Yesterday’s timing was bad – but no day would have been goodpublished at 09:46 British Summer Time
Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent
Image source, ReutersA demonstration in Jerusalem calling for the immediate return of hostages held in Gaza on Monday
It’s a profoundly sensitive time in Israel; Britain’s decision, long in the making, came the day of funerals for some of the six Israeli hostages, including an Israeli-American, who had just come home from Gaza in body bags.
Their deaths provoked collective sorrow and anger across Israel. It led the largest trade union, Histadrut, to join forces with families of the hostages who have been taking to the streets week after week for many months now – urging Prime Minister Netanyahu to prioritise the lives of hostages ahead of his war aim to destroy Hamas.
Yesterday’s timing was bad. But no day would have been a good day in a war which is now being cast, most of all by Netanyahu and his supporters, as a binary conflict, a “for us or against us”. In this existential battle, criticism of Israel’s conduct in this war is denounced as support for Hamas.
A growing chorus, even including members of Israel’s security cabinet, is now calling on Israel to agree a ceasefire to save the last remaining hostages, and use other means to deal with threats posed by Hamas.