Interview with Ofer Cassif, Communist Party member of Knesset.
Interview with Ofer Cassif, Communist Party member of Knesset.
On this Monday, US President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu are expected to meet in Washington. On the agenda is a possible stop of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, with a 21-point-plan circulating as the path ahead.
Characterizing Israel’s actions against Palestinians “a genocide”, Ofer Cassif explains why in case of their stop the Netanyahu government would crush immediately. Cassif is a member of the Israeli parliament, Knesset, for the Communist Party / Hadash.
We spoke to him in Mexico City.
Thank you, Ofer, for taking the time. So, what’s the news in Israel, respectively, regarding the struggle around West Bank and Gaza? How do you see the current situation now?
The Israeli society is very polarized. You can see a vast majority of the population now against the continuation of what they call a war in Gaza. Of course, we refer to it as a genocide. But still, around 80 % of the Israeli public want to stop totally this aggression. Their main motivation is the fate of the Israeli hostages and the soldiers.
We emphasize the fate of the thousands and thousands of Palestinians who have been butchered in the last two years in one of the worst genocides in the modern times and of course the destruction and all the atrocities and also the ethnic cleansing that goes on in the West Bank, while fascism takes control over Israel.
However, I can say that there is a hope, because the struggle within Israel is on the rise. And even though it often comes from the wrong reasons, the consequences may be fruitful. So it’s important and because of that we are there. We are there with our messages, with our political voice. The other side, which is the minority against us, is very powerful because it is supported by the government.
The government already took control over the police, over the jail system, over the security services. The new chief of the Shin Bet, the security service, is a fanatic fascist, worse than ever, one of the Smotrich guys. And also, it seems that the government took control over the army as well. Hence, although the majority is against Netanyahu and against the so-called war, the minority has the power. But we continue.
So do you expect this tension within the Israeli society to increase in the next weeks, on whether to continue or stopping the operations?
I believe so, unless something happens on Monday in the meeting between Netanyahu and Trump. They are supposed to meet, and the media at least says that Trump is supposed to submit a plan for ending the in Gaza operation and releasing the Israeli hostages. Netanyahu is not interested, as usual. He’s been foiling any chance of accords to stop the genocide. He’s interested in the continuation of the war crimes and the extermination of Gaza and its residents. But if, eventually, something comes out of that, and there are accords that Trump forces Netanyahu to accept, and we definitely see the end of this malicious genocide in the next few days, so everything is going to change. Firstly, the government is going to fall for sure.
You say if the operation stops, the genocide stops, the government falls?
I believe so, because Smotrich and Ben-Gvir will not accept that. I believe they will leave the government and then the government won’t have a majority. So there is a great chance that the government falls if, again, the genocide atrocities stop, which of course I hope it will.
What’s the effect of these recent international recognition of Palestinian statehood by Britain, France and other countries inside Israel? Do they affect this domestic tension that you have described?
It does affect to some extent. There is a kind of contradiction in the attitude within Israel. On the one hand, many of the Israelis, including the so-called opposition, which is not an opposition at all, and I’m referring to the parties to the factions of Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz, Lieberman. Every time some calls for an end to these atrocities or Palestinian self-determination, they react shouting ‘antisemitism’, ‘Anti-Israelism’.
On the other hand, they accuse the government of creating a situation in which Israel is isolated. So those, of course, are connected. This, although, there is a contradiction here.
But eventually, the public at large is mostly feels that there is an anti-Israel, anti-Semite atmosphere out there. It understands that the government is, at least to some extent, responsible for that. So, the debate is between those two, you know, I wouldn’t call it poles, but between those lines. But whatever will come out of it, the government will be harmed. And that’s a good thing.
Last question about your party. The Communist Party of Israel, Hadash, has taken a different stance, defended the two-state solution. You rejected this operation as a genocide, have taken part in protest actions, your membership in the Knesset was under pressure. In the last two years, how is the feedback that you got as a political party during these last two years? Have you gained strength, or are you getting weaker?
That’s a tough one. We are persecuted, for sure. I personally am more persecuted as a member of the parliament because I’m Jewish in a list which is mostly both representatives and voters are Palestinian citizens in Israel, of course, not the occupied territories. Because of that, there was an attempt to impeach me. I’ve been suspended in the last two years for almost 300 days altogether.
Our comrades, many of our comrades, especially young ones, have been arrested, of course with no reason, just to terrorize them and us. One of our offices was closed for a few hours in order to prevent us from screening a critical film. And we are also targeted violently by the police, for instance, and by the fascist mob. The police didn’t do much to prevent it. No one was arrested or charged. So, the atmosphere in that sense was supposed to weaken us.
But since we stick to our values and principles, and we do not give up, we shall never give up, so I believe that we get stronger. You can see more and more youngsters joining the Communist Party, especially Jews, which is a refreshing and very encouraging inclination. You can see that although they do not mention it, more and more, in the public at large, begin to speak similar language to ours.
Especially in opposing ethnic cleansing and genocide. Journalists, some workers’ organizations that were organized from below, so to speak, not formal trade unions, like social workers, doctors, lawyers, artists, et cetera, et cetera, have been organized recently to protest against the genocide. And they call it by its name, a genocide.
Even ex -generals, including Bogi Ya’alon, who was the chief of staff, he was a minister of defense in Netanyahu’s government, he now calls what’s going on in Gaza, and in the West Bank, war crimes, and called to stop it. Ehud Barak as well, 600 generals, ex-generals, signed a petition against the continuation of those atrocities. Not because they care much about the Palestinians, much more because they care about the soldiers. But never mind. The consequences are the same.
So you can see that our language is getting stronger. Although, it is not yet transformed or translated into votes. But in the next elections, if there are, and if they are fair, and I’m afraid they won’t be, I guess that we will create a wider coalition. Too early to know of what kind. And I believe that we get stronger, even as far as votes.
Thank you very much.
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