Dr. Shmuel Harlap

According to the German philosopher Hegel, history is written by universal reason, which reveals itself only when the future becomes reality and visible to the eye. This universal reason deceives the actors of history while they are preoccupied with the pursuit of political power, military conquests, glory, or wealth. Thus, the Israeli victory in 1967 brought down the barriers that had separated the various parts of the Palestinian people. At the end of the Six-Day War, the vast majority of the Palestinian nation found itself within a single, continuous territorial area under Israeli rule in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. This territorial continuity created the political and geographic conditions for the renewed consolidation of Palestinian nationalism, after a stagnation that had lasted since the War of Independence and the establishment of the State of Israel. Two years after the Swords of Iron war in 2023, the question still stands: Does historical reason have a grand plan for the future of the conflict? Will historical reason trick the players in the Middle East and lead them to a political settlement, or has it grown weary of the conflict and will it abandon them to their fate?

Which lessons from Napoleon’s insights are relevant to the Israeli arena today?