What’s at stake for Israel and also for Palestinians?

Victoria (Australia): Hamas’ attack on the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War was the deadliest single day in Israeli history. Showers of rockets, kidnappings and indiscriminate killings have led to a death toll already over 1,200 Israelis, leading many to describe the event as “Israel’s 9/11”. Israel has wasted no time in its response – declaring “war” and heavily bombarding Gaza.

More than 1,000 Gazans have been killed, with the death toll certain to rise. Israel’s defence minister has ordered a “complete siege” of the territory, cutting off food, fuel and electricity. The horror of the last few days (and the horror still to come) reminds us of the importance of understanding legitimacy in this context.

What is political legitimacy and why does it matter? Legitimacy is an essential part of comprehending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and its intractable nature – in particular, the legitimacy of statehood, violence, political speech and governing authority. There are many ways political movements and leaders can obtain, lose or keep their legitimacy, but it depends very much on the political entity in question as to how they claim and use it. For example, since 1948, Israel has derived much of its legitimacy from its status as a sovereign state. As a state, it has a recognised right to protect its borders, hold legitimate elections, make its own laws and use force to defend itself.

The Palestinians, on the other hand, have no such authority or rights. They have spent the bulk of their political history trying to achieve self-determination. In principle, the vast majority of the international community supports the self-determination of the Palestinian people, but in practice has done little to uphold it. Without self-determination, Palestinians derive their political legitimacy from their struggle against the Israeli occupation in both the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas has squandered whatever legitimacy it had left Hamas’ legitimacy within Gaza is complicated. The success of Palestinian self-determination hinges on international support and Hamas’ actions have set the movement back decades.

What’s at stake for Israel? Israel has its own serious questions of legitimacy – some of which are decades old, some that have arisen from the weekend’s attack. Yes, Israel enjoys the external legitimacy of statehood and governing authority, and it has never lost the right to defend itself. But its decades of occupation and settlement in the Palestinian territories have brought into question its moral authority. If Israel claims to be a liberal democracy and respect international law, how can the government legitimise its policies towards the West Bank and Gaza?

Israel has squandered its political legitimacy through conflict before. The indiscriminate attacks on Lebanon in Operation Litani and Operation Peace for Gallilee which resulted in the siege of Beirut in 1982 brought significant condemnation from normally staunch allies, including the United States. More importantly, the destruction of Gaza is not a solution to this conflict and only puts the lives of civilians – both Israeli and Palestinian – at risk. Its own legitimacy as a democratic, cosmopolitan and secure society is at stake.

(The Conversation; Writer teaches Middle East Studies at Deakin University, Australia)