What the media doesn't know and is not telling you
Money plays an important role in the current Israel-Hamas war. Many people are justifiably concerned by the violence that is occurring in Gaza and Israel. However, they may not be aware that people are dying not because of racism, religion, and colonization, but because of greed.
There are least two economic motivations behind the current war.
Economic Factor One: Hamas’s Standard Business Model
For economic reasons, Hamas has instigated at least 5 wars with Israel in the last two decades. The pattern is always the same:
- Hamas runs out of money.
- Hamas provokes Israel, often with rocket attacks.
- Israel responds by trashing Gaza.
- World reacts to Palestinian suffering by giving them money.
- Hamas steals the money. Gazans get nothing.
- Repeat as often as necessary.
Hamas is quite open about this policy of theft. They have repeatedly said they are NOT the governing authority in Gaza. They have explicitly stated that the problems of the Gazans are not theirs, but the responsibilities of Israel, Palestinian Authority, Egypt, the and/or UN; anybody , but them. Since the primary revenue stream for Hamas is human misery, they are not motivated to improve the situation in Gaza.
Hamas spends money on rockets, which have no military or defensive purposes. They certainly don’t deter Israeli attacks; they provoke them. They don’t affect Israel’s military capabilities; they are too crude and inaccurate for that. The thousands of rockets that Hamas pours into Israel have one purpose - to kill Israeli citizens, so that Israel will respond by killing Palestinians so Hamas can steal money from the subsequent donations.
Palestinians are suffering from a lack of food, fuel, and water. Hamas has plenty of supplies, but they would rather use their fuel to fire rockets to kill Israeli civilians than to help its own people.
Economic Factor Two: Oil
Many people noted that the October 7th attack derailed the Saudi-Israel peace deal, but few pointed out the economic realities it represented. There are two emerging “economic-oil” blocks in the world: Russia-Iran-China and US-Europe-Saudi Arabia.
There have been rumors for years of a UAE-Israel pipeline and/or Saudi-Israel pipeline. This will allow the Gulf countries to ship oil to Europe directly while avoiding the Iranian threats in the Strait of Hormuz.
One of the biggest surprises of the Ukrainian war is how easily Europe weaned itself from Russian oil. A Gulf oil pipeline could put the final nail in the coffin of European dependence on Russian petroleum. Putin usually maintains cordial relations with Israel, but has pointedly been pro-Hamas since the October 7th atrocities. Putin understands that Russia benefited economically by Hamas’s actions.
The next time you see a picture of a traumatized Palestinian child or an Israeli mother begging for the return of the body of her dead child, remember they are not suffering because of a great battle for freedom or identity. Thousands of people are dying, losing their homes, and are being scarred for life because the corrupt elites of Hamas, Iran, and Russia want high oil prices, so they can steal more.
What does this have to do with Palestinian dreams of dignity and freedom? Absolutely nothing.
Children are dying in Israel and Palestine, because a Russian oligarch wants to buy a summer home, a Hamas apparatchik wants to send his kids waterskiing in Qatar, and an Iranian cleric wants a new car.
Israel’s economic considerations
Israel has the exact opposite economic considerations than Hamas. Every war is an economic disaster for Israel. Wars not only costs money, but also military service takes away productive workers from the economy. There is a sizable military-technological complex in Israel, but it is preposterous to think that it provokes wars to make money.
Israel spends billions to protect its citizens. Hamas spends billions of dollars to endanger its people. One doesn’t put a military fuel dump underneath a hospital to protect the hospital. The entire Hamas military infrastructure has been built with the single purpose of maximizing the number of Palestinian civilians killed. This is not done for political or ideological reasons. Hamas views dead Palestinian civilians as profit centers.
What about Trump’s idea of removing the Palestinians and turning Gaza into a resort? Isn’t that an economic motivation for Israel?
Originally, I did not include the idea of a “Gaza Mar-a-Lago ” in this article, because everybody knows it’s insane, even Netanyahu. He dares not says so, because he would alienate the far-right members of his coalition. If he loses their support, his government could fall, which could lead to the very real possibility of him facing jail time. For the same reason, he can’t tell the far-right ministers to stop advertising their daydreams of genocide, even though it horrifies the world as well as the vast majority of Israelis.
The idea of reoccupying Gaza has gained some support in Israel, but for security reasons, not for economic ones. However, you feel about this war, I guarantee you one thing: Israelis did not send their mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters into combat, so a few real estate billionaires could make money.
Everybody in the Middle East watches Fox news
It is worth mentioning a few non-economic motivations behind the current war.
About 3 years ago, I visited Israel. I was shocked by the misinformation spouted by supposedly educated, sophisticated people. They really believed that the US military was a hollowed-out worthless institution. I have no doubt that this view was shared by many Arab countries as well
The “weak” US military backed Israel with two aircraft carrier groups, a nuclear submarine, a missile-launching ship, plus hundreds of millions of dollars in munitions and other equipment. This wasn’t enough to stop Iran and its allies from attacking Israel, but it mitigated their assaults, and kept the war from fully blowing up. Hamas, which was counting on US’s famous habit of abandoning its allies, found itself alone, facing an army of 300,00 trained, experienced, and enraged Israelis.
Another non-economic factor is the belief that Israel’s strength is largely an illusion. Many anti-Zionists think that once Israel’s weakness was exposed through torturing its women and children in public, that the whole Islamic world would pile on, and Israel would be swept away like a spiderweb. I have no idea why they believe this. Hamas-niks are now learning the hard way - a lesson that many failed tyrants and gangsters already know - never believe your own hype.
Not genocide, but genocide-ish
I do not know if Israel could conduct its Gazans operations with fewer civilian deaths. Neither do you. To characterize information coming out of Hamas-controlled Gaza as unreliable is a massive understatement.
Normally, I would argue that Israel is careful about avoiding civilian deaths, because they know it is not in their interests. I do not know about this war though. The Israeli government is filled with desperate extremists. The Israelis began the war in a white-hot rage. The Gaza operation was always going to be a bloody catastrophe, even under the best conditions. I don’t know if we will ever know the truth.
Still, a high civilian body count is not genocide. It may be wrong, immoral, and inhumane, but what is happening in Gaza is NOT the deliberate extermination of a people. Genocide occurs when a people are targeted for their identity.
Like many Zionists, I have been upset by these accusations of genocide. Its implying that Israel has no legitimate reason for attacking Gaza, and Palestinians are only being killed because of who they are.
But then I started thinking about it. Hamas has built an entire business model around the prolonged death and suffering of Palestinians and Israelis. Profit motives are a frequent and essential element of genocides. This may not be genocide exactly, but its damn close.
So, yes, there is a kind of genocide happening in Gaza. It will not stop when Israel ceases its attacks. It will end when Hamas is destroyed.
