Netanyahu Lost the Plot in Gaza; Let’s Recover It​

-​Andrew Wilson
August 14, 2025
 
On Tuesday, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, speaking of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of having “lost the plot.” Luxon’s New Zealand joins the growing list of nations condemning Israel’s unconscion-able assault on the 2 million people of Gaza, a list which includes France, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Japan, Canada and Australia.
 
Netanyahu’s credibility is at an all-time low. At a recent press conference on August 12, he claimed that Israel had delivered tons of food and supplies to Gaza to alleviate the widespread starvation there. However, Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, and Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, representing a group of international elder statespersons called The Elders, visited the Rafah border crossing in Egypt and witnessed for themselves lines of trucks, laden with food, waiting, blocked by Israel from entering Gaza.
 
Netanyahu claims that the international press spreads falsehoods about the starvation conditions in Gaza. Yet the Israeli military deliberately targets foreign journalists that could provide independent evidence, most recently deliberately killing 6 journalists at an Al Jazeera press tent near the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. It’s clear that Israel wants to prevent the world from seeing the scope of the suffering in Gaza.
 
Netanyahu claims that Israel’s aim is to deal with Hamas while safeguarding the civilian population of Gaza, which it plans to move temporarily to relocation camps while it carries out military operations to clear Gaza City, after which he claims they will be able to rebuild their homes and live in peace under the demilitarized regime that Israel will set up. Yet at the same time, there are reports that Israel is negotiating with South Sudan to perman-ently remove the residents of Gaza to that country.
 
Is there any wonder that the international community does not believe Netanyahu, his polished rhetoric notwithstanding? World leaders may like to give him the benefit of the doubt, but Israel’s actions are more than exasperating; they are deceitful.
 
Actually, Netanyahu has not lost the plot, because it was never his intention to allow for the establishment of a Palestinian homeland. He has been pulling the wool over the eyes of the international community for years, while working at every turn to prevent a two-state solution.
 
We should not forget that it was Netanyahu who scuppered the 2013-2014 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry, when he reneged on Israel’s promise, as a confidence-building measure, to release four tranches of Palestinian prisoners. When he refused to release the fourth tranche, the peace talks broke down.
 
Furthermore, Netanyahu has been systematically under-mining the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank by secretly propping up Hamas in Gaza so that it could periodically launch its missile barrages, which the IDF could easily handle—that is, up until October 7. In this way, Netanyahu’s strategy has been to keep the Hamas terrorists at the center of Palestinian identity in the eyes of Israelis, while sidelining the moderate Palestinian Authority, which already recognizes Israel’s right to exist and even cooperates with the IDF to fight terrorism.
 
And true to form, Netanyahu insists that the future administration of Gaza must not include the Palestinian Authority. 

​We do not dispute Israel’s right to self-defense, which requires disarming and neutralizing Hamas. However, it should be evident to everyone that Israel cannot be trusted with the lives of the Palestinian people.

Now that Prime Minister Luxon, like most world leaders, can see through Netanyahu’s obfuscations and properly understand the plot, it is time for the nations of the world to unite with one voice to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
 
For starters, they should press for an immediate cease-fire and the release of all hostages. International observers should be permitted to monitor compliance. Humanitarian corridors should be established for delivery of food, water and medicine, and the evacuation of the wounded. Mental health units should be established to counsel a population suffering from trauma. These measures would be tangible signs of hope can begin a process for an enduring peace.

Position Statement on the Status of the Palestinian People​

​Alison Wakelin
August 15, 2025

We reaffirm our strong belief that the Palestinian people have the right to establish their own sovereign, independent state, in line with international law. We call upon the international community to formally recognize the right for the people of Gaza and the West Bank to establish their own state adhering to the 1967 borders with Israel, with East Jerusalem as their capital, thereby ending what has become the unlawful occupation of these lands by the State of Israel.

It is our belief that the international community has a responsibility to commit to establish and guarantee the viability of the two-state solution, in conjunction with all the residents of the land. We applaud the decision of Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Malta and Australia to recognize Palestine as a state at the September 2025 meeting of the UN General Assembly. We encourage other nations to consider such a move, as has been recently announced by New Zealand.
 
We condemn any and all violations of human rights that have occurred, those performed by both Hamas and Israel, in the last two years particularly, but also throughout the previous century as Jewish people moved into land where Palestinian people had been living for centuries, as part of the Ottoman empire.

Given the gravity of the current situation, and the grievously broken relations between Israelis and Palestinians, we believe the international community must act now to save countless Palestinian lives threatened by IDF action and Israel's intentional starvation practices. Israeli restrictions on the delivery of food, water, medical supplies must cease, in particular its egregious limitation of food delivery to sites managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, such that the numerous international aid agencies willing to help but currently prohibited by Israel will be unfettered in their efforts.
 
We demand an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and the release of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners, especially children, held unjustly by Israel.

Military enforcement never guarantees long term security for either side in such a conflict. We abhor the provision of weapons and financial support to a nation using them to commit war crimes against children, women and non-combatants. We are heartened that Germany has halted its arms delivery to Israel, and urge more nations to consider such a measure.

In summary, we require that the international community step up to stop the inhumanity occurring in this devastation of Gaza and its inhabitants, and commit to creating a state for the Palestinian people to live in peace with their families.
 
Among other things, the United Nations can play a valuable role here. Already 147 of its 193 member states recognize the State of Palestine, and the affluent nations of the world that previously held back are poised to join them. the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) should re-insert itself into Gaza to oversee the distribution of food there and stabilize public services.
 
Furthermore, the United Nations served as midwife for the birth of the State of Israel when it adopted Resolution 181, recommending the partition of British-administered Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. That resolution provided the framework for the creation of Israel in 1948. The nations of the United Nations should insist that Israel adhere to the framework of its founding, which envisioned two states.
 
The unfolding tragedy in Gaza presents an opportunity to act responsibly, not only to save lives, but also to press forward toward the two-state solution, namely, creation of a Palestinian State with borders based on the 1967 line. This is the primary requirement for lasting peace in the region, not only for the Palestinians but even for Israel.
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