Israel could collapse before its centennial, retired Israeli general warns

JERUSALEM

Retired Israeli Maj Gen Itzhak Brik warned Sunday that Israel could collapse before reaching the 100th anniversary of its founding in 2048, citing deep “internal divisions” and growing “international alienation.”

Brik made the remarks in an opinion article published by the daily Maariv under the headline "Israel is on the road to destruction, and there is only one way to save it.”

“When I try to look ahead, I find myself asking: will the State of Israel reach the age of 100?” Brik wrote.

Israel was established in 1948 on land seized by Zionist armed gangs that carried out massacres and displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. In 1967, Israel occupied the remainder of Palestinian territory and continues to reject withdrawal and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Brik said Israel has, over the decades, become a society “torn from within,” marked by “deep hatred between social groups, between right and left, and between Jews and Arabs,” a rift he said permeates all aspects of life.

Referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Brik said Israel is led by a leadership that “prioritizes political survival over the public interest,” describing it as “myopic and directionless.”

On Israel’s global standing, Brik said the country has increasingly come to be viewed internationally as a state that “provokes revulsion and rejection,” adding that many Israelis are choosing to emigrate abroad.

Data released on Jan. 28 by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics showed a 39% increase in emigration from Israel in 2024 compared with the previous year.

Israel’s resilience is eroding across all sectors, including security, economy, education, health care, infrastructure and science, Brik added.

He called for “empowering a younger generation to assume leadership and steer the country out of its current crisis.”

“The challenges we face, from restoring security in the north (with Lebanon and Syria) and in the south (with Gaza) to rebuilding the economy and international relations, require energy that exists only among those who still have decades of life ahead of them,” Brik wrote.

He said Israel could still surpass the 100-year mark “if younger generations succeed in transforming despair into responsibility and polarization into intellectual partnership.”

During nearly two years of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, Israeli officials have repeatedly acknowledged that the country faces serious political, security, economic and media crises. Global public and official anger have also intensified over Israel’s actions across the region.

On October 8, 2023, Israel launched a genocidal war in Gaza that lasted nearly two years, killing more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounding over 171,000 others.

During the same period, Israel also launched wars against Lebanon and Iran at different stages, carried out airstrikes and ground incursions in Syria, conducted attacks in Yemen and carried out an airstrike on Qatar.

Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul