Before October 7, 2023, and the launch of Al-Aqsa Flood by the forces of the Palestinian Resistance, things looked very different. After a year of pursuing the alleged objective of defeating Hamas, what does the government of the colony have to show for itself?
First of all the economy is in crisis
The IMF estimated “Israel’s” GDP at $564 billion and its GDP per capita at $58,270 in 2023 (13th highest in the world), a figure comparable to other highly developed countries.
But in the last quarter of 2023, according to figures from the regime’s own Central Bureau of Statistics, the GDP contracted an annual 19.4%.
The construction sector, for example, slowed down by nearly a third in the first two months of the war. And agriculture suffered too, with production down by a quarter in some areas.
A description of the situation near Gaza in the Spanish paper El Pais, explains:
Thousands of foreign workers (mainly Thais, but also Nepalis and Tanzanians) returned to their country after the murder and kidnapping of dozens of their compatriots. Palestinian day laborers — the other key workforce — saw their entry permits revoked (residents of Gaza) or paused (those of the West Bank). Added to this, many Israelis who worked in agriculture were evacuated to other parts of the country or called up as reservists.
It is estimated that up to 60,000 Israeli companies may have to close in 2024 due to staff shortages, supply chain disruptions, and waning business confidence.
The Port of Eilat, in the south of the Zionist occupation entity, declared bankruptcy in July due to an 85% drop in activity as a direct result of Ansar Allah’s blockade on Red Sea shipping. If the Northern Front is completely opened with Hezbollah, all of “Israel’s” ports will be inoperative, notably Haifa. The one exception is Ashdod, in the center of the colony, though it is easily reachable by missiles from Lebanon, Iraq Yemen, and of course Iran.
The normalization of the Zionist entity with its neighbors has been thrown into reverse. By December it was being said that normalization was now in a “reset” situation, and in September this year, even the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia stated that the kingdom would not establish ties with “Israel” until a Palestinian state has been created.
The deal brokered by China between Saudi Arabia and Iran also pulled the Saudi regime out of Yemen, allowing Ansar Allah to launch its stunningly successful blockade on the Red Sea.
Perhaps most notable, the image of the regime and its military as sophisticated military strategists has been thoroughly undermined by the launch of Al-Aqsa Flood itself, and by the evident fact that after a year, the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza is not defeated. On June 19 the spokesperson for the Israeli Occupation Forces, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, told Channel 13 News that the aim of eradicating Gaza’s leadership was unattainable.
This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear — it’s simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public…. anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong.
In fact, Zionism faces defeat in every sphere. This is even stated in the press in the settler colony.
The most visible and tangible change in the West has been the erosion of support for the declining entity.
This has manifested first of all in a significant polarization. The mass of the global public has become more pro-Palestinian and more vocal about it. But equally, there is a small counter tendency of Zionists to become ever more extreme in their glorification of the killing of women and children, and attacking in violence pro-Palestine protestors, around the world, from Australia to the US.
Israelis have become increasingly genocidal, with only 19% even willing to say that the Zionist genocide has “gone too far”.
In Gaza and the West Bank, support for Hamas has increased while the Palestinian Authority has become even less popular.
Public opinion in the US and UK and the world has shifted towards the Palestinians.
We can see the shift also in the way in which the credibility of key Zionist arguments has collapsed.
The so-called right of “Israel” to self-defense has been pummelled, especially by figures like the UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
The idea that “Israel” has a right to exist or that it should exist has also come under attack. A UK opinion poll recently showed that a striking 54% of 18-24-year-olds agreed with the statement that “the state of Israel should not exist.” Just 21% disagreed.
It is remarkable to note that the power of the main weapon of choice used by the Zionists is dissipating. The charge of “antisemitism” has less force and is now openly mocked.
It’s clear that the Zionists are attempting to minimise the effects of the genocide by trying to undermine official Palestinian figures for death and injuries. It is also routinely suggested that the occupation forces are minimizing their own casualty numbers.
One of the key things that is now different is that the credibility of the regime and Zionism has been badly damaged. This is first via the realization across the world that Hasbara, Israeli propaganda, is not truthful. More damaging than that, however, is the wanton cruelty and brutality of the genocide, and especially the glorying in it shown by so many. “Israel” stands revealed as a deeply sick, indeed, terminally ill, society. Zionism, the whole world over, is similarly tainted.
Beheaded babies, 1200 civilian casualties, rapes – all were found to be unfounded fabrications.
But, worse than that, they were only a fraction of the brutality carried out in seeming joy and quivering excitement by the occupation forces.
It has been startling to many to see their cheerleaders among the Zionist population of the US and UK joining in.
Zionism is more reviled now than it has ever been. After a year of genocide, Zionism faces defeat. Its end cannot come soon enough.
source: Al Mayadeen