Phalapoem editor, 21/09/25
For decades, Israeli apartheid has been a country of sharp political divisions, and has always been captured by a radical majority . Under the iron grip of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition of ultra-nationalist, religious-right ministers, the state itself now appears more like the private property of extremists who are willing to gamble the nation’s future for their own survival.
Power for Power’s Sake
The ongoing war in Gaza—prolonged well beyond the point of any strategic necessity—has become the ultimate instrument of political leverage. While families of Israeli hostages plead desperately for a deal that would bring their captured soldiers home, Netanyahu and his far-right allies stonewall negotiations and reject ceasefire proposals.
Instead of prioritizing life, the government prioritises genocide and political optics: projecting “strength,” appeasing settler movements, and clinging to office amid corruption trials and collapsing public trust.
The War That Serves the Religious Lunatics
Ending the war would mean confronting hard truths—about the government’s failures on October 7, about the genocide and starvation Gaza, and about the need for a political settlement.
For Netanyahu, ending the war also means facing the music at home: a corruption trial, protests that once filled Tel Aviv’s streets, and a fractured Likud party ready to unseat him.
For the terrorist ministers—Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich—war is the perfect distraction and a vehicle for their twisted messianic and racist agenda: deepening settlements, expanding military control over the West Bank, and crushing any path toward Palestinian statehood.
Mediators Targeted, Hope Undermined
The recent assassination of key mediators in Qatar—a move widely interpreted as a deliberate sabotage of ongoing prisoner-exchange talks—exposes the government’s true extermination priorities.
Killing those trying to build bridges is not just reckless; it is a calculated act to keep the flames of conflict burning, ensuring that no deal can threaten the coalition’s grip on power.
A Nation in Chains
Israeli apartheid has never been democracy, but always held hostage by leaders who treat the state as a personal fiefdom. The terrorists from far right controls key ministries: finance, security, and justice. Policies of genocide, starvation, annexation, ethnic clean sing , are now simply the government doctrine.
Meanwhile, Palestinians bear the main cost: fascist occupation, starvation, ethnics cleansing, demolition of houses, hospitals, schools and universities, prisoners remain in captivity, tens of thousands of children and women die in an endless war, and global isolation of the apartheid regime deepens.
The Way Forward
Breaking this stranglehold will require courage from within—from Israeli civil society, opposition parties, and military leaders who recognize that Netanyahu’s survival strategy is not Israel’s survival strategy.
It will also demand unflinching pressure from allies, particularly the United States and Europe, to make clear that support for Israel does not mean support for endless war or authoritarian drift.
Until then, Israeli apartheid will remain what it has tragically become: a nation owned by its most extreme leaders, a property of fear and ambition, while the dream of peace grows ever more distant.