TEHRAN- Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who spent time with Israelis in the occupied territories during his career, believes the romanticized and heroic image Americans once held of Israel is permanently tarnished. He argues that Israel's numerous transgressions have stripped it of its perceived moral high ground and that Americans have gradually come to this realization over the past year.

Below is the full text of Ritter’s interview with the Tehran Times: 

Almost a year has passed since Israel began its war in Gaza. The enclave now lies in ruins, and tens of thousands are dead. How do you assess the US's role in the conflict? Do you think Washington actively worked to secure a ceasefire and that it was unable to exert sufficient pressure on Israel or that it doesn’t mind the current state of the region?

The United States intends to create stability in West Asia, but stability that centers around Israel. The U.S. has been promoting policies that are only beneficial to Israelis and based on that, any policy which creates prospects for the establishment of a Palestinian state is an unacceptable one. The Biden administration has repeatedly said that it is trying to bring back the situation to how it was before October 7, 2023, and we know that before the Hamas operation, no pathway to a Palestinian state existed. In the past year, Washington has also attempted to expand the Abraham Accords by pressuring Saudi Arabia to join the pact, which again sidelines the Palestinians. 

When we try to return to the kind of stability that existed a year ago, we are acting as if Netanyahu has not committed some of the worst crimes against humanity. We are acting as if thousands of Palestinians have not been murdered, and as if Hind Rajab wasn’t brutally murdered. 

The Israeli lobby in U.S. politics and the fact that we are in an election year, make it impossible for the Biden administration to deviate from the illegitimate and illegal policies that are being implemented by Israel. 

After what’s happened in the past year, do you believe there has been a shift in American public opinion in regard to Israel?

The image of Israel in the United States used to be shaped by the legend of Exodus. Israelis were seen as heroic people who were being mass murdered in Europe and as a result, decided to find new life in the Middle East. We looked at that narrative and resonated with Israelis because it looked like the birth of our own nation. We were patriotic people who fought with the British for freedom and so did Israelis! This was the narrative that had gotten into the hearts of many Americans, myself included. 

Other fabrications added to that romantic notion of Isreal. We later witnessed what we were told was the “glory” of the six-day war that involved Israel getting attacked from all sides by Syria, Jordan, and Egypt who were touted as bloodthirsty Arabs who wanted to eradicate Jews. We understood that “brave” Israel in the end, won miraculous victories and defeated the Arabs. This made us feel good that we had Israel as an ally in the Middle East.

After that, we threw our weight behind Israel every time they entered a war. We backed them during the Yom Kippur War, we backed them in the 80s when they wanted to invade Lebanon, and we fought Operation Desert Storm in 1991 to stop Arab missiles from striking Israel. For us, we needed to go to war to save Israel, because that meant we were saving the righteous.

As of 2024, however, this romantic notion of Israel is no longer there. What’s now left is just cold hard reality. Now, if an American supports Israel they are not doing it out of romance, but out of the logic that tells them doing so would have geopolitical benefits for the United States. 

The new generation of Americans meanwhile, are decoupling from all these biases. For them, Israel stands for whatever they don’t stand for. Israel is committing genocide, Israel is killing six-year-old girls, and it even kills its own people. So there has been a kind of awakening in the United States because people are being confronted by the harsh reality of what Israel really is.

More and more people in America are talking about a one-state solution – a one-state solution that only includes a Palestinian state.  I think this going to be extremely harmful for Israel in the long run because the seeds that have been planted in the American society are deeply rooted in the crimes Israel has committed in the past year. 

What do you think Israel has gained and lost in the past year? 

One of the greatest things Israel has lost is undoubtedly public opinion. All around the world, we have different countries lining up for a Palestinian state which is a huge defeat for Israel. We had the International Court of Justice calling Israel an apartheid and genocidal state. We have the International Criminal Court preparing indictments for the sitting Israeli Prime Minister and Minister of Defense for war crimes. All this is unprecedented in the history of Israel and has long-term repercussions for it. 

Even If Israel can survive this current calamity, its ability to recover would be contingent upon the international community’s willingness to invest in Israel. The international community used to invest in a romantic vision, but can it now do the same for an apartheid and genocidal state? I think the answer for many people is no.

So, the loss of public opinion will eventually lead to irreparable economic losses for Israel, losses that could wreak its ultimate downfall.  Israel cannot exist without a thriving economy that is thoroughly integrated into the world’s economy and if the world doesn’t want to get affiliated with the regime, Israel will be killed.