When Zionists Celebrate Israel’s Defeat

It was November 29, 1947 (according to Pope Gregory’s calendar).

Celebrations permeated the streets of Tel Aviv.

How could one not be happy? After nearly 2,000 years without Hebrew sovereignty, the Jews had finally attained international recognition for statehood.

But for Dr. Israel Eldad, ideologue of the Jewish underground movement that had forced Britain to leave, it was a dark moment. 

From Eldad’s perspective, the United Nations had no right to gift the Jewish people a state. After fighting the British empire for every inch of Palestine, Jews were acting as if their right to self-determination was dependent of votes at the UN General Assembly. 

Millions of Jews are standing all around the world, thousands of Israeli youth are standing, healthy as cedars, wonderfully combat ready, prepared to sacrifice, and they are standing with their hands in their pockets and their mouths open, watching… how Costa Rica will vote. Costa Rica. Costa Rica. On them, on the votes of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, our fate is dependent, whether there will be a State of Israel. Our youth is standing and counting: 

“Four, already, are for us, and one is against. What about Siam? Where is Siam? Siam? Siam is missing. Siam is wonderful! And ink gushes, pens run to the paper, counting, counting. How many now? Hurrah! Nicaragua voted for us. Nicaragua voted that the descendants of Avraham and Yitzḥak and Yaakov and David and Yeshayahu and Yehuda Maccabi should also have a state. Hurrah. Nicaragua.

Twenty years later, this shallow celebration was challenged once again by another spiritual giant who lurked in the shadows of celebrations of that night. 

HaRav Zvi Yehuda HaKohen Kook bemoaned this apparent victory at the UN. 

WHERE IS OUR ḤEVRON?! DO WE FORGET HER?! AND WHERE IS OUR SH’KHEM?! DO WE FORGET ABOUT HER?! AND WHERE IS OUR JERICHO?! DO WE FORGET HER TOO?! AND WHERE IS OUR OTHER-SIDE OF THE JORDAN?! WHERE IS EACH BLOCK OF OUR EARTH?! EACH PART AND PARCEL OF HASHEM’S LAND?!”

IS IT IN OUR HANDS TO RELINQUISH ANY MILLIMETER OF THIS?!

And so on the backdrop of the palpable jubilation across all sectors of Israeli society about the fact that the last hostages held in Gaza have been returned (irrespective of positions relating to the actual deal), we must ask similar questions.

The veneration of the deal maker, US President Donald Trump, is one that we should be especially concerned about – and one that reflects dark impulses and shortcomings of our people’s identity in this current moment.

As Israel held the upper hand in every single aspect of this war – with the exception of the propaganda front, it’s clear that Hamas had no leverage other than the hostages to bring Israel to the negotiating table, let alone make painful concessions.

The leverage to force Israel Israel to surrender our fantastic advantage was held solely by Washington. 

As many debate the merits of the deal that brought home our brothers and sisters languishing in Hamas captivity, the debate itself has taken place against the assumption that Israel in the United States are a team and that Israel’s existence is predicated and justified by being allied with this waning superpower. 

And the debate itself showcases this. Much of the opposition to this deal hasn’t been rooted in questioning the framing of the US-Israel relationship, but rather that the deal is not hard enough on Hamas and the Palestinians. It releases too many prisoners, or the wrong ones. It allows Hamas to rebuild itself.  

It’s worth noting that even some of the supposed pro-Israel features of the deal apparently scored by US pressure, such as a demilitarized Hamas, are not only unlikely but an outright farce. Trump himself indicated that he coordinated the arming of Hamas in order to fight militias long believed to be backed by Israel.

Nearly a week after the release of all the remaining living hostages from Hamas captivity and Trump’s visit to the region to launch his plan to end the Gaza war, the American deal appears to be falling apart.

Gazan militants launched an attack on Israeli forces in the Rafah area on Sunday morning. The army said the attack, which involved rocket-propelled grenade fire and sniper shots against the IDF and which resulted in the deaths of two soldiers, was “a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.”

Israel responded forcefully, with airstrikes and artillery fire to “remove threats” – during which several tunnels and buildings were destroyed.

In the interest of preserving the deal and the advancement of their regional interests, the Americans are making light of ceasefire violations by Hamas, which is declaring explicitly that it has no intention of disarming or relinquishing power. Trump himself told reporters that “rogue elements, not Hamas leadership,” were responsible for Sunday’s attack on Israel, assuring journalists that “the ceasefire will hold.”

What’s clearly most important to the Americans is getting the deal back on track and ensuring that it advances to its next phases.

So while Hamas is reestablishing itself and liquidating all local Gazan threats to its continued rule, the Trump administration has been turning up the pressure on Israel not to allow Hamas’s behavior to be interpreted as violating the agreement. President Trump has decreed the war to be over and Israel must obey.

By now, it should be clear that Trump is not a friend. And we should expect him to use tremendous political muscle to try forcing Israel back onto Washington’s traditional two-state track towards partitioning our land.

For many pro-Israel Jews, challenging the US-Israel relationship framing – especially with Trump in office – would be a liberating experience. And far more intellectually honest than the mental gymnastics undertaken by those in favor of the relationship but against this deal’s apparent shortcomings. But the Jews – even the “national camp” – seem incapable of getting free from our mental subjugation to the forces of empire.

Like any abused person in a relationship they’re not ready to leave, some Jews are trying to excuse Trump by blaming the influence Qatari money. Others are blaming Trump’s naivete (rather than accepting that he’s acting on a clear perception of – and commitment to – US interests). Some are even claiming that this deal is all a big trick designed to allow Israel to “finish the job.”

In truth, nothing could honor the Israeli martyrs who fell in this war more than a Jewish return to Gaza. And that’s what Trump’s plan is designed to prevent. In fact, the greatest concession made by Israel in the first phase of our supposed “victory” was once again surrendering 47% of Gaza. 

“Where is our Gaza?!” We must bemoan.

How can we declare victory with a mere restoration of the reality that existed before this war? No false sense of a restoration of Israel’s relationship with Uncle Sam can justify the last 24 months of war if Israel leave the territory we’ve taken back.

The root problem is that we’ve allowed “victory” to be reduced to the mere return of our hostages. And we avoided what should have been obvious: victory equals Israeli regaining Gaza, reversing the disastrous 2005 Disengagement, and rebuilding Gush Katif.

The only winners in Trump’s deal are actually those who want to see a Pax Americana; a world order that relies on US stability for the capitalist class and those who seek to impose single narrow worldview onto the globe.

And for westernized Zionists who align with that vision, this is a win.

We can assume that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) tried to resist Trump’s pressure to sign a deal that prohibits the reversal of the Disengagement. Perhaps he’s still seeking a way to sabotage the process.

But what’s clear is that the final negotiations were not between the interests and red lines of Israel and Hamas but rather between those of Washington and Jerusalem. 

Trump even made allusions to this in his historic address to the Knesset. 

“I told Bibi it was time [to end the war].”

As Trump coasts on the celebration of his role in freeing our hostages, he is on the verge of creating an international force to control the Gaza region.

While many Israelis celebrate Donald Trump as the “peace president,” it’s a good time to reflect on what peace means here really means to the United States and its allies.

Trump has certainly achieved some quiet, but at the expense of Israel’s advancement. He has forged a Pax Americana that quiets hostilities, in the interests of US capital and empire. But this is certainly not what “shalom” means according to the ancient worldview of our prophets and sages. 

If Trump has indeed, as he claims, made peace for the first time in 3,000 years, it is at the expense of Israel’s national rebirth and development. It is the attempt to solidify American control over our region at the expense of Israel becoming the regional hegemon. 

Jewish celebrations last week only encouraged this. We were acting against our own national interests.

This war was an opportunity to finally take responsibility for our entire land – a missed opportunity that even Ganaz Palestinians are paying the price for as Hamas executes suspected collaborators in the streets with Trump’s passive blessing.

It was an opportunity to finally end the two-state paradigm that Trump just revived with this deal.