Little known outside its borders, Itamar Ben-Gvir carried out a “rock star” campaign in Israel. This far-right deputy, openly racist and supporter of a total annexation of the West Bank, plowed the Jewish state from north to south. Everywhere, crowds of young Israelis cheered him. Everywhere, this youth sang “death to terrorists”. Often, she proclaimed “death to the Arabs”.
On November 1, Ben-Gvir’s party established itself as Israel’s third political force and secured a prominent place in Netanyahu’s future government. The extreme right can thank the young people, strongly mobilized in its favor. “This result is the translation of a disenchantment of part of Israeli youth, who no longer believe in the two-state solution, believes David Khalfa, researcher at the Jean-Jaurès Foundation. This generation, born after the agreements of Oslo has only known repeated cycles of violence, temporarily interrupted by fragile truces: the second intifada, four military clashes with Hamas in Gaza, the riots between young Jews and Israeli Arabs in May 2021 and a very deteriorated in recent months.
On the Palestinian side, the mirror effect is striking. In recent weeks, an armed group, La Fosse aux lions, has formed in the West Bank to unite young people from all factions – Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad – resulting in an unprecedented wave of killings. Since twenty years. In response, the Israeli army multiplies the murderous raids.
As Ghaith Al-Omari of the Washington Institute summarizes, “because of the failures of diplomacy and the two-state solution, the younger generations have only known the worst side of the other side, they are convinced that no partnership is possible between Israelis and Palestinians”. When the voices of peace are silent, only the rumors of war remain. And the fear of a third intifada.