The Democratic Party, a faction of the American bourgeoisie, has been critical of the way the war in the Middle East has been carried out and has tried to limit the tensions in the region in line with its imperialist goals. In this regard and for the sake of coordination, the White House invited Netanyahu to America. During this trip, Netanyahu gave a speech in the US Congress at the invitation of the congressional Republicans. During this speech, members of Congress gave him a standing ovation 53 times[1]. Although Netanyahu also met with Kamala Harris, his main meeting was with Trump, the Republican candidate. Netanyahu has a warmer relationship with Trump and both complement each other’s policies. At this meeting they mostly focused on what Trump had done for Israel during his term of presidency, and the Trump campaign described Netanyahu’s satisfaction with Trump’s policies during that period as follows:

 “Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked President Trump and his Administration for working to promote stability in the region through, among many historic achievements, the Abraham Accords, moving the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, eliminating Qasem Soleimani, ending the horrific Iran Nuclear Deal, as well as combatting anti-Semitism in America and abroad.”[2]

Apparently, during Netanyahu’s trip to America, he felt the support of the Republicans, and particularly Trump’s support even more than before, thus giving him more encouragement. At this point, a missile in Majdal Al-Shams in the Golan Heights killed 12 teenagers and injured many others. Israel blamed Lebanon’s Hezbollah for the attack, and Hezbollah, while denying the attack, stated that it is likely that one of Israel’s Iron Dome defence missiles went wrong and fell on the football field. They also called for an international investigation into this matter.

Israel targeted Fawad Shekar (Hezbollah’s chief of staff) in the south of Beirut with a missile under the pretext of revenge for Majdal Al-Shams. The next day, on the morning of 31 July, 2024, Ismail Haniyeh (the head of the political office of Hamas) was assassinated along with his bodyguard in Tehran. Apparently, a missile from a quadcopter was the method of attack.

The fact is that both Republicans and Democrats utilize the same strategy to deal with China, but each follows a different tactic within this strategy. The Democrats do not want tensions and war in the Middle East to spread and they want to focus on confronting Russia and weakening it so that they can deal with the threat of China more easily at a later point. The Republicans however follow the tactic of directly confronting China and its scope of influence. Trump has even promised to end the Russia-Ukraine (NATO) war if he wins so that he can more easily limit and control the influence and progress of China as America’s future rival.

There are speculations that Netanyahu is prolonging the war as a solution to Israel’s political, military and social crisis in order to better advance his goals in particular in the event of a Trump victory. In other words, Netanyahu is trying to expand the war in the Middle East and involve America directly. The attack on the south of Beirut and the terror in the heart of Tehran are moves in this direction to make a cease-fire in Gaza impossible.

Politically, Israel did not want to assassinate Haniyeh in Qatar or Türkiye, so that its relations with Qatar and Türkiye would not be soured, but the assassination of Haniyeh in the heart of Tehran, apart from eliminating Haniyeh, also contained an important message: Israel can assassinate anyone anywhere it wants, i.e., humiliation of Iran’s security forces.

Regarding the assassination in Tehran, the US Secretary of State stated that they were not aware of it and were not involved in it, but shortly after that, the Pentagon stated that the US Secretary of Defense had consulted with his Israeli counterpart regarding the killing at Majdal Al-Shams. Contrary to the demagogues, the reality is that Israel has advanced American intelligence and security assistance.

China, Russia and most of the countries of the Middle East, in line with their imperialist interests, condemned Haniyeh’s assassination and considered it to be the cause of the escalation of tension in the Middle East. At the same time, Western governments, in line with their imperial interests, while emphasizing Israel’s right to defend itself, invited the parties to exercise restraint.

Iranian criminals demanded an extraordinary session at the UN Security Council (or den of thieves), to condemn Haniyeh’s assassination. The fact is however that this den of thieves is party to the war policy of different imperialist factions fighting against one another. America, France and Britain are more evil than the Iranian criminals and practically turned the meeting against Iranian. While supporting Israel, they accused Iran of being the cause of instability in the region by arming its proxy groups and called Iran to end its destabilizing actions in the region.

The war in the Middle East is not a small war tucked away on a quiet part of the globe, but a part of the imperialist tensions caused by the degeneration of the brutal capitalist system. Iran has no desire for a full-scale war with Israel, but there is a risk that tensions will get out of control and turn into a regional war.

Iran’s rulers were ignominiously humiliated by this recent assassination, so they want to attack military targets in Israel directly from Iran’s territory with combined drones and missiles in order to avoid harming civilian targets. Of course, it is possible that this time Iran will attack Israel with its proxies from Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

Following Iran’s threats, Israel’s Defence Minister stated that Israel does not want war, but is ready for any eventuality and that the Pikan system has shown its effectiveness. The US Department of Defense also announced that in case of an attack on Israel, the US would help Israel and send warships to the Middle East to intercept and neutralize a possible attack – as has been done before.

 “The US Defense Department has deployed 12 warships to the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and the Mediterranean Sea, as Israeli strikes hit Beirut and Tehran, according to the Washington Post, citing an unnamed defense official…A group of three landing ships and two destroyers with 4,000 marines and sailors was sent to the eastern Mediterranean Sea.”[3]

The tensions in the Middle East are not the product of bellicose leaders, but rather the product of certain conditions in the history of capitalism. Contrary to the words of warmongers urging restraint, we will witness the expansion and escalation of tensions. When warmongers talk about restraint and peace, it means they are preparing themselves for war. Therefore, the task of standing up in defence of proletarian internationalism weighs heavily more than ever on the shoulders of internationalists and we must shout loudly that these tensions are against the working class.

War has become a way of life for capitalism in its decadent age. Capitalism cannot provide a future, as it only spreads brutality and barbarism to more areas. War criminals only refrain from conflict when there is the danger of the proletariat preparing themselves for the class war. Only the working class, by overthrowing capitalism on a global scale, can destroy the material basis of imperialist tensions and bring permanent peace to humanity.

Workers have no country!

Down with the imperialist war!

Long live the war between the classes!

Internationalist Voice

1 august 2024

[1]The obnoxious applause of the congressmen and congresswomen evoked in the mind the applause in North Korea. These same barbarian civilized questions the encouragement of the North Korean leader, while they themselves offer the same flattering applause. The show was so nauseating that Erdogan considered it madness.

[2] SPECTRUM NEWS

[3] News International.

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