Aha Dua Permata: Israel cannot win – Jordan Foreign Minister

Monday, 11 December 2023

Israel cannot win – Jordan Foreign Minister

FILE PHOTO: Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi speaks in Washington.
©AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Jordan’s foreign minister has claimed Israel cannot achieve military victory in Gaza and has already suffered a strategic defeat by alienating the entire region.

Speaking on Sunday at the Doha Forum – an annual gathering of diplomats in the Qatari capital – Ayman Safadi said the goal of Israel’s operation against Hamas is to oust the Palestinian population rather than to defeat the militant group.

The destruction in Gaza over the past two months “is an indication of an Israeli policy that seems determined to expel the residents” of the enclave, he said, adding that top Israeli officials, including Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have been quite candid about that intention.

Safadi brought up the Friday vote at the UN Security Council, in which the US vetoed a proposal by Arab nations urging for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. It was the only vote against, with the UK, a key American ally, being the only member of the 15-strong body to abstain.

The top Jordanian diplomat noted that despite the veto, Washington was publicly calling on Israel to change its military tactics.

“Simply put, Israel is defying everyone – its allies, international law, and the United Nations,” he said. “Israel has created an amount of hatred that will haunt this region, and that will define future generations. It harms its people as much as it affects everyone in the region."

This is a war Israel cannot win. Israel has already suffered a strategic defeat.

The minister blamed Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and systematic obstruction to the creation of a Palestinian state as the root cause of the hostilities.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who attended the event in Qatar via video link, remarked that the US has blocked several proposals for a ceasefire in Gaza at the UN. He called the unresolved status of Palestinian statehood the “single most dangerous factor igniting extremism in the Middle East.”