The war in Gaza: What is driving the Israeli far right?

Every now and then, papers and articles are published revealing the positions of the extreme Israeli right, which drives the current government of Benjamin Netanyahu. These articles can be seen as testimony to the path the aggressive war against Gaza is currently taking. This path is relevant only to the contexts that concern this extreme right, which does not believe the war is dying or that it is facing an intractable crisis.

To illustrate what we mean, we will briefly present, first, the latest writings by Settlement Affairs Minister Orit Strook of the Religious Zionism Party on the far-right Channel 7 website three days ago, in which she emphasized that Israel must avoid making “two mistakes” at the present time regarding the course of the war against Gaza (May 30, 2025):

The first mistake was to back down from what it called the “humanitarian separation plan,” which relies on a policy of starvation and aims to prevent any humanitarian aid from reaching Hamas. This, in its view, would fundamentally harm the declared objectives of the war, given that “Hamas cannot be eliminated militarily, civilly, and politically and forced to return the kidnapped soldiers when it has the opportunity to receive, hoard, and trade in such quantities of aid, and to control the population through it.”

The second mistake was withdrawing from the territories occupied by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. In her reading, it is not only for the sake of the Israeli prisoners that we must not withdraw from the territories occupied by the army, but also for the sake of the soldiers sent to Gaza, who pay with their lives for such withdrawals. She is referring to the deaths of Israeli soldiers due to explosive devices planted in areas previously occupied by the army, and then withdrawn as part of a deal, which allowed Hamas to return and plant explosive devices again.

These extreme, hostile positions are not limited to the religious Zionist movement, which is described in most Israeli discourse as standing to the right of the ruling Likud party. Rather, they extend beyond it, as is evident, for example, in a new policy paper recently issued by the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, which expresses the positions of the ruling new Israeli right. Titled "There Are No Good People in Gaza," the paper was written by researchers from the institute and two reserve officers, Brigadier General Erez Weiner and Colonel Professor Gabi Siboni. It began with the following words:

During World War II, in the midst of brutal Nazi Germany, a few individuals chose to perform an extraordinary act of humanity, risking their lives to save persecuted Jews. According to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, 659 German citizens were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations for their assistance to Jews, despite the fact that they put themselves, and sometimes their family members, in real danger of death. Their actions were an act of rebellion against a violent totalitarian regime, and in many cases, they were not motivated by a desire for reward but rather by a moral imperative, a sense of compassion, and a commitment to universal values of justice. These were not the actions of the masses, but rather individual choices within a society that had become apathetic or complicit in the regime's crimes. But when considering the ongoing reality in the Gaza Strip, in the shadow of the "Iron Swords" war that has been raging since October 7, 2023, painful conclusions emerge: Not a single "righteous among the nations" has been found in Gaza, not a single individual who stood up for human decency in the face of Hamas' actions, not a single person who provided information, not a single person who attempted to help rescue the Israelis kidnapped on October 7.

The paper literally stated: “We are facing an unprecedented reality in societies subject to the rule of ‘terrorism.’ While thousands of people helped Jews in Europe in the 1940s, in Gaza, under the rule of Hamas, not a single person has yet chosen a moral and humanitarian stance. The absence of such actions is not due solely to fear or coercion, but rather reflects a profound social and cultural phenomenon, in which the entire society has collectively become a partner in the cycle of violence and hatred, or has in fact accepted and coexisted with it.”

This paper concludes with several conclusions, the most important of which are the following:

First, the lack of "good" people in Gaza is not a coincidence. Rather, it reflects a society that has collectively chosen to view violence and "terrorism" as a legitimate means of achieving its national goals. Even those who do not actively participate in violence or "terrorism," and may question the effectiveness of Hamas's actions on October 7, do not stand against it.

Second, in order to change this reality, Israel must adopt a new approach—operationally, demographically, and strategically. Even if Hamas's leaders are exiled and the movement disintegrates, what the paper describes as a "collective consciousness in Gaza" is capable of producing new organizations that will continue the path of "terrorism." Therefore, the way to break the cycle of "terrorism" in the Strip is to encourage the migration of the population, in line with US President Donald Trump's vision, and to dismantle all existing terrorist infrastructure.

Third, for those who choose to remain, UNRWA activities among them must be banned and a new educational system must be established.

Fourth, this is what a realistic and sober understanding of the reality in Gaza should be, an understanding that considers all of Gaza a base for "terrorism." Israel will not be able to live in security under this condition.

There is no doubt that this paper constitutes a good example of the positions that fuel the Israeli far-right's approach to the Gaza Strip and the war Israel is waging against it. These positions are of great interest and must be continuously highlighted as a translation, in and through which this right reveals its path specifically and interpretively.