“Israel will not reoccupy Gaza even if Hamas is eliminated.”

[중동전쟁]

Interview with Israeli Ambassador to Korea Thor

“Even if Hamas is eliminated, it is unlikely that Israel will reoccupy Gaza. “Israel also wants a competent Palestinian leader to rule the Gaza Strip.”

As it is certain that Israel, which has been attacked by the Palestinian armed group Hamas, will soon deploy ground troops to the Gaza Strip, Hamas’ stronghold, Israeli Ambassador to Korea Akiba Tor (63, photo) has raised concerns about Israel’s reoccupation of the Gaza Strip. I drew it. It is also a response to U.S. President Joe Biden’s concern expressed on the 15th (local time), saying, “Israel’s reoccupation of the Gaza Strip will be a big mistake.” In an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo held at the Israeli Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 16th, Ambassador Tor said, “Israel already handed over control of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians in 2005. “The Palestinian Authority (PA), which currently rules the West Bank, has simply lost its sovereignty to Hamas,” he said. Afterwards, it was diagnosed that Hamas’ consistent extremism was the main cause of this war.

He said, “The presence of a capable and efficient Palestinian partner is good for Israel.” This can be interpreted as an indirect reference to the fact that peace in the Middle East, where each country’s sharp interests are at odds, is far from achieved not only by Hamas but also by the current regime led by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who was born in 1935 and is approaching his 90th birthday.

Israeli Ambassador to Korea Akiva Tor, whose father was a Jewish clergyman (rabbi) and who wears the traditional Jewish hat ‘kippa’ during official appearances, also wore a kippah during an interview on the 16th. There was a Jewish scripture on the desk.

Ambassador Tor condemned Hamas’ mass murder of civilians, including infants and children, at Kfar Aja Kibbutz (collective farm) near the Gaza Strip, saying that it was an unacceptable war crime and that “Hamas has already lost the justification for the war.” Afterwards, Hamas was criticized for disseminating a false video of a funeral being held by decorating a doll to look like a dead girl because they knew they were being pushed out of their cause.

On the 17th, the day after the interview, President Biden announced, “I will visit Israel on the 18th.” In an additional inquiry about this, Ambassador Tor welcomed the statement, saying, “President Biden’s quick visit to a battlefield in another country also shows that the United States cannot tolerate Hamas’ surprise attacks and civilian massacres.”

The interview was conducted in a strict atmosphere. Before meeting the ambassador, I was checked by both Korean and Israeli security agents. During the interview in the ambassador’s office, when the ambassador left the room for a while due to calls coming in from various places, an Israeli security guard told the reporter, “Go out of the office and come back when the ambassador returns.” Ambassador Thor asked for understanding, saying, “It is a war situation.”

He said that the entry of Israeli ground forces into the Gaza Strip was inevitable and that “the world seems to have forgotten too quickly that Hamas is holding Israeli civilians hostage.” This means that pressure tactics are needed to quickly release about 200 hostages, and the deployment of ground troops is part of this. He also emphasized that the sooner this situation ends, the fewer Palestinian civilians will be sacrificed.

It was also predicted that a situation in which Israel would simultaneously wage ‘two wars’ against Hamas in the south and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia armed group, in the north could not be ruled out. Ambassador Tor said, “I hope that something like that doesn’t happen, but if it does, we will fight to the end,” adding, “The hard-line response to Hamas is also a message to Hezbollah.” It means to Hezbollah, which has more missiles than Hamas and is also rich in Iranian support, ‘Do not provoke, we do not want war, but we will not avoid it if you want.’

Some predict that the normalization of Israel-Saudi Arabia relations mediated by the United States, which is cited as the cause of this incident, will not be affected. He said, “Both countries are under a common threat from Iran,” and predicted that although the establishment of diplomatic ties may be delayed, nothing will be impossible.

Ambassador Thor said that he was also a party to this war. Five members of his family, including one son and three daughters and a son-in-law, are directly or indirectly participating in the war. Ambassador Tor said, “His youngest daughter and son-in-law are active-duty military personnel, and his son-in-law in particular is stationed near the Gaza Strip.” His son, who completed his service, was in Korea and returned home in a hurry on the 10th to rejoin the reserve forces, his eldest daughter is a war law lawyer at the Ministry of Justice, and his second daughter, a film producer, is working as a volunteer.

Ambassador Tor, who was born and raised in the United States and completed college, returned to Israel as an adult and became a diplomat. He served for two years and also renounced his U.S. citizenship. He also said that his father, a Jewish priest (rabbi), had a great influence on this decision. He said, “As a father, it is heartbreaking to see my children participate in the war, but it is the fate of the Israeli people,” and “I am proud of my children.”

He also presented a reflection theory that Israel’s internal conflict led to a weakening of security. Israel has suffered severe division throughout this year due to the pros and cons of the law to neutralize judicial functions, which greatly weakened the functions of the Supreme Court. He said, “Israeli society will also have learned many lessons from this war,” and “We cannot win if we do not unite.”

He, who has been serving as ambassador since November 2020, said he has visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Joint Security Area (JSA) several times. He said the DMZ terrain was similar to the northern Golan Heights, a disputed territory with Syria, so “I felt like I was at home.”

He diagnosed that Korea and Israel have many things in common, including geopolitical risks, high enthusiasm for education, advanced science and technology, democracy, and market economy. In particular, he said, “Korea and Israel each experienced colonial rule and Jewish genocide, but they were able to succeed because they did not remain only victims,” and added, “We must remember their painful history, but not be encroached upon by history.” He emphasized that one cannot escape the tragedy of history if one defines oneself only as a victim, and that this is the same reason why Germany is Israel’s main trading partner.

Immediately after the presidential election in March of last year, Ambassador Thor became the third diplomat in Korea to meet President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol, following the then Chinese and U.S. ambassadors. When he informed his mother that he was scheduled to meet with President Yoon, who is the same age as him and whose birthdays are a day apart, the joking response he received was, “Why are you only an ambassador?” Hearing this, President Yoon also laughed out loud.

Source: Donga

Mark

Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.