The American-Israeli Optimism Plot

For nearly 22 months, we've grown accustomed to Israel and the United States rushing to express cautious, normal, reserved, and unreserved optimism about the imminent arrival of a ceasefire and the release of Israeli prisoners. Good news then pours in, confirming and reinforcing this optimism over the course of a week or two, only for the optimism to fade away without any results. Throughout all of this, of course, the Palestinian side is accused of being hardline and insensitive to Israeli flexibility. Ultimately, the Palestinian side is punished for its lack of flexibility. This "cliché" has been repeated many times over the past period and continues to do so as of this writing. What are the motives, causes, and objectives behind this? Here, we attempt to unpack the features of this phenomenon as much as possible.

First: Expressing and spreading optimism about the imminent reaching of a settlement blinds eyes to the dozens of martyrs who fall in the bombing, burning, and destruction, and in front of distribution centers. All of this becomes mere details or due taxes, because there is optimism. Spreading this atmosphere of anticipation of a settlement carries out a horrific process, which is normalizing the eyes, ears, and heart to the horrific scenes and successive disasters in the Gaza Strip. In other words, the news becomes optimism, not killing and its mechanism. This is a well-known media operation that diverts attention and changes priorities.

Second: There is no connection between the spread of optimism and the reality of the negotiations taking place. This can be proven by the Palestinian side’s denial of what is being said, and the Arab mediators’ refusal to confirm it as well. That is, only the American and Israeli sides are expressing optimism, and this is for local purposes. On the Israeli side, Netanyahu wants to tell his audience that he is serious about negotiating, but the Palestinian side is the one who refuses. As for the American side, he also wants to reap illusory achievements based on bilateral talks with the Israelis first, and the illusion of the possibility of exerting pressure that no one can bear second.

The American optimism is hasty and naive, based on the illusion that no one can refuse his demands or conditions, even though this American has shown on several occasions that he is very weak and subject to the Zionist lobbies in a humiliating manner.

Third: Perhaps the most important goal of the optimism scheme is to demonize the Palestinian side and present it to its audience and the world as extremist, stubborn, and unresponsive to proposals that are theatrically "modified." Optimism here is another means of besieging, demonizing, and exposing the Palestinian side by making it appear as if it is seeking suicide, or as if it is unwilling to admit defeat, or as if it is unyielding to pressure from its friends or those on the ground.

The rush to express optimism and leak news confirming it without evidence or confirmation from other parties means that this optimism is part of the negotiation process, narrowing its scope and transforming it into a media and psychological tool that exerts pressure on all parties, not just the Palestinian side.

Fourth: Using the multi-level optimism trap, which is to buy time to prolong the war, sow discord between the other parties, attempt to blackmail them and pit them against each other, frustrate the public and push them into despair, blame the Palestinian side and hold it responsible for the failure, and present the optimist as a noble human being ready to "make concessions" while the other party is an extremist who rejects "peace."

The optimism trap here also plays a key role in media, political, and security deception, as well as in numbness, frustration, and the spread of chaos and rumors. This is a preferred method for the current Israeli government to hijack and fabricate decisions. It's a method that has been picked up by the families of Israeli prisoners, as well as the street, which constantly accuses Netanyahu of being a "liar."