Netanyahu’s 'divide and rule' policy against Palestinians

“Our security policy has not changed at all, not one iota,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at the start of the Nov. 17 Cabinet meeting in summing up the latest round of fighting with the Gaza Strip. “The goals of the operation were fully met,” he emphasized. Presumably, the son of historian Benzion Netanyahu is familiar with the famous insight provided by Prussian Gen. Carl von Clausewitz, one of the fathers of the modern warfare doctrine: “War is merely the continuation of policy by other means.” Netanyahu’s policy — on both national security and his personal security — can be summed up in one word: “survival.”

To advance his goal, the prime minister uses the good old-fashioned “divide and rule” tactic, with which the Jewish people are familiar from the days of the Roman Empire. In order to crush Jewish national unity, which empowered the rebels seeking to overthrow Roman rule, Gov. Aulus Gabinius dismantled the Kingdom of Judea and divided it into five separate districts (57 B.C.). Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, whose name is synonymous with manipulation and immorality, wrote in his book “The Art of War” that a leader must do all he can to divide the forces of the enemy.