Gaza conflict to backfire on Netanyahu in elections: Analyst

The recent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip will have ‘tremendous repercussions’ in the upcoming Knesset elections for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as it has exposed Israel’s weakness, says an analyst.

The comment comes as the leader of the Israeli opposition party Kadima has admitted that the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas emerged stronger than the Tel Aviv regime during the recent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

Press TV has conducted an interview with political analyst Kamel Wazni to further discuss the situation.

Press TV: Mr. Kamel Wazni, welcome to the program. Before we get to the political repercussions of the ceasefire for the Israelis tell us about guarantees that exist for the Israelis upholding this ceasefire. Every time that a ceasefire had been brokered by Egypt the Israelis were always the ones that violated the agreements?

Wazni: Well, obviously the guarantee today is the resistance and the resistance is the only guarantee because this is the language that the Israelis understand. After the war of 2008 and 2006 I think the resistance was very strong on their preparation and their readiness and they told the Israelis if you attack us and if you break that truce then the resistance will be ready to actually retaliate and defend itself.

Obviously the situation of 2006 resistance in Lebanon, they have more strength because they have the borders and the support from Syria and from Iran and were able to support them. The situation in Gaza was more difficult because Gaza is still under blockade.

Hopefully it has lifted that blockade but the resistance is the answer to guarantee anything and anyone who thinks that a guarantee can come from the United States or from the new Egyptian president or from the Emir of Qatar or any other political entity would be mistaken.

Today we’ve seen a victory for the work of those people who believed in the resistance and yesterday we saw how some people within the Palestinian leadership thanked Iran and how it’s helped prepare the resistance to defend itself and I think the answer is resistance, resistance and resistance and all these political back deal actually could be a conspiracy against the Palestinians to continue the fight to liberate all Palestine because Gaza is the smallest part of the whole Palestine.

Press TV: Mr. Wazni, the Israeli prime minister has now come under fire for agreeing to a ceasefire with Palestinian groups . Al Kadhima chairman Shaul Mofaz has said that the Palestinian resistance movement Hammas in fact has the upper hand in the conflict. What are the political repercussions for Benjamin Netanyahu given the looming Knesset elections coming up in two months?

Wazni: I think it’s very true. The resistance has the upper hand and exposes the true weakness of the Israelis. For a very long time the Israelis sounded very tough but when it came to a battle between the people in Gaza and the Israelis that shows how vulnerable they are; this largest military power in the Middle East that is backed by the United States; is backed by Western powers; backed by France.

We had all these ridiculous statements from the French government but in the end what is ripe is ripe and the people who are on the side of rightness and justice will always have a place in history and those people who come and occupy other people’s land even all the mighty power of the United States did not make them safe.

Today I think the repercussion is going to be tremendous on Mr. Netanyahu. The Israelis love to stab each other and I think it’s going to come to the end; the election which is going to be in January but in the end I think the rhetoric of Mr. Netanyahu and the Israelis red line and putting pressure on the Americans and putting pressure that I’m going to attack this and that country and if you don’t stop me I’ll do it.

Today he couldn’t fight a little battle against Gaza so I think he’s going to come under a barrage of attacks and those people who are attacking him, they’re right. What could I say he exposed the weakness of Israel; he jeopardized the stability of what’s supposed to be the strongest country in the Middle East.

And now these lessons; the resistance in Lebanon and other resistances in the world they will in the few coming weeks they will study every aspect of this military escalation or confrontation and they will in due time this will be beneficial because you have to remember that we still have occupied land in Lebanon and I think the resistance in Lebanon will not be silent at the right time and at the right place to reclaim what is supposed to be Lebanese territory and I think the Palestinians should not be celebrating as they should be but they should be on the other hand preparing for the next confrontation with Israel.

Because this is my message to all the leadership of Hamas: continue believing on the path of resistance; stand with those countries who supported you all through difficult times; who believed in you when nobody actually helped you from the Arab countries which they have been giving lip service .

If you want to liberate Palestine continue preparation for the war that actually gives the Palestinians the right to go back to their homeland and Gaza is the beginning but still the largest Palestine still under occupation. It’s time to celebrate for a little while but preparation should continue because this enemy is very dangerous and has Americans behind him as we saw how the Americans came and bailed him out from what could have been a major disaster, if he continued with the ground operation could have been a disaster for him.

I think the Americans saved him once again after they saved him in 2006 when they launched their attack against Lebanon and those statements are documented in 2006 in the auto biography of Bush when he said we stopped we made that ceasefire or cessation of hostility just to save the Israelis.

Press TV: My next question is regarding the regional stance from Arab countries and also extending all the way to the United Nations and the international community. Can’t there be a push to end the blockade on the Gaza strip? Open the crossings fully? Can’t our countries and Egypt in addition do something to end the five year blockade on Gaza?

Wazni: Well, this is the test now to the leadership of the new Islamic country [which] was supposed to be an Islamic country that emerged after the Arab Spring– are they committing to the liberation of Palestine? Are they willing to put their stance [into effect] and face the mighty-what’s supposed to be the pressure of the United States or they can be business as usual, just be submissive to the will of the United States?

We have to wait and assess. I think so far we haven’t seen a major change in the whole picture except arranging for this truce.

This truce is not enough by itself; the Palestinians need support and all kind of support; material support; economic support and we have to like the Qatari and the Saudis they paid a lot of money to ship weapons against Syria. I think they’re better off to ship weapons against Israel if they want to stand in history as the one who can liberate Masjid al-Aqsa or the Black Domed Mosque. I think it’s better to put their resources in a good cause which unifies the Islamic and the Arab World.

My estimate is we have to wait to see what the emerging leadership in Egypt is? How much they can stand what is supposed to be right. We know their position before they came to power. At this point we have to wait and see. We’re not going to judge or prejudge. I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt but that time should not be long.

The people of Gaza have been suffering for a very long time. The Palestinians have been under occupation for a very long time; they have been cut from the rest of the world; they don’t have basic medicine because the Israeli ration even the kind of food they eat in Gaza.

I think it’s time to be decisive; to take a position for what is supposed to be right and I think for the Palestinians and the leadership of the Palestinians should be mindful of the changes and not align themselves with the long part of the equation, they’ll be making a miscalculation; this victory happened because people believed in the resistance and they armed the resistance and they trained the resistance when everybody was putting a blockade against the resistance.

If you lose that card I think you’ll be weakening your resistance and you make yourself vulnerable to the change that is taking place and you give the Israelis an opportunity to attack you again.