1948 and All That

That’s the name change that the prime minister proposed in a cabinet meeting last October. The renaming, Netanyahu explained, would reflect the fact that the conflict was in fact a full-fledged war, not just a military operation.

The quiet part of the rebranding exercise was the attempt to inject some historic resonance into the perception of the war. If 1948 had given the country its War of Independence, Bibi’s thinking goes, then 2024 was the year of disaster and then rebirth.

While it’s undeniable that Israel’s struggle over the past year has been existential, Netanyahu’s relabeling attempt last year failed. It merely elicited sneers from the usual suspects in the media and the new name didn’t catch on.

But two weeks ago, the case for the 1948 parallel suddenly grew stronger, by virtue of Donald Trump’s startling new Gaza plan.