build settlements in the West Bank are considered a fringe community that deserves so little attention that we do not expect anyone to disown them. We tend to ignore that these extremists are present in Israel's cabinet. Just like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, they reject the right of any Palestinian state to exist. The settlements, by the way, are protected by Israel's official security forces and enjoy government subsidies.
Not only Palestinian terrorism has been obstructing peace for decades; Israeli extremists bear responsibility too. Let's not forget that Yitzhak Rabin, the peace-oriented prime minister, was murdered by a right-wing Israeli hardliner. German media, moreover, often mistakenly call radical Zionists "orthodox". That shows how little many Germans know about Judaism. Some strains of orthodox Judaism not only reject military service, but indeed Zionism itself.
Are we serious about equality, human rights and the rule of law?
The settler movement started decades ago and has recently been gaining momentum. Some 500,000 Israelis currently live in the West Bank. They rely on strong infrastructure, which includes highways that they alone may use. Their security walls require additional space in the densely populated occupied territory. They also severely restrict the mobility of 3 million Palestinians. Netanyahu makes no secret of wanting to annex land where, according to the Oslo agreements, a Palestinian state is supposed to be established. At a conference earlier this year, some members of his cabinet even discussed setting up new settlements in Gaza after the war.
End of the Middle East two-state solution? · 18.12.2020
Israeli highways – a fast track to West Bank annexation
This summer it was reported that Israel had abandoned its plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. Now, however, Israel is driving forward its settlement programme in the territory with a master plan for road construction. Inge Gunther in Jerusalem has the details
Almost six decades of occupation and expanding settlements do not conform with human rights or international law. Defenceless people are being expropriated and even killed. Human rights organisations report that Israelis normally enjoy impunity even after the perpetration of deadly violence. By contrast, military courts send Palestinian teenagers to prison for throwing stones during protests even when no one gets hurt. If we are serious about equality, rule of law and human rights, none of this is acceptable.
Controversial language
Whether one should accuse Israel of genocide or apartheid is a matter for serious debate. Some express outrage at the mere use of the terms, but that does very little in terms of fighting anti-Semitism, while it does end discussions. We must take into account that – unlike Germany's federal government – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) did not consider South Africa's genocide case against Israel to be meritless in January. Even its Israeli judge endorsed two of the preliminary obligations the ICJ imposed on Israel. He too wanted Israel to prohibit genocidal language and increase humanitarian aid to Gaza substantially.
Middle East conflict and the Gaza war · 11.12.2023
"Wake up to the reality of what is happening"
The Hamas terrorism of 7 October was particularly cruel and atrocious. The perpetrators committed terrible crimes. Many Israelis, however, think their own government bears responsibility for the bloodshed that occurred on its watch. Susan Neiman, a Jewish philosopher, shares her views
Nonetheless, the humanitarian disaster in Gaza is now escalating into a famine. Civil society organisations have been warning since January that this was about to happen. Germans would not have found excuses for such a scenario had it occurred during the Iraq war – and especially not, if a high-ranking U.S. official had earlier announced that "human animals” would be cut off from food. Yoav Gallant, Israel's defence minister, made such a statement however. There is precious little doubt that war crimes are occurring in Gaza.
We must similarly take seriously that B'tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, has been speaking of apartheid for years. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International later followed suit. We normally appreciate their diligent legal analysis. In Germany, their reports on Israel and Palestine have nonetheless been neglected after being accused of anti-Semitism.
It is often reiterated that one is permitted to criticise Israel, and that only anti-Semitic rhetoric is unacceptable. Those who express grievances in diplomatic terms, however, generally remain unheard, while anyone who uses stronger language tends to be silenced with anti-Semitism accusations. This approach resembles Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing populism. He will justify anything with security needs in view of rampant anti-Semitism around the world – as though his aggressive policies didn't contribute to tensions and resentment.
If we want to reach the populous Muslim youth in Germany, we need a different approach. They are fully aware of Germany accepting action by the Jewish state that our government would vehemently oppose if done by any Islamic republic. They also know we normally reject defining a nation in narrow religious or ethnic terms. Accordingly, we think India must not become a Hindu state, and we find appalling the white Christian nationalists who support Donald Trump in the USA. Israel, however, clearly prioritises Jews. A controversial legal reform of 2018 declared the right to exercise national self-determination in the state of Israel to be unique to the Jewish people.
Jewish or democratic state?
An important ongoing debate is about whether Israel will be a Jewish or a democratic state in the long run. The problem is that Israel cannot be both without a separate Palestinian state because the size of the Palestinian population between the Mediterranean and the Jordan river roughly equals the Jewish one. Netanyahu, nonetheless, claims military dominance over the entire area. His so far unsuccessful attempts to strip Israel's supreme court of important powers, moreover, indicate what his choice between "Jewish and democratic” is. The judges have ruled in favour of minority rights several times.
“From the river to the sea” · 30.04.2024
How to interpret a slogan
The notion that the slogan is sweepingly anti-Semitic falls short of the mark. But extremist interpretations need to be condemned – on both the Israeli and the Palestinian side
There are serious proposals to drop the two-state concept in favour of a single, secular state for all faith communities in Israel/Palestine. Implementation would not be easy, of course. Those who make such proposals, however, are clearly trying to pave a road to peace. Nonetheless, any backing off from the existence of a Jewish state is deemed to be unacceptably anti-Semitic in Germany, where the debate on "Jewish or democratic" is not getting much attention.
For decades, German leaders have been telling Arab counterparts that they need democracy and human rights. Arabs are fully aware, however, of Germany not putting effective pressure on Israel regarding these matters in the occupied territories. Lip service the two-state solution does not protect our credibility, as long as it does not take into account the obvious truth that Israel's government has been doing what it can to prevent such a solution for many years.
German demands that Israel do more to protect Palestinians from settler violence remain similarly unconvincing, given that the entire settlement programme must stop, and Palestinians deserve full human rights (including, of course, property rights). And does it matter at all that the Netanyahu government is obviously ready to risk the escalation of the Gaza war into a regional conflagration? Our federal government does not want that to happen.
Not only Muslim Germans notice the double standards which are increasingly evident, for example, when Israel's "right to self-defence" is invoked to justify what looks more and more like a revenge campaign. More than 36,000 Gazans have died in recent months, and the majority were women and children.
Philo-Semitism is often marked by Islamophobia
Unlawful Israeli action obviously does not justify horrific Hamas terrorism. Islamist atrocities, however, do not make the grizzly current Gaza scenario acceptable either. We must take seriously suffering on both sides but avoid weighing one side's brutality against the other's. Every innocent victim counts. Anyone who is serious about a rules-based world order, should insist on the International Criminal Court trying perpetrators on both sides.
It is true that criticism of Israel often has anti-Semitic undertones, but it is equally true, that philo-Semitism is often marked by Islamophobia. Neither phenomenon makes legitimate grievances invalid.
By the way, the current polarisation, according to which everyone is either pro- or anti-Israel, serves both sides in the Gaza war. Both always cast themselves as victims. This kind of identity politics also helps Hamas to pretend it is the only force still opposing Israeli violence. The more we discount unlawful Israeli state action, the more Hamas rhetoric resonates around the world. Too many disregard that this criminal outfit does not deserve to be called a liberation movement. After all, freedom fighters do not intentionally kickstart a war that is likely to kill tens of thousands of their own people in the course of only a few months.
In Germany, charges of anti-Semitism currently even serve to silence Jewish intellectuals who disagree with Israel's government. Recent action by the mayor of Berlin and the president of Cologne University were extremely awkward. The former told an Israeli film director what kind of statement he may not make in Germany because we find it unacceptably anti-Semitic. The latter cancelled the guest professorship of a Jewish scholar from the USA because she signed an open letter calling for boycotting Israel in support of Palestinians.
Duty among friends
"Criticising Israel is a duty among friends," former German President Johannes Rau used to say, as one of his former staff members has told me. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul and Joschka Fischer took a similar approach. She served as minister for economic cooperation and development in the coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens around the turn of the millennium, and he was the foreign minister. Things were easier then because the Oslo agreements seemed to usher in a better two state future.
Philo-Semitism, however, is still not an antidote to anti-Semitism. Indeed, scholars from the Center for Research on Anti-Semitism at Technische Universität Berlin include the former in their long list of varieties of anti-Semitism (Ullrich et al. 2024). They also warn against politicising such a multilayered academic term. For intellectual purposes, undiscerning philo-Semitism is nothing more than the flipside of prejudiced anti-Semitism. Used in political sloganeering, the term "anti-Semitism" polarises, thus entrenching both anti-Jewish and pro-Jewish attitudes more deeply. When philo-Semitism morphs into unconditional support of Israel, things become particularly dangerous. The point is that it fuels anger and resentment when people disregard legitimate criticism of Israel as mere symptoms of anti-Semitism.
Germany certainly bears responsibility for Israel's security after the Nazi genocide. Since the Jewish state, however, was not established on empty land, Germany has a responsibility for Palestinians' security too. We can neither ignore the rights of displaced persons and their descendants nor those of long-established local communities in the occupied territories. We must also avoid any kind of identity politics that pits Jews against Muslims. Just as it is unacceptable to hold every individual Jew accountable for Israeli state action, we cannot blame Hamas terrorism on each and every Palestinian.
Aggressive rhetoric is not helpful when it comes to protecting Germany's Jewish minority from anti-Semitic aggression. It does not enhance Israel's security either. We need diligent and discerning analysis. Our country intends to promote peace, democracy and human rights internationally. Making exceptions for Israel undermines our credibility. Our diplomats become less convincing – not only in predominantly Muslim partner countries.
Hans Dembowski
© D+C | Development & Cooperation 2024
Palestinians in Gaza experience death and despair
The Hamas terrorism of 7 October was particularly cruel and atrocious. The perpetrators committed terrible crimes. Many Israelis, however, think their own government bears responsibility for the bloodshed that occurred on its watch. Susan Neiman, a Jewish philosopher, shares her views
Nonetheless, the humanitarian disaster in Gaza is now escalating into a famine. Civil society organisations have been warning since January that this was about to happen. Germans would not have found excuses for such a scenario had it occurred during the Iraq war – and especially not, if a high-ranking U.S. official had earlier announced that "human animals” would be cut off from food. Yoav Gallant, Israel's defence minister, made such a statement however. There is precious little doubt that war crimes are occurring in Gaza.
We must similarly take seriously that B'tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, has been speaking of apartheid for years. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International later followed suit. We normally appreciate their diligent legal analysis. In Germany, their reports on Israel and Palestine have nonetheless been neglected after being accused of anti-Semitism.
It is often reiterated that one is permitted to criticise Israel, and that only anti-Semitic rhetoric is unacceptable. Those who express grievances in diplomatic terms, however, generally remain unheard, while anyone who uses stronger language tends to be silenced with anti-Semitism accusations. This approach resembles Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing populism. He will justify anything with security needs in view of rampant anti-Semitism around the world – as though his aggressive policies didn't contribute to tensions and resentment.
If we want to reach the populous Muslim youth in Germany, we need a different approach. They are fully aware of Germany accepting action by the Jewish state that our government would vehemently oppose if done by any Islamic republic. They also know we normally reject defining a nation in narrow religious or ethnic terms. Accordingly, we think India must not become a Hindu state, and we find appalling the white Christian nationalists who support Donald Trump in the USA. Israel, however, clearly prioritises Jews. A controversial legal reform of 2018 declared the right to exercise national self-determination in the state of Israel to be unique to the Jewish people.
Jewish or democratic state?
An important ongoing debate is about whether Israel will be a Jewish or a democratic state in the long run. The problem is that Israel cannot be both without a separate Palestinian state because the size of the Palestinian population between the Mediterranean and the Jordan river roughly equals the Jewish one. Netanyahu, nonetheless, claims military dominance over the entire area. His so far unsuccessful attempts to strip Israel's supreme court of important powers, moreover, indicate what his choice between "Jewish and democratic” is. The judges have ruled in favour of minority rights several times.
“From the river to the sea” · 30.04.2024
How to interpret a slogan
The notion that the slogan is sweepingly anti-Semitic falls short of the mark. But extremist interpretations need to be condemned – on both the Israeli and the Palestinian side
There are serious proposals to drop the two-state concept in favour of a single, secular state for all faith communities in Israel/Palestine. Implementation would not be easy, of course. Those who make such proposals, however, are clearly trying to pave a road to peace. Nonetheless, any backing off from the existence of a Jewish state is deemed to be unacceptably anti-Semitic in Germany, where the debate on "Jewish or democratic" is not getting much attention.
For decades, German leaders have been telling Arab counterparts that they need democracy and human rights. Arabs are fully aware, however, of Germany not putting effective pressure on Israel regarding these matters in the occupied territories. Lip service the two-state solution does not protect our credibility, as long as it does not take into account the obvious truth that Israel's government has been doing what it can to prevent such a solution for many years.
German demands that Israel do more to protect Palestinians from settler violence remain similarly unconvincing, given that the entire settlement programme must stop, and Palestinians deserve full human rights (including, of course, property rights). And does it matter at all that the Netanyahu government is obviously ready to risk the escalation of the Gaza war into a regional conflagration? Our federal government does not want that to happen.
Not only Muslim Germans notice the double standards which are increasingly evident, for example, when Israel's "right to self-defence" is invoked to justify what looks more and more like a revenge campaign. More than 36,000 Gazans have died in recent months, and the majority were women and children.
Philo-Semitism is often marked by Islamophobia
Unlawful Israeli action obviously does not justify horrific Hamas terrorism. Islamist atrocities, however, do not make the grizzly current Gaza scenario acceptable either. We must take seriously suffering on both sides but avoid weighing one side's brutality against the other's. Every innocent victim counts. Anyone who is serious about a rules-based world order, should insist on the International Criminal Court trying perpetrators on both sides.
It is true that criticism of Israel often has anti-Semitic undertones, but it is equally true, that philo-Semitism is often marked by Islamophobia. Neither phenomenon makes legitimate grievances invalid.
By the way, the current polarisation, according to which everyone is either pro- or anti-Israel, serves both sides in the Gaza war. Both always cast themselves as victims. This kind of identity politics also helps Hamas to pretend it is the only force still opposing Israeli violence. The more we discount unlawful Israeli state action, the more Hamas rhetoric resonates around the world. Too many disregard that this criminal outfit does not deserve to be called a liberation movement. After all, freedom fighters do not intentionally kickstart a war that is likely to kill tens of thousands of their own people in the course of only a few months.
In Germany, charges of anti-Semitism currently even serve to silence Jewish intellectuals who disagree with Israel's government. Recent action by the mayor of Berlin and the president of Cologne University were extremely awkward. The former told an Israeli film director what kind of statement he may not make in Germany because we find it unacceptably anti-Semitic. The latter cancelled the guest professorship of a Jewish scholar from the USA because she signed an open letter calling for boycotting Israel in support of Palestinians.
Duty among friends
"Criticising Israel is a duty among friends," former German President Johannes Rau used to say, as one of his former staff members has told me. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul and Joschka Fischer took a similar approach. She served as minister for economic cooperation and development in the coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens around the turn of the millennium, and he was the foreign minister. Things were easier then because the Oslo agreements seemed to usher in a better two state future.
Philo-Semitism, however, is still not an antidote to anti-Semitism. Indeed, scholars from the Center for Research on Anti-Semitism at Technische Universität Berlin include the former in their long list of varieties of anti-Semitism (Ullrich et al. 2024). They also warn against politicising such a multilayered academic term. For intellectual purposes, undiscerning philo-Semitism is nothing more than the flipside of prejudiced anti-Semitism. Used in political sloganeering, the term "anti-Semitism" polarises, thus entrenching both anti-Jewish and pro-Jewish attitudes more deeply. When philo-Semitism morphs into unconditional support of Israel, things become particularly dangerous. The point is that it fuels anger and resentment when people disregard legitimate criticism of Israel as mere symptoms of anti-Semitism.
Germany certainly bears responsibility for Israel's security after the Nazi genocide. Since the Jewish state, however, was not established on empty land, Germany has a responsibility for Palestinians' security too. We can neither ignore the rights of displaced persons and their descendants nor those of long-established local communities in the occupied territories. We must also avoid any kind of identity politics that pits Jews against Muslims. Just as it is unacceptable to hold every individual Jew accountable for Israeli state action, we cannot blame Hamas terrorism on each and every Palestinian.
Aggressive rhetoric is not helpful when it comes to protecting Germany's Jewish minority from anti-Semitic aggression. It does not enhance Israel's security either. We need diligent and discerning analysis. Our country intends to promote peace, democracy and human rights internationally. Making exceptions for Israel undermines our credibility. Our diplomats become less convincing – not only in predominantly Muslim partner countries.
Hans Dembowski
© D+C | Development & Cooperation 2024
Palestinians in Gaza experience death and despair
Israel steps up retaliatory strikes on Gaza: Israel has intensified its aerial raids on the Gaza Strip three days after Hamas launched its terrorist attacks. Hamas, which controls Gaza, is classified as a terrorist organisation by the EU, the U.S. and other nations. On Monday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "what we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations"
Large-scale destruction: around 800 buildings have been fully destroyed and 5,000 heavily damaged by Israeli attacks, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Some 400,000 people are reportedly without access to water
Searching for survivors: rescue workers search for survivors after Israeli airstrikes hit Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. So far, a total of 830 people have been killed and more than 4,200 injured after airstrikes on the Hamas-controlled territory, according to local authorities. Hamas' Saturday attack on Israel left over 900 people dead and more than 2,600 injured
Mourning the dead: a woman wails as dead bodies are loaded onto a truck after an Israeli airstrike. According to the Gaza Health Authority, more than 140 children and over 100 women have been killed in Gaza
Gaza is sealed off: Palestinians flee Israeli retaliatory air strikes in an old minibus. According to the UN, more than 187,000 people in Gaza have been displaced, 137,000 people have taken shelter in UN schools and 40,000 in private homes. Leaving the Gaza Strip itself is impossible as Israel has sealed off the territory and the Egyptian crossing is closed
Israeli army controls Gaza border: Israeli troops are seen patrolling the Israel-Gaza border. Hamas fighters breached border fortifications in a number of locations during the night of October 7 before committing acts of terror on Israeli territory. Israel built the Gaza border fence in 1994. Gaza’s border with Egypt is also sealed off by a long fence
Israeli forces mass on Gaza border: after Israel mobilised some 300,000 reservists, many Gaza residents fear an Israeli ground offensive may be looming. Military vehicles and equipment have been massed along the Gaza border. Israeli towns bordering Gaza have been almost completely evacuated
Looming humanitarian disaster: speaking to CNN, Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, warned of a looming humanitarian disaster in Gaza. "It's going to amount to war crimes if children are going to starve and die in hospitals because of lack of electricity, for example," he said
Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar: Yahya Sinwar has been the leader of the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza since 2017. He is considered one of the plotters of the October 7 terror attacks on Israel. Sinwar, who grew up in a Gaza refugee camp, is quoted as having said, "we would rather die as martyrs than die out of oppression and humiliation"
Escalating violence: a Hamas spokesman told news agencies that every time Israel bombs Gaza civilians without prior warning, an Israeli hostage will be killed. Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen warned that such acts will not be forgiven
Israel steps up retaliatory strikes on Gaza: Israel has intensified its aerial raids on the Gaza Strip three days after Hamas launched its terrorist attacks. Hamas, which controls Gaza, is classified as a terrorist organisation by the EU, the U.S. and other nations. On Monday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "what we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations"
Escalating violence: a Hamas spokesman told news agencies that every time Israel bombs Gaza civilians without prior warning, an Israeli hostage will be killed. Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen warned that such acts will not be forgivenIsrael steps up retaliatory strikes on Gaza: Israel has intensified its aerial raids on the Gaza Strip three days after Hamas launched its terrorist attacks. Hamas, which controls Gaza, is classified as a terrorist organisation by the EU, the U.S. and other nations. On Monday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "what we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations"The Middle East 'peace process': A slogan to mask the marking of time
UN Security Council Resolution 242, 1967: United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, passed on 22 November 1967, called for the exchange of land for peace. Since then, many of the attempts to establish peace in the region have referred to 242. The resolution was written in accordance with Chapter VI of the UN Charter, under which resolutions are recommendations, not orders
Camp David Accords, 1978: this picture, taken on 26 March 1979, shows Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, his U.S. counterpart Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin after signing the peace treaty in Washington. A coalition of Arab states, led by Egypt and Syria, fought in the Yom Kippur or October War in October 1973. This war eventually led to the peace talks which lasted 12 days and resulted in two agreements
The Madrid Conference in 1991: the U.S. and the former Soviet Union came together to organise a conference in the Spanish capital city of Madrid. The discussions, which involved Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinians, who met with Israeli negotiators for the first time, achieved little, although it did create the framework for later talks
Oslo Agreement, 1993: negotiations, which took place in Norway, between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) resulted in the first deal between the two sides, the Oslo Accord. The agreement was signed in the U.S. in September 1993. It demanded that Israeli troops withdraw from West Bank and Gaza and a self-governing, interim Palestinian authority be set up for a five-year transitional period
Camp David 2000: U.S. President, Bill Clinton, invited Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak and PLO Chairman, Yasser Arafat, to discuss borders, security, settlements, refugees and Jerusalem. Despite more detailed negotiations than ever before, no agreement was reached. The failure to reach a consensus at Camp David was followed by renewed Palestinian uprising
The Arab Peace Initiative 2002: the Camp David negotiations were followed by meetings in Washington, then in Cairo and Taba, Egypt. They too were without results. Later, the Arab Peace Initiative was proposed in Beirut in March 2002. The plan called on Israel to withdraw to the lines of June 1967, so that a Palestinian state could be set up in the West Bank and Gaza. In return, Arab countries agreed to recognise Israel
The Roadmap, 2003: the U.S., EU, Russia and the UN worked together as the Middle East Quartet to develop a road map to peace. In June 2003, Prime Minister Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas, accepted the road map, with the Security Council also approving it in November. The timetable called for the final agreement to be reached in 2005. Unfortunately, it was never implemented
Annapolis, 2007: in 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush hosted a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, to re-launch the peace process. Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority’s President, Mahmoud Abbas, took part in talks with officials from the Quartet and over a dozen Arab states. It was agreed that further negotiations would be held with the goal of reaching a peace deal by the end of 2008
Washington 2010: in 2010, special U.S. Envoy George Mitchell’s efforts led to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreeing to and implementing a ten-month moratorium on settlements in disputed territories. Later, Netanyahu and Abbas agreed to re-launch direct negotiations to resolve all issues. Negotiations began in Washington in September 2010, but within weeks there was a deadlock
Cycle of escalation and ceasefire continues: a new round of violence broke out in and around Gaza late 2012. A ceasefire was reached between Israel and those in power in the Gaza Strip, which held until June 2014. The kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014 resulted in renewed violence and eventually led to the launch of the Israeli military operation, Protective Edge, which ended with a ceasefire on 26 August 2014
Paris summit, 2017: envoys from over 70 countries gathered in Paris, France, to discuss the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. Netanyahu slammed the discussions as "rigged" against his country. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian representatives attended the summit. "A two-state solution is the only possible one," French Foreign Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said at the opening of the event. By Aasim Saleem
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