Left-wing peace and withdrawal narratives have collapsed, commentator says

Political commentator Yaakov Bardugo argues that the main strategic ideas once associated with the Israeli left have collapsed in the wake of the war that began after October 7. In his view, Israel has moved from fear and dependence on international guarantees to direct security control and a new posture of strength and decision-making.

Bardugo says the first narrative to fail was Oslo, linked to Yitzhak Rabin. He cites the cancellation of the Hebron Agreement, which he says was carried out by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as part of Israel’s shift away from paper commitments and foreign assurances toward independent security control. The second collapsed narrative, he says, was Ariel Sharon’s disengagement from Gaza. He argues the assumption that leaving territory would bring quiet was shattered on October 7, and says Israel now controls 70% of the Gaza Strip.

The third narrative, in his telling, is Ehud Barak’s 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon. Bardugo says Israel is now operating deep inside Lebanon, not merely along the border, in order to remove threats from enemy territory. He also says former U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed Israel’s long-standing warnings about Iran, saying the Islamic Republic was close to obtaining a nuclear bomb and that the threat extended beyond Israel to all Gulf states.

Bardugo concludes that Israel is today acting in Gaza, Lebanon, and deep inside Iran from a position of initiative and sovereignty rather than retreat. He frames the current situation as a historical reversal in which, in his words, the political map has erased “Oslo, Gaza and Lebanon” and replaced them with a stronger, more determined Israel.