Gaza: For Vivian Silver's son, a ceasefire is positive, but no peace is possible without new leaders
Israel and Hamas are ready to sign a ceasefire and release some hostages, but the end of the war remains far away. Yonatan Zeigen, son of an Israeli pacifist killed on 7 October, speaks to AsiaNews about the question of “power and interests" behind the agreement, starting with the new US administration. The historical precedent between Israel and Egypt is an example of how to overcome the conflict with the Palestinians.
Milan (AsiaNews) – Securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza "is a matter of power and interest”. After more than 460 days of war, “many variables and complexities" are in place with respect to the timing to sign a deal, but the decisive factor is "Donald Trump”, whose return to the White House has unblocked the situation, this according to Yonatan Zeigen, son of Canadian-Israeli pacifist Vivian Silver, one of the victims of the attack that triggered the Gaza War on 7 October 2023.
Speaking to AsiaNews, Zeigen looks at the agreement the parties appear ready to sign, putting to an end the war and its heavy burden of deaths and destruction. However, for him, it is not possible to aspire to lasting peace and the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "with this leadership". In his view, “new political actors" are needed more than ever.
The agreement: between the ideal and the real
"If [outgoing President Joe] Biden had wanted, he could have exerted pressure to reach an agreement sooner, avoiding all the extra bloodshed. He had the power to do it,” the activist notes. “That said, in principle any ceasefire and every life saved are worthy of support.”
"I don't think it's an ideal deal. On the contrary, in an ideal world, we would never have entered Gaza and ventured into this war, and we would have had a short negotiation for a complete agreement to build the foundations of a diplomatic process to end the conflict.”
This, he warns, "should have happened after 7 October 2023, but we do not live in an ideal world and I think our government prefers to continue the war. In this sense, any hostage returning home from Gaza is good. Why now? Because Trump has arrived, because Trump will be in the White House.”
After 465 days of war, after more than 46,500 dead and almost 110,000 wounded in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict, in addition to the 1,200 Israeli victims of the Hamas attack and the hundreds of hostages, never before have the parties seemed so close to a truce. This goal is about to be achieved thanks to Qatari mediation, but above all, the United States and the outgoing Biden administration and his successor Donald Trump, who will begin his mandate on 20 January.
Key to the agreement will be a list of Palestinian prisoners (from 1,300 to 3,000) to be released in exchange for at least 33 hostages held by Hamas.
The Israeli cabinet, which is scheduled to meet today to discuss and approve the terms, has vetoed the release of some prominent detainees, including Marwan Barghouti, head of the armed wing of Fatah, and Ahmad Saadat, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who orchestrated the assassination of former Israeli minister Rehavam Ze'evi in 2001.
The truce is set to last at least 42 days, divided into three phases, with IDF troops withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt.
The second phase, which will begin on the 16th day of the agreement, will require further negotiations on the release of all remaining civilians and soldiers. Finally, the third phase involves long-term agreements, including discussions on the creation of an alternative government in Gaza.
The repatriation of a million Palestinian refugees to the north of the Strip is also on the table, but there are no certain indications of the end of the war, which remains an unresolved issue like the release of all hostages.
The path of reconciliation
Yonatan Zeigen, who took up his mother's baton, was instrumental in creating an award, the "Vivian Silver Impact Award" (given every year to an Arab and Jewish woman), inspired by her many years of work in favour of peace and coexistence, addressed the issue of the "conditions" for reconciliation.
"We need to rebuild mutual trust. It is a question of awareness and of laying the foundations, the conditions for this to happen,” he said. However, at least for now, some Israeli leaders seem to "need" to "continue the conflict. But if we continue the war, our minds will also end up believing that this is a necessary condition, thinking that 'absolute good' is only on one side and 'absolute evil' is in the other,” according to the principle that might is right.
In reality, “if we have as a reference and objective the end of the war, we will then be able to think of different educational projects, start a different political rhetoric and then people themselves will be able to see a different perspective, a shared future, and reconciliation becomes a possible fact. It's a matter of circumstances and conditions.”
In this perspective, even his mother who worked hard for a long time for coexistence would have worked for dialogue even if, he notes, “no one can say how she would have reacted if she had survived, because traumas change people. I think she would have welcomed any approach that was not military.”
“There is a great deal of work to do to heal the wounds,” but the path cannot be “from the bottom up. This way you can heal traumas” but the unresolved political process remains. On the other hand, “if it goes from top to bottom, it becomes possible to create a new environment.”
For example, after “the [Yom Kippur] war with Egypt in 1973, which was a profound trauma [in Israel], there was widespread hostility towards Egyptians and the desire for revenge prevailed.”
Nevertheless, thanks to the mediation of the then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat, there was a "change in relations. First people wanted nothing to do with Egypt, then they poured into the streets to celebrate peace.”
Will to change
To achieve peace, therefore, the necessary condition is a change in leadership in the Jewish state because the ruling religious-radical camp is pushing for escalation of the conflict. The leader of Otzma Yehudit, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, has urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join forces to prevent a "surrender" agreement.
"Our government is not for progress, it is not for peace, to rebuild our lives". We got to the agreement “only because of pressure from the United States and the arrival of the new Trump administration.”
The hope today is for a ceasefire and the return of the hostages, but "the point is much bigger, the issue is much broader; it is not just a matter of going beyond the events of 7 October and the war in Gaza because this is not where the story began, it is not enough to silence the weapons. We must change the paradigm of conflict.”
The war, he observes, has led to "a radicalisation and extremism” of the different camps in Israeli society, in both those who are committed to peace and coexistence, and those who press for occupation, territorial expansionism at the expense of a two-state solution and the possible birth of a Palestinian entity. The peace movement has assumed greater importance, while the settlers' front has taken on even greater vigour and energy to pursue their cause.
"We must bring the paradigm back to the right position," Zeigen said. “The right position is that of a complete end to the conflict." For the future, the picture remains uncertain and it is difficult to make predictions, but "the process continues; peace must be strong and resilient, so that a new chapter in the history of the Middle East can be written.”
“We can now see a geopolitical interest in ending the conflict. The United States and Trump want it for a new vision" that involves the Arab world, but this cannot happen "if the occupation persists. If there is real, international pressure for an end to the war, a different narrative may prevail, but we must commit ourselves to make this happen.”
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