Colonel Richard Kemp (Ret.), a strategic advisor, writer, and media commentator who previously served as British infantry commander, spoke to the Mandiner news portal about the situation in Gaza and the Middle East ahead of his participation in the MCC Festival in Esztergom between July 31 and Aug. 2.
Kemp has been continuously present in Israel and Gaza during the conflict there, as well as on the frontlines in Ukraine. He spent a lifetime fighting terrorism and counter-insurgency in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, and Northern Ireland, where he was wounded in a terrorist attack. His name was even added to an al-Qaeda death list in 2013.
Kemp called out international headlines accusing Israel of genocide and indiscriminate bombing, as well as starving the people in Gaza, but said he is not surprised. “The mainstream media in the West is biased against Israel and has been for many years. (…) There was a brief pause in this bias after Oct. 7, but it only lasted a very, very short time, and they returned to the offensive tone.”
“Almost everything you read about Israel in the media or see on TV presents reality through a distorted lens,” he added
“Obviously, the situation in Gaza is very difficult. And there are people who are starving. But it is not Israel that is causing this,” Kemp used as an example of misrepresentation by the press.
Having recently returned from Israel and from his firsthand experience in Gaza, the retired colonel told Mandiner that Israel is doing everything it can to improve the situation, but the UN is obstructing the flow of aid.
Israel had allowed nearly 200 trucks of aid in the past few days, but the UN only allowed these shipments to be handed over to the Gazans after Israel exposed that they had simply left the aid lying there.
“I mention this because I don’t think you will find this anywhere in the Western media, because it is against the UN, not against Israel. Israel is waging a just and legal war in Gaza, and elsewhere, such as in Lebanon, against Iran, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and in the West Bank. All these wars are going on simultaneously, and Israel is fighting as best it can while trying to uphold the international law it is so often accused of violating,” he stated.
Meanwhile, more Western states have announced that they will recognize the Palestinian state, with French President Emmanuel Macron being the latest to make such a statement. According to the Israeli position, this would reward terrorists, and Kemp agrees.
“This is an empty gesture because there is no Palestinian state and there will be no Palestinian state. Especially not in the near future,” said the colonel, who believes that by doing so, Macron is also encouraging jihadists in France and inciting them to violence.
As to relations between Jews and the Arab population in Gaza and the West Bank, Kemp told Mandiner that the Arab population in both Gaza and the West Bank has an extreme hatred of Jews and Israel that would take decades to change. This, he said, is an obstacle to the two-state solution and thus why the status quo will not change much regarding the Palestinian territories.
“Israel’s only option is to maintain its security presence in Gaza and the West Bank in order to prevent the resurgence of Hamas or a group like it, because they cannot allow (Oct. 7) to happen again. I think only the presence of the Israeli army can prevent this,” the colonel said.
He cited as a negative development the letter signed by 28 countries demanding an end to the Gaza war, in which Western leaders condemned Israel without condemning Hamas. “This led to Hamas becoming hardened and the Doha talks breaking down. Because Hamas sees that its cause is being helped and feels international support. This is what they achieve by prolonging the war and the violence.”
The big question is what kind of conclusion the Gaza conflict can have: the zone is in ruins, the Palestinian Authority’s power is questionable even in the West Bank, and Hamas is demanding the complete withdrawal of the IDF.
“Hamas says it will only release the hostages if Israel completely withdraws from the zone. However, Israel cannot do this; they must stay until the terrorist organization is eliminated,” Kemp emphasized.
According to Richard Kemp, the conflict will only end when Hamas no longer controls a single street in Gaza or when they voluntarily leave the zone.
“I was in Gaza myself a few weeks ago, and I spoke to many Gazans. There is a growing hatred for Hamas, I felt it clearly because the Gazans know very well what happened to them. I am not saying that Hamas does not enjoy widespread support among the Gazans, because it does. But I think they have now come to the point where they have realized what has happened to them, to their houses and to much of the Gaza Strip, which is in ruins. And they blame Hamas for that. Of course, they (also) blame Israel, but they blame Hamas directly.”
The colonel added that “there is not enough power to overthrow Hamas, only the IDF is currently capable of doing that. “
According to Richard Kemp, public opinion is expected to calm down after the war, but Israeli-European relations will likely be in a worse state than they were before Oct. 7, 2023.
“Macron, Starmer, and other European leaders are aware of the reality. (…) They know very well that Israel is not to blame. They also know that Israel does not commit war crimes. But they take the position they do because they want to appease their supporters. This is certainly the case in England: The party in power, the Labour Party, gets most of its support from Muslim communities and is afraid of losing them,” the expert said.
According to the colonel, the majority of Western Europeans are not anti-Israeli, and in fact, average people support Israel.
“The view among ordinary people is still that Israel is right and the jihadists are wrong,” Kemp said. “But the problem is that these people, the majority, don’t go out into the streets to protest and shout. The politicians ignore them. So the political leadership will follow the rioters and the loudmouths. That’s the big problem in Europe,” he added.
Regarding Israel’s war against Iran, the colonel called the country a “paper tiger,” saying that the Iranian regime suffered a dramatic defeat.
“It fired all its missiles at Israel, but most of them were shot down, so it caused only minimal damage. Its nuclear facilities, its military, and to some extent its political leadership also suffered huge damage. So it turned out that Iran is not at all as strong a country as it wanted to appear. This is obviously a great humiliation for them,” he said.
The colonel said Iran’s nuclear program is over. “I don’t think they’re going to try to revive it. They might say they’re going to try, they might pretend they’re going to try, but I think the chances of them reviving it, at least in the next few years, are slim because they’re so afraid of the consequences. They’ve seen what can happen if they go too far. That’s why I don’t think they’ll try to provoke Netanyahu or Trump again.”
He also noted that Israelis greatly appreciate Hungary’s support in international forums, while Western European countries are constantly punishing them.
“The average Israeli follows international politics much better than in other countries. They know who is with them and who is against them, and they are very grateful for Hungary’s support,” said the colonel.
The MCC Festival will take place in Esztergom between July 31 and Aug. 2.
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