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by Ivan Eland,
November 21, 2012
What do Israel’s
assault on Gaza and the American War of 1812 have in common? Much
more than meets the eye.The stated purpose of the Israeli assassination of Hamas’s military leader, which provoked the conflict in Gaza, was to impede the group’s rocket firings on southern Israel. Yet the rocket fire has been going on for months.
Instead, the real reason for Israel’s sudden escalation of violence might just have been the Israeli election in two months. Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ahead in the polls, Barack Obama’s re-election in the United States gave the opposition hope, because Netanyahu was being criticized for spoiling relations with Israel’s primary benefactor by meddling in the U.S. election on the side of Mitt Romney. Perhaps Netanyahu decided to stanch the opposition’s momentum by starting a war. So far, the gambit seems to have worked: a recent Haaretz newspaper poll found that 84% of Israelis backed the war in Gaza, and 55% approved of Netanyahu’s performance, a substantial hike from his prior numbers.
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