Violence in Israel has fueled fears of civil war between Arabs and Jews

The missiles of Hamas and the bombardments of Israel at Gaza, with dozens of deaths, for the most part civilians and more kids, hides another phenomenon that is shaking Israeli society: the violent clashes between Jews and Arabs in several cities across the country, which threaten to end years of construction of a difficult coexistence and make political leaders and analysts fearful of the possibility of a civil war.

Lynchings, attacks on shops, crushing: unbridled violence has crossed the country and confronts Israelis, Jews and Arabs, who constitute the 20 percent of the population and are mostly descendants of the Palestinians who remained after the birth of the State of Israel, in 1948.

The violence reached such a point that it forced Benjamin Netanyahu to condemn the attempted lynching of an Arab by Jewish demonstrators in Bat yam, a suburb of Tel Aviv, Wednesday evening, whose images have traveled the world.

Bat Yam attack video

“To the citizens of Israel, I say this, I don’t care if their blood boils. They cannot take an ordinary Arab citizen and attempt to lynch him, as an Arab citizen cannot make a Jew. They just cannot take justice into their own hands, ”said the Prime Minister in an official message.

“We will return control and government to the cities of Israel. In all the towns, in the mixed towns, in the Jewish towns, everywhere. Let us come together to accomplish the task that we need as citizens of our country: to restore leadership, eliminate this anarchy, and preserve and restore the security and peace we all deserve, ”Netanyahu added.

This deep division coincides with the new war in Gaza, which shows no sign of giving way in its virulence. On Wednesday, a military spokesperson announced that three infantry brigades The IDF was “prepared for the worst-case scenario”, which could mean that the bombings targeted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad could be followed by a land invasion of the Strip.

Fears and hatred

Rival groups of Jews and Arabs, all Israeli citizensThey fought in several cities, attacking people, destroying cars, offices, business premises and even hotels. The Bat Yam episode was the most shocking and aired on Israeli television. At Acre, in the north of the country, a arab crowd he beat an Israeli Jew, who was admitted in serious condition.

Arab tries to run over Jewish protesters and police with his car in the city of Acre

The sudden surge in violence, which in just two days has grown from clashes in Jerusalem to air war over Gaza to widespread civil unrest, has surprised analysts and political leaders, who fear the historic conflict between Israelis and Palestinians does not turn into conflict. new and more dangerous stage.

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So he warned the New York Times Tzipi Livni, who held various positions in various firms and was chief negotiator in the peace talks with the Palestinian national authority, who fears that the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians will now be resolved within the State of Israel.

“This is what is happening now. What may have been just below the surface has now exploded and created a horrific combination. I don’t wanna use the words ‘civil war’, but it’s something new, it’s unbearable. I am very worried, ”said Livni.

Clean Israeli president, Reuven rivlin, warned of the seriousness of the clashes between Arabs and Jews in Israel, which are overshadowed by the war in Gaza. “We are threatened by missiles launched against our citizens and our streets, while we are embroiled in a senseless civil war between us,” Reuven said. “Please stop this madness“He ordered.

Them and us

“Years have woven a delicate peaceful coexistence in mixed towns such as Lod, Ramle, Tiberias, Bat Yam, Nathan, Holon. We were proud of these achievements. A wall against hatred and discrimination has been built over the years, brick by brick. How difficult it was to build the wall, how quickly we see it disappear, ”he says. Mario sinay, Argentinian Jew, doctor of education, who has lived in Israel for many years.

In these mixed towns, Sinay laments, “the chaos dominates the night. Pure vandalism. It is true that ‘they or they’ they started, but ‘ours’ they are not better ”.

Sinay, who lives in Ashkelon, In southern Israel, one of the cities hardest hit by missiles launched from Gaza, he believes the violence now sweeping the country “is the most important achievement of Hamas, which presents itself as the protector of Jerusalem and Israeli Arabs ”. .

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Patricio dellagiovanna, a researcher at the Center for International Studies at UCA, believes that beyond specific reasons, the violence that shakes Israeli society can also be seen as part of the wave of conflict that travels the world.

“The world has entered a period of social unrest, and latent conflicts tend to worsen: Colombia, Chile, United States, among other things, show that Israel is no exception to this global trend, ”he said.

“We haven’t seen conventional wars for many years. Today, the most common conflicts are internal conflicts, civil wars, urban civil confrontations and even hybrid wars as in UkraineRecalls the analyst, trained at the Weitz Center in Israel.

For Dellagiovanna, “the problem posed by the Israeli government is whether to respond with conventional security forces O militarize the country. I wouldn’t dare say it ends in civil war, but it can be similar to the problems other countries are experiencing ”.