Israeli Historian Addresses Netanyahu’s Conflict Strategy Aims

(MENAFN) Israeli academic and historian Ilan Pappe believes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's combative stance is closely linked to the legal proceedings he faces at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Pappe argues that Netanyahu is attempting to stall the judicial process by intensifying tensions and violence across the region.

In a conversation with a news agency, Pappe claimed that Netanyahu's objective is to shift focus away from the ICC case, particularly as it progresses to a crucial phase.

"He is very much interested in not attracting attention to his trial and the fact that he's now in the very difficult part of the trial, where he's being questioned by the prosecutor," Pappe noted.

"He's using the excuse of Gaza and the war of Iran to say you have to postpone the trial for two or three years because we're going to have a long war. So that's his personal ambition."

Pappe also commented on the motivations of Netanyahu’s political allies, emphasizing the influence of extremist right-wing factions within the coalition.

According to him, these figures, especially the religious Zionists with messianic beliefs, are motivated by a radical ideological agenda to widen Israeli dominance.

"The allies are messianic Zionists who really believe that this is a window of opportunity to use force in order to totally change the reality and create not only a Greater Israel over the West Bank and Gaza but even beyond," Pappe stated.

"They have this dream of what they have read in the Old Testament, the Torah, and the Bible of a great ancient Israeli kingdom that everybody is terrified from in the region and can have even more extended space under its control."

Pappe's remarks highlight concerns that the current government’s policies are shaped not only by immediate security goals but also by personal and ideological motivations that could further destabilize the Middle East.

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