Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had believed that his bloody bombardment for more than two weeks of the besieged Gaza Strip would finally diminish the status of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group in control of the region on the Israeli-Egyptian border. Rather, his attempt has backfired despite the fact that more than 190 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,400 others have been wounded.

Hamas, facing serious economic, social and security problems in the Gaza Strip, was apparently compelled to seek assistance from the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) led by Mahmoud Abbas — a step that ended in a reconciliation agreement that installed a new government of technocrats for the two Palestinian regions. Hamas officials would not be holding any position in the new Palestinian regime, but the subsequent merciless onslaught by Israel and Hamas’s tough stance in landing more than 1,000 rockets on Israel has raised its stature among Palestinians and other fellow Arabs in the region to a very high level. How all this will affect the chances of a Palestinian-Israeli settlement remains to be seen, but certainly, the prospects are not very encouraging. For one, Netanyahu in the opinion of many, including Israelis and American Jews, has blundered.

To start with, the manipulations of Netanyahu, his right-wing cabinet members and the actions of senior military officials detailed in the Israeli media were aimed at whipping the Israeli public to support the unjustified arrest of several hundreds of Palestinians, some of whom were released from jail recently. The recent abduction of three Israeli colonists, all teenagers, was attributed to Hamas, although the latter denied any connection and Israel has never provided any evidence to support the charges.

What has been more alarming is the report published in the Times of Israel on July 13, titled ‘Netanyahu finally speaks his mind’. David Horovitz writes that “most Israelis would acknowledge that they’ve never been entirely sure how Netanyahu sees a potential resolution of the Palestinian conflict, which concessions he’s truly ready to make, what his long-term vision looks like.”

Speaking in Hebrew at a press conference, Horovitz reported that Netanyahu “made explicitly clear that he could never ever countenance a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank”, adding that “Israel simply cannot afford to give up control over the territory immediately to its east, including the eastern border — that is, the border between Israel and Jordan and the West Bank and Jordan”. And what has been also very critical is the point underlined by Horovits that Netanyahu “considers the current American, (Secretary of State) John Kerry-led diplomatic team to be, let’s be polite, naive”.

But at a recent “peace conference” hosted by the Israeli liberal newspaper Haaretz, the American position voiced by a senior White House aide was more forthright on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a development that may disturb some Israeli officials.

Philip Gordon, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf Region, argued that “security will come from a two-state solution that brings Israelis the lasting peace and secure borders they deserve and brings Palestinians the sovereignty, freedom and dignity they deserve”. He continued: “Israel confronts an undeniable reality. It cannot maintain military control of another people indefinitely. Doing so is not only wrong but a recipe for resentment and recurring instability. It will embolden extremists on both sides, tear at Israel’s democratic fabric and feed mutual dehumanisation.”

Gordon’s penultimate point was: “Palestinian-Israeli negotiations should result in two states, with permanent borders with Israel, Jordan and Egypt and permanent borders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognised borders are established for both states. Any peace agreement will require robust security provision that safeguards Israel’s security. And the Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves and reach their full potential in an independent, sovereign and contiguous state.”

It is time for Israel to wake up to this reality.

George S. Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He can be contacted at ghishmeh@gulfnews.com