Yuval Noah Harari: ‘We are seeing the collapse of the liberal global order’
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Israeli author, philosopher, and historian Yuval Noah Harari shares his views on the Israel-Gaza war and its broader implications.
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In brief:
- Yuval Noah Harari argues that the wars in Israel-Gaza and Russia-Ukraine represent the breakdown of the liberal global order, where the long-held taboo against stronger nations simply invading and conquering weaker ones has been shattered.
- While acknowledging legitimate concerns about Israeli policies, Harari emphasises that real antisemitic threats and attacks against Jewish communities complicate discussions and actually help rather than undermine Netanyahu's government.
- Harari advocates for holding two principles simultaneously - that both Israel and Palestine have rights to exist and self-determination, defining Zionism simply as the belief that Jewish people, like other peoples, deserve the right to self-determination without this being mutually exclusive with Palestinian rights.
The wars in Israel-Gaza and Russia-Ukraine do not exist in isolation, but are part of a “much wider process which is the collapse of the liberal global order”.
That’s according to the renowned Israeli historian and ‘Sapiens’ author Yuval Noah Harrari.
He argues the big taboo that was maintained for decades, that “you cannot just invade and conquer another country, another land, because you are stronger” has been shattered, first by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, and then by Israel.
“The Israelis are seeing it, and they are saying, if the Russians can just invade and annex Donbas, or maybe the whole of Ukraine, why can't we invade and annex Gaza or territories in Syria?”
Thinking of Israel’s role in the collapse of the liberal global order, Harari points to the Israeli government's failure to articulate clear objectives beyond the destruction of Hamas.
He argues that actions like "starving the civilian population" serve no clear military purpose against Hamas and instead suggest an intent "to push the civilian population out."
While acknowledging legitimate criticism of Israeli policies, Harari emphasises the real threat of antisemitism that complicates discussions of the conflict.
When Israel gets criticised by governments around the world, Emily Maitlis points to Israel’s “knee jerk response to shout anti-semitism”.
Harari both acknowledges legitimate criticism of Israeli policies, and says that antisemitism is “not just in the imagination, but is a reality”.
“There are many people, again, going on record saying that they want to completely destroy Israel, to expel the Jews from the land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean,” he says.
That reality struck in recent months when a Jewish couple were shot in Washington, and a Jewish community was attacked in Boulder, Colorado, leaving 12 people injured.
Emily asks whether there is an “underlying geo-political argument for why these attacks are happening now, which is directly correlated to what Israel is doing. ”
But Harari argues such attacks cannot be “justified” and are “not helpful” - in fact, he says they’re “helping the Netanyahu government, not undermining it”.
“You can be in favour of a free Palestine and at the same time accept the right of Israel to exist, and certainly accept the right of Jewish people in the United States to be alive,” Harari says.
“So these kinds of attacks are in no way a kind of logical extension.”
The conflation of Israel with all Jews, and of Israeli policy with Zionism itself, has created significant complications in discussions surrounding the Israel-Gaza war.
Harari offers a straightforward definition of Zionism that cuts through much of the polarised rhetoric: "Zionism says that Jews are not just individuals. There is also a Jewish people. And Zionism says that the Jewish people, like other people around the world, have a right to self determination."
He positions himself among those Zionists who believe that "you can realise the Jewish right for self determination, and at the same time also realise the Palestinian right for self determination. These are not mutually exclusive."
"We should be able to hold two ideas at the same time; that Israel has a right to exist, and at the same time that also that Palestine has a right to exist, that both Jews and Palestinians have a right to live freely, in security, in dignity.”
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