“I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but not a single drop of blood spilled in Gaza really brought us any closer to something better,” says Knesset member Dov Khenin from the Hadash Party in summarizing Israel's Operation Protective Edge. Though an absolute majority of Israelis supported the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip, Khenin sees it as just another round of futile bloodshed. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Khenin refuses to be impressed by the solidarity shown by civil society in Israel during Operation Protective Edge. He is bothered more than ever by manifestations of racism, by efforts to suspend Haneen Zoabi from the Knesset and by Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s attack on Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy.
Excerpts from the interview follow: