Israel's disregard for warcrimes and genocide: 'Our duty was to exhaust our anger in Gaza. Now we need to move on'

Conflicts Forum’s compilation of consequential observations & strategic developments in Israel, 26 Oct 2025.

War Crimes? Genocide?: In the mainstream press in Israel, there is almost no acknowledgement, nor reference to the war crimes and genocide committed by Israel in Gaza. Ben Caspit, a leading centre-right commentator, writes candidly: “After October 7, our duty was to exhaust our anger in Gaza and show the entire Middle East and the world what happens to those who dare to massacre Jews in a Nazi-style manner. We did that a long time ago. Now we need to move on”. Gideon Levy, in Haaretz, notes that in fact, “Israeli conversation has become more ultranationalist than ever. In that conversation, the only people living in Gaza are the 20 hostages and the soldiers. Aside from them, there are no human beings in Gaza, nor is there any suffering … Between the heaping portions of mourning for our own victims and the complete disregard for all others, Israel’s moral portrait emerges: Yes, this is Jewish supremacy, once again”. What is evident, writes Yuval Abraham in +972 Magazine, is the “‘bare murderous’ logic that helped Israeli liberals commit genocide” — “By attaching a military goal to each act of killing, Israelis of all stripes could partake in the slaughter without questioning the morality of their actions … [Palestinians] are not viewed as unique humans, but merely data points in a software that calculates “collateral damage””.

“The End of the War”: Israelis are stunned and in shock that the war has ended and that they are being held tight to the ceasefire agreement by Trump and his senior officials: “The US’ intense pressure on Israel to abide by the terms of the ceasefire and proceed to the next stage of the plan is bringing relations between the two countries to a boil”, Caspit writes. He quotes a senior Israeli defense official cautioning, “This is a historic low in the very close but also very complex relations between Israel and the Trump administration, and it seems to me that the worst is yet to come”. Even liberal commentators are shocked and disconcerted that Israel is unable to complete its war project in Gaza, now that the hostages have been released. Former senior official Kobi Michael argues that Hamas is essentially trying to redefine the post-war reality in Gaza to make itself indispensable.

Israelis were disconcerted too when Witkoff and Kushner sat and spoke directly to Hamas and its’ lead negotiator, Khalil Al-Haya, whom Israel had tried to assassinate in Doha (they did assassinate his son). Far from being defeated or submissive, Hamas were sitting at the table.

Will Israel try and wait out the Americans? Their clear hope, as Caspit quotes a senior security source saying, is that Hamas will break the ceasefire. In the meantime, the US is taking steps and laying foundations, bringing in Türkiye, Qatar and Egypt, by which time it may be too late for Israel to change the new ‘realities’.

Meanwhile, Likud is going up in the polls and Netanyahu has moved on from the (initial) end of the war in Gaza to his war on Israel — as the political magazine 7th Eye notes: “[Netanyahu’s] war against the State of Israel is no less existential than the war against Iran. If he is ousted in the elections, he will have difficulty thwarting the trial … and continuing to thwart the opening of new criminal proceedings against him … and the establishment of a state investigation committee for his responsibility for the October 7 massacre”. Caspit concurs, describing Netanyahu as “a ticking bomb of smugness” — “He has taken control of the gatekeepers” and is “waging a successful war of attrition against the indictment filed against him … [of which] the appointment of David Zini as head of the Shin Bet is the jewel in the crown“. The big picture, writes Caspit, is Netanyahu “increasing chaos and madness at an exponential rate”.

[These compilations are drawn from analysis & commentary by leading Israeli political, social and cultural commentators, predominantly published in Hebrew — as reports published in Hebrew often provide a different window on Israeli internal discourse].