"Arabs only understand the language of power." "What cannot be attained through violence is attainable through even greater violence." "Let the Palestinians break their heads against the iron wall". These are rallying slogans echoed by Israeli political and security institutions since pre-1948, deeply entrenched in the ideologies of Ze'ev Jabotinsky and other founding figures of the Israeli right wing.
The slogans were used frequently following Hamas's attack on October 7, re-emerging as the most authentic means to comprehend Arabs (including Palestinians) and as the sole method to compel them to recognize Israel's right to exist in the region.
Here lies the major paradox: how can peace be achieved through such an approach?
Since the commencement of Jewish European settlement campaigns in the late 19th century and the establishment of the Yishuv, the Jewish presence in Ottoman and later Mandate Palestine, which subsequently transformed into the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, the primary objective has been to ensure the security of Jews confronting persecution and discrimination, particularly in Eastern Europe. The notion of Israeli security has undergone multiple transformations throughout the history of the state of Israel.
The intricate path taken by the Yishuv, shifting from seeking protection under the Ottoman Turks' occupation of Palestine before 1917 to forging alliances with the British post their expulsion of the Turks, and subsequently rebelling against the British in the latter part of their occupation, particularly as the Zionist movement gained momentum following the Holocaust, underscore that security, in the concept of Israeli leaders, is separate from peace. Furthermore, it underscores that the conviction in attaining security through self-reliance is not a recent notion within Israeli political and military institutions.
