On a fateful day in October, the pastoral quiet of Nahal Oz kibbutz on the Israel-Gaza border was shattered by the sound of gunfire and explosions. For Amir Tibon, a journalist who had grown up in the shadow of the conflict, it was the moment when the abstractions of history and politics became a concrete struggle for survival.
A Lens on Modern Israel
In his searing new book, The Gates of Gaza, Tibon uses his harrowing experience during the 7 October Hamas terrorist attacks as a starting point to explore the complex trajectory of Israel since its founding. With the kibbutz as his focal point, he traces the evolution of Zionist ideals from the early spirit of socialist utopianism to today’s bitterly divided politics.
The journey of Nahal Oz in many ways mirrors that of the nation as a whole. What began as an agricultural commune based on lofty principles of equality and cooperation slowly morphed into a militarized frontier outpost, caught in a seemingly endless cycle of attack and retaliation with its Palestinian neighbors.
The Rise of the Right
Tibon reserves his most biting criticism for Benjamin Netanyahu, whose tenure as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister has seen a steady drift towards ultranationalist politics and religious fundamentalism. He argues compellingly that Netanyahu’s cynical maneuvering, including his tacit support of Hamas as a way to undermine the Palestinian Authority, set the stage for tragedies like the one that unfolded in Nahal Oz.
The charge sheet of missed opportunities, miscalculations and military hubris covers many episodes since Israel’s foundation, but the author’s frustration palpably intensifies from 1996, when Benjamin Netanyahu comes on the scene as the country’s youngest ever prime minister.
Yet even in his darkest moments, Tibon never loses sight of the fact that the majority of Israelis still yearn for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. He movingly describes the outpouring of outrage after the attacks, the mass protests demanding an end to Netanyahu’s divisive policies.
A Flicker of Hope
In the end, The Gates of Gaza is a story about the resilience of hope in the face of overwhelming tragedy. Tibon emerged from the wreckage of his kibbutz home determined to play a role, however small, in bending the arc of history towards justice and reconciliation.
He captures the paradoxical complexity of a society that manages to be tightly knit and bitterly divided at the same time.
His book is a powerful reminder that, even in a land riven by seemingly intractable divisions, there are still those with the courage to envision a different future. In chronicling both the horrors of war and the tenacity of those who still dare to dream of peace, Tibon has created an essential document of modern Israeli history.
Though it offers no easy answers, The Gates of Gaza insists on bearing witness to uncomfortable truths on both sides of the conflict. It stands as a challenge to all who would seek to reduce this infinitely complex human tragedy to simple slogans or binary moral judgments. This is a work that will leave no reader unmoved, or unchanged.
