Former US President Barack Obama criticized the Israeli government over its handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, arguing that Israel cannot build long-term security on its military and technological superiority.
Speaking at the O2 arena in Belfast during a conversation with author and journalist Susan McKay, Obama condemned Hamas’ October 7, 2023, massacre while also criticizing Israel’s response and calling for a genuine halt to the violence before discussions on a long-term solution can begin.
Obama acknowledged the history of persecution suffered by the Jewish people, including centuries of discrimination and murder in Europe, and said the desire for a safe refuge was understandable. However, he argued that the establishment and expansion of Jewish communities had also involved taking land from others.
“What also cannot be denied is that they took land from people and overreached. If Israel’s approach is that now, when we are the strongest and most technologically advanced in the region, our security will depend on simply doing whatever we need to do, taking whatever we want and making no concessions to anyone, that may work in the short term, but then you have lost the moral high ground if that is the position you take."
The former president said he believed Israel’s current government had adopted this approach. He warned that the Palestinians were not going to disappear and argued that imposing conditions on them that Israelis would not accept for themselves was unsustainable.
At the same time, Obama also called on the Palestinian side to acknowledge Israel’s strength and recognize that Israel, too, was not going to disappear.
He argued that Palestinians must develop a strategy that does not depend on defeating Israel militarily, suggesting that a lasting resolution requires both sides to recognize the other’s continued existence and the limits of force.