The Relegitimization of Israel and the Battle for the Mainstream Consensus: Article from the Israel

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The Relegitimization of Israel and the Battle for the Mainstream Consensus: Article from the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs

The purpose of delegitimization on the international level is to isolate an intended victim from the community of nations as a prelude to bringing about its downfall or even destruction. This process denies the victim the rights and prerogatives enjoyed by other members in good standing of the international community, particularly the right to make one's voice heard. The side that initiates a campaign of delegitimization endeavors to obliterate the history, national identity, culture, and rights of the other as a sovereign state, particularly the right of self-defense. The perpetrator seeks to propagate a culture of defeatism within the society ofits intended victim and bring about a paralysis of will to defend itself. There should be no misunderstanding: The ultimate goal of delegitimization is neither reconciliation nor peace but politicide.

Modern asymmetrical warfare operates on two tracks: political and military. When a weaker opponent cannot afford the cost of conventional war, it may attempt to achieve its strategic goals by political means. These include deception and subversion. Delegitimization is the central method of a form of asymmetrical warfare known as "people's war," which was successfully employed in Algeria and Vietnam. Because its effects are cumulative, the party that initiates prolonged conflict does so over an extended period of time.1 After the Second Intifada failed to bring about the collapse of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and its allies, notably Iran, resorted to intensive political warfare. Accordingly, they assumed a prominent role in the World Conference against Racism, which took place in Durban from August 31 until September 8, 2001.

More recent examples of this determined campaign of delegitimization and defamation may be found in the malicious accusation that Israel massacred civilians at Jenin in its Defensive Shield campaign (2002); the Goldstone Report (2009), which was published after Operation Cast Lead; the efforts to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza; the Palestinian effort to seek recognition for itself at the UN as a first step toward reversing the international recognition of Israel, forcing it out of that body and taking its place in the community of nations;2 and, finally, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

Ehud Rosen, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, has drawn attention to the fact that Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in Europe have been taking an increasingly active part in the cooperative international effort to delegitimize Israel. For their part, Fatah and senior PA officials have also joined this initiative. Both groups "started to expend more effort on the political/civilian sides of the struggle immediately following Israel's Gaza Operation in 2008–2009."3

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