Knesset Member Ayman Odeh Maintains Palestinian Issue Central to Middle East Tensions

By [Your Name], Editor

In speeches at the start of Israeli parliamentary sessions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frequently stated that the Palestinian issue is not the root of regional conflict, emphasizing instead the refusal by some parties to recognize Israel. Netanyahu has pointed to the Abraham Accords, signed in 2020, as evidence that normalization between Israel and Arab states can occur independently of Palestinian-Israeli resolution. Under these accords, Israel established full diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. These ties have persisted despite the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel and the subsequent Gaza war, according to statements from the involved governments and U.S. officials.

Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and chair of the Hadash-Ta’al alliance in the Knesset—a predominantly Arab-Israeli political list advocating for Palestinian rights—disagrees with this view. In an opinion piece published by Zeteo, Odeh argues that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories remains the primary driver of Middle East instability. He contends that recent normalization efforts have not diminished the costs of the occupation for Israel.

Odeh recalls warning that the occupation would persist unless it imposed significant consequences on Israel. He points to the Gaza war, which began on October 7, 2023, following Hamas-led attacks that killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel and took over 250 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. Israel's military response has resulted in over 43,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza, per Gaza health ministry figures reported by the United Nations, alongside substantial destruction of infrastructure.

The conflict has expanded regionally. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia in Lebanon, has exchanged fire with Israel along the northern border, displacing tens of thousands on both sides. Houthi forces in Yemen, also supported by Iran, have launched missile and drone attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and toward Israel. Iranian-aligned groups in Iraq and Syria have targeted U.S. and Israeli interests. These actions are part of Iran's "axis of resistance," which Tehran promotes as a counter to Israeli and U.S. influence. Iran provides an estimated $700 million annually to Hezbollah and $100 million to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to U.S. and Israeli intelligence assessments cited in congressional reports.

Odeh describes the situation as a broader confrontation involving the United States and Israel against Iran, with support from Russia and China for Tehran. As a Knesset member, he notes that the occupation affects nearly every parliamentary committee. The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee addresses security threats linked to the conflict. The Finance Committee reviews budgets that allocate significant funds to military operations and West Bank settlements—over 7,000 million shekels ($1.9 billion) in 2024 alone, per Israeli Finance Ministry data—often at the expense of domestic social programs. The Interior Committee discusses rising crime in Arab-Israeli communities, where homicide rates have exceeded 100 annually in recent years, according to Israeli police statistics; the government has faced criticism from Arab leaders for inadequate action. The Constitution Committee, chaired by Simcha Rotman of the Religious Zionism party, has advanced judicial reforms that critics, including Odeh, say could facilitate land seizures in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel administers civil and security control under the 1995 Oslo Accords.

Palestinian citizens of Israel, comprising about 21% of the population per Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, face particular challenges. Odeh likens their position to balancing national identity and citizenship rights. Since October 7, 2023, incidents of incitement and violence have heightened tensions, with some Arab-Israelis arrested for alleged support of Hamas and Jewish extremists charged with attacks on Arab communities, as documented by human rights groups like Adalah and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

A photo caption in Odeh's piece references Palestinian citizens protesting in Tel Aviv on January 31, 2024—note: the original cited 2026, likely a typographical error—against government inaction on Arab community crime.

Odeh invokes ancient Greek historian Thucydides, who described war as revealing truths about power dynamics. He argues the Gaza conflict has exposed limits to military force, despite Israel's right-wing government enjoying over 90% support among Jewish Israelis for the war in early polls by the Israel Democracy Institute, the most intense fighting since 1948, and strong U.S. backing under both Biden and Trump administrations.

Demographically, roughly 7.5 million Jews and 7.5 million Palestinians live between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea, including Israel proper, Gaza, and the West Bank, based on estimates from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, and the UN. This balance persists amid the conflict.

Unlike the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and 1967 Six-Day War, which many Israelis recall as victories and Palestinians as defeats (known to Palestinians as the Nakba and Naksa, respectively), Odeh claims most on both sides would prefer returning to the pre-October 7 status quo. Polls vary: A December 2024 Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research poll showed 57% of Palestinians opposing a return to pre-war conditions, while Israeli polls like one from the Jewish People Policy Institute in 2024 indicated majority fatigue but resolve to continue operations.

Odeh links escalation with Iran to the unresolved Palestinian issue, predicting no regime change in Tehran. He views the Middle East as volatile due to this core unresolved matter, though other factors include Iran's proxy networks and Sunni-Shia rivalries.

Odeh rejects solutions from Israel's right wing, which has claimed successes against Hezbollah and Hamas that have not materialized—Hezbollah retains an arsenal of over 150,000 rockets, per Israeli military estimates, and Hamas leadership has been targeted but the group persists. He critiques the 1993 Oslo Accords, associated with Israel's center-left, for failing to deliver security or resolution, a point echoed by right-wing critics at the time.

Instead, Odeh endorses the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative (API), proposed by Saudi Arabia and endorsed by the Arab League. It offers Israel normalized relations with 22 Arab states and 57 Muslim-majority countries in exchange for withdrawal to 1967 borders, a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as capital, and a "just solution" for refugees based on UN Resolution 194. Israel has rejected the API, citing concerns over the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees and descendants—potentially altering Israel's Jewish majority—and demands for undivided sovereignty over Jerusalem, as stated in official responses from Israeli governments since 2002.

Odeh argues that Palestinian acceptance, including by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority, would make rejection untenable. A photo in his piece shows Odeh protesting the Gaza war on November 4, 2023.

He notes the October 7 attacks as the most severe strike on Israelis in the conflict's century-long history, yet Israel endures. Israel's response has been the deadliest for Palestinians, yet the Palestinian population persists. Odeh calls for mutual recognition and self-determination for both peoples.

The piece concludes with a plea for peace based on rights. Odeh writes, "Both peoples must not choose death separately, but rather life together, or separately. They must recognize one another and choose life."

Zeteo, founded by journalist Mehdi Hasan, describes the views as Odeh's own. This article presents Odeh's arguments alongside documented context, including the Abraham Accords' endurance—demonstrating Arab state prioritization of anti-Iran alliances—and Iran's role in arming proxies like Hezbollah (involved in the 2006 Lebanon War) and Houthis (disrupting global trade since 2023), which operate with motivations beyond the Palestinian issue.

Land Day, referenced via a March 30, 2018, rally photo in Nablus, West Bank, marks annual commemorations of 1976 protests against land expropriations, where six Arab-Israelis were killed by security forces. The 2018 event demanded Palestinian right of return and an end to the Gaza blockade, occurring amid tensions near a closed military zone.

(Word count: 1272)