Some Key Take-Aways from the Kidnapping in Israel

Last week, three young Israeli Yeshiva students (two 16-year-olds and a 19-year-old) were kidnapped. They were tremping in the West Bank. Tremping is easily translated into English as hitchhiking, but it typically lacks the questionable connotations which that word can conjure in America, at least after “the Summer of Love.” The story is ongoing and tragic. As it continues to develop, here are some key take-aways from the first few days:

• Israel has all but declared war on Hamas, arresting hundreds of Hamas activists and leaders, and is considering expelling some from the West Bank into Gaza. They have also virtually sealed-off Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank in order to facilitate their search, as well as the crossings into Gaza.

• Abbas swiftly condemned the kidnapping, and stated unequivocally that if Hamas was behind the attack, he would disband the recently created Fatah/Hamas unity government. That wasn’t enough to keep Netanyahu from demanding his aid in tracking down the three boys.

• Both Israelis and Palestinians have taken to social media with mixed approaches to the situation, including some unfortunate extremes. While #BringBackOurBoys has been getting a lot of powerful and meaningful use, a Facebook page calling for the killing of one Palestinian “terrorist” every hour the boys aren’t returned has received tens of thousands of likes within Israel.

And a counter-Palestinian campaign has begun, called “The Three Shalits,” in reference to kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was ultimately returned to Israel in exchange for over a thousand Palestinian prisoners (51 of whom have been re-arrested during the recent sweeps). The Three Shalits campaign celebrates the abduction by having people posting pictures of themselves on social media lifting three fingers to represent the three boys. Many of those involved are small children.

• Israel has a new President-elect: Reuven Rivlin. He is a member of the Likud and is not a supporter of the two-state solution. Following the abduction, he visited the Yeshiva of two of the victims. While there, a student asked, “Why do we need to be afraid to hitch a ride in our country?” He responded, ““We don’t need to be fearful in our country. But sometimes we must face trials. A person should not fear to go anywhere in this country, whether it is under our control, or those areas that we have returned to in order to redeem them.” [Emphasis added].

It is a strange way to speak about the West Bank. He recognizes a division between Israel and the territories, while also affirming Israel’s right to the latter. Strange, confusing or otherwise, it is quite a difference from Israel’s outgoing President, Shimon Peres, a dove much adored in the international community.

• Despite real-time reports of the potential abduction, it took Israeli police hours to begin their search for the teens. According to Haaretz:

It seems that the fatal problem was the delay in passing on details of the kidnapping to the IDF and Shin Bet after it occurred. It took four hours, from the first report at around 10:30 P.M., after one of the boys phoned the police emergency line, for the information to be fully understood (when one of the boys’ fathers turned up at the police station).

• Arab Knesset Member Hanin Zoabi has caused a firestorm by claiming that the abductors are not terrorists. When asked the question, she responded:
  

  They are not terrorists… they are people who see no other way to change their reality, so they are forced to use these means…at least until Israel wises up, and until Israeli society opens up and feels the pain of the other.

• Norway canceled a Palestinian Authority donor conference following the kidnapping.

• One of the three boys, Eyal Yifrah, is 19. Reading reports, it appears he was not currently performing military service.

This story will not end any time soon. Even if the boys are found, unharmed, tomorrow, there will be very real and long-lasting repercussions — politically, militarily, economically and diplomatically — from this incident for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Israel may free countless Palestinian prisoners, or arrest countless more. Or both. This incident will certainly help shape the relationship for the foreseeable future between Fatah and Israel, as well as Fatah and Hamas, whose unity government is unlikely to survive. Israel was already very unhappy with its formation and will likely use this incident as additional proof that they cannot trust even their supposed partners. This will further complicate the Palestinians initiative for international recognition, and also has the potential to put Israel in a difficult diplomatic situation regarding their response in particular, and their settlement program in general.

The social media wars, while certainly nothing new, have been exacerbated. No matter the outcome of this incident, trust amongst all parties has sunk to new levels, which hardly seemed possibly only a few months ago.

Follow me on twitter @jlemonsk.