Israel’s "stage of Barbarism” and “new, violent Zionism”

Conflicts Forum’s compilation tracking strategic developments in Israel, 26 Aug 2025

“A War of Extermination” — ‘When the head of the liberal Military Intelligence Directorate speaks like this, the debate over whether or not there was genocide in Gaza is over’ /

‘I'm really sorry to tell you, but the children dying in Gaza really don't bother me at all’ /

“To be a Zionist today is to be Ben-Gvir. To be non-Zionist is to be antisemitic” /

Yigal Sarna (Founder of Peace Now) re-posts Heinrich Himmler: ‘We will finish them off in 5-6 weeks … Warsaw will be shaved off the face of the earth and will serve as a deterrent example to all of Europe’ /

Former IDF Ombudsman: Israel's Army Is Falling Apart /

Netanyahu does not intend to end the war. Israel is stuck in an endless time loop /

Is the public prepared to fight for the existence of fair elections?

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

‘The stage of Barbarism and new, violent Zionism’ (Yossi Klein, Haaretz, 20 Aug)

"The national pride and euphoria following the Six-Day War are temporary, and they will carry us from proud nationalism to messianic extreme nationalism. The third stage will be barbarism, and the final stage will be the end of Zionism", said Yeshayahu Leibowitz [a leading 20th century Jewish thinker and Israeli public intellectual] -- and he was wrong. We are indeed in the stage of barbarism, but this is not the end of Zionism. There is no debate about the barbarism; it is here. But it has not killed Zionism. On the contrary, it has made it relevant. Zionism has had various versions, but none resembled the new, updated, violent Zionism: the Zionism of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. The only Zionism today that has character and purpose. The old Zionism is no longer relevant. It established a state and revived its language. It has no more goals … If you ask a Zionist today what their Zionism is, they wouldn’t know how to answer. "Zionism" has become an empty word. Until Meir Kahane came along. He came with an updated Zionism whose goals are clear: to expel Arabs and settle Jews. This is a Zionism that doesn’t hide behind pretty words. "Voluntary evacuation" makes it laugh. "Transfer" enchants it. It is proud of "apartheid",urinates on "enlightenment" … Give it a few planes and good bombs, and it will finish off two million Arabs in ten minutes. Then it will destroy evidence, send bulldozers to cover the bodies, and eliminate journalists who documented the atrocities.

Kahane was right. There is no difference between Netanyahu’s Zionism and his own. There is no difference between the Zionism of Likud and religious Zionism. There is no difference between the policy of religious Zionism and the government’s policy. The difference is that Netanyahu and Sara are fighting for power, while Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are fighting for the principle. Yariv Levin’s revolution … is preparing the groundwork for a religious Jewish state. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the elections — if there are any — we are forced to choose between the responsible adult Bibi and the violent hooligan Ben-Gvir. A revolution … needs gangs, stormtroopers, hilltop youth. Thugs exist in every revolution … Kippahs today are the brown shirts of the past …