Always the victim : Israel's present wars

Abstract

In the Israeli discourse, Israel has always been the innocent victim of vicious aggression from its neighbors. This perception of reality has only intensified with its two recent wars - against the Palestinians in Gaza and against Lebanon. On this view, in both cases Israel has manifested its good will - it ended the occupation of the Gaza strip in 2005, just as it ended the occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000. But, on this perception, the other side reciprocated with unprovoked rockets attacks on Israel. This world view was well summarized by Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser, who has just finished his term as head of the research division of the Israeli Military Intelligence: "I think the Palestinians themselves do not want the occupation to end. This is to understand why they are pursuing us with rockets from Gaza, where the occupation ended. What is this pursuit? An attempt to force us to shoot at them?"