‘I see our soldiers doing what the South African army used to do’

Former foreign ministry chief ALON LIEL tells BEN LYNFIELD the Palestinian NGO raids reflect the government’s desire for right-wing votes and disregard for how the EU responds.

For one former senior Israeli foreign ministry official, the army's raids and closures last week of six Palestinian civil society organisations alleged to be terrorist fronts was ugly and disturbing.

Alon Liel, former director-general of the foreign ministry, said it reminded him of the way South Africa used to handle groups struggling against the apartheid regime.

Because he served in South Africa during the 1980s on behalf of the foreign ministry, forging Israel's first links with anti-apartheid organisations and eventually becoming ambassador, his views are not theoretical.  

"It brings me back to apartheid South Africa and I am ashamed. These are my memories of South Africa, the chasing of the people of the struggle, "Liel, who served in the foreign ministry for more than 30 years, told The Jewish Independent during an interview.

"I was among those people who thought our alliance with apartheid is wrong morally, though beneficial financially, and I was among those diplomats fighting against it. Now I see our soldiers doing what the South African police and army used to do during the 1970s and 1980s."

The Palestinian groups, ranging from the veteran human rights monitor, al-Haq, to Defence of Children International-Palestine, deny any affiliation with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. European Union countries say Israel has failed to prove any of them are linked to terrorist activities. But defying the criticism, the army last week smashed its way into their offices and hung notices declaring them shut.

Under the slogan "human rights is not terrorism", 45 left-wing Israeli civil society organizations responded by declaring solidarity with the Palestinian groups and urging international intervention to stop the government's campaign against them.

The foreign ministry and defence ministry, whose head, Benjamin Gantz, bears foremost responsibility for the action, did not respond to queries submitted by The Jewish Independent for this article, regarding their views about Liel's remarks.

But Shaul Shay, former deputy head of Israel's National Security Council, took sharp issue with Liel's comparison. "These statements are totally unacceptable. The two situations cannot be compared. Israel's actions are legitimate, totally legal and in keeping with all the standards acceptable in war on terror and in treating terror financing.

“We are talking about organisations that give the appearance of being legitimate but in fact provide cover for financing and transferring money for terrorism."

In recent years Liel has emerged as a major critic of the occupation and advocate of foreign recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, something necessary, in his view, to save Israeli democracy.

He believes that if Israel keeps up its present policies, it will gradually slide into apartheid. Some Israeli groups, like the human rights organisation B'tselem, believe it is already there.

During the interview with The Jewish Independent, Liel argued that the closure of the offices stemmed from a combination of a desire by Gantz and Prime Minister Yair Lapid to gain right-wing votes for the November 1 election and a perception by the government that there would be no serious reaction from the international community, particularly the European Union.

"Israel really became a regional superpower and is not worried that the voices from its civil society will spill over into the behaviour of foreign governments," Liel said. "If there were governments calling their ambassadors back to Europe for consultations, Israel would behave differently. But nothing like this is happening.

“As long as the Europeans don't take concrete measures on the diplomatic, security and economic level, Israel doesn't give a damn. It feels very confident that this anti-human rights behaviour will have no cost politically in the international arena."

Liel says that much of what he perceives as Israel's feeling of impunity in its actions towards the Palestinians stems from Germany's reluctance to criticise Israel, something that is crucial given its dominant role in the EU.

Thus, the EU response to the closures will not go beyond words even though Israel is openly flouting the union, he says. "Germany is embracing the occupation because of the guilt feelings of the past. It automatically supports what Israel is doing and accepts all the definitions made by Israel that criticism of Israel is antisemitic.

“This German behaviour is guaranteeing the EU will do nothing. Our ministers here are laughing, they are saying Europe is so weak and we are so strong, so let's do whatever we want."

The Palestinians will pay an increasingly high price for this, the former diplomat believes. "We can expect the worst," he says. "There will be more settlements, more expropriations, more transfers of people like in Masafer Yatta."

He is referring to Israeli coercive steps in the area south of Hebron, including home demolitions and live fire army training around villages. Rights groups say the aim is expulsion of local Palestinians in keeping with a high court ruling allowing the military to intensify its exercises.

Israel will eventually pay for policies such as raiding the civil society groups, predicts Liel. "This is not an isolated incident. The demolition of houses, transfer in Masafer Yatta, the arrests, the blockade (of Gaza), all of this is accumulating. And then there are the killings. We have an average of one Palestinian killed a day. Hundreds are killed every year, whether it's from an operation in Gaza or the routine operations and daily clashes."

"This aggressive behaviour, without any real threat or existential threat, will in the long run further affect the image of Israel, making it be seen in public opinion as a trigger-happy country, a violent country and a country that doesn't care about human rights. This will have certain prices in the long run."

READ MORE
CIA unable to corroborate Israel’s ‘terror’ label for Palestinian rights groups (Guardian)
18 envoys demand answers from Israel's FM over raid on Palestinian NGOs (Jerusalem Post)
Israel's assault on Palestinian NGOs is shutting off access to international community (Middle East Eye)

Photo: The Adameer NGO, one of six that has been designated a terror organisation (Reuters)