Mona Hojatansari
Occupying migrants no longer consider Israel a safe and suitable place to live in
TEHRAN - As Hamas rockets lit the sky of the occupied territories earlier this month, thousands of Israelis frantically rushed to the Ben Gurion Airport in a desperate bid to flee the region.
Almost 20 days after the resistance group’s offensive, queues at the airport continue unabated. Israelis who were assured of prosperity and security in the “land of Jews” are now confronting the harsh reality of their own making: their unyielding violence towards Palestinians has inevitably backfired.
Some, who happened to hold American passports, could opt for more available options. Hundreds of Israelis reportedly got onboard a massive cruise ship and cleaved away from the occupied territories without looking back.
The attack shook every settler to the core and opened the world’s eyes to the illusion of safety in Israel. The regime which has been touting itself as having the world’ most powerful spy apparatus could not detect what was happening under its nose in the besieged Gaza strip.
Israelis were already weighing their options and thinking of a way out of the occupied territories before the October 7 attack by Hamas. A Times of Israel poll revealed in July that at least 28% of Israelis were thinking of moving to a different place as they were worried about “the long-term future of Israel”. 56% of those that expressed their willingness to leave were not worried about Palestinians resistance groups, but about an Israeli civil war occurring in the foreseeable future.
Figures show that currently about 20% of Israelis own a second passport. But more people started to line up in front of European embassies in recent years as they began to realize that Israel was not the inspiring homeland that supposedly holds promise for Jews.
The Israeli regime was convulsed with weeks of violence, protests, and strikes prior to the Hamas offensive. Benjamin Netanyahu’s newfound monopoly in politics and the far-right Israeli cabinet he had managed to assemble laid bare years of rift in the Israeli political system.
Netanyahu and his ministers are now being accused of wreaking the October 7 crisis themselves. They are reportedly being blocked from visiting settlements that had been infiltrated by Hamas fighters, as people believe the Israeli regime “left them alone” and failed to come to their rescue. Some Israelis even feel flummoxed by the need to get back at the regime for its “incompetence” and “recklessness”.
The growing hostilities between settlers and the regime’s officials present a daunting challenge for Israel to find a way out of its current misery. It appears that Netanyahu, according to the perception of many Israelis, prioritizes his self-interests, such as avoiding incarceration, over the task of restoring stability within the regime. Netanyahu’s political career has reached its end and with that, comes newfound challenges for the occupation regime.
Israel’s economy, which had just begun to pick up after the Covid-19 pandemic, is another aspect of the Zionist regime that has been laid waste to. A depleted workforce and nonstop rocket sirens have driven what was once referred to as a behemoth of start-ups to a full-on crisis. The so-called Silicon Wadi has also taken a hit and is facing never-seen-before headwinds.
The already disheartened populace, who was instructed to perceive any glimmer of hope as a divine indication of belonging, now appears more doubtful than ever about its ability to live in the occupied territories. Even if Israel manages to compensate for its devastating loss on October 7, it must devise a plan to restore the people's morale and once again inject hope into the Zionist society. However, considering how Israel’s politicians have driven the regime to a point of no return, it is improbable that Israelis would willingly disregard all indications suggesting they do not belong in Palestine.
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