War ‘must not transfer to Switzerland’, says Swiss Jewish leader

Residents prepare to leave Gaza City on Saturday following an Israeli warning of increased military operations in the Gaza Strip Keystone / Haitham Imad

Ralph Lewin, president of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities and the highest representative of Jews in Switzerland, has spoken of a “breach of civilisation” concerning last week’s attack by Hamas on Israel. Nevertheless, he believes that part of the Israeli population would be ready for dialogue.

“What happened is unimaginable,” Lewin said in an interviewExternal link with Swiss public radio, SRF, on Saturday. He said he was referring not only to the brutality of Palestinian militant group Hamas but also to the fact that Israel was unable to protect the Jews.

This goes “very, very deep” for Jewish communities worldwide, because it is the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Lewin said.

Against this background, he can also understand that Israel wants to “eliminate Hamas” after such an attack. Nevertheless, the question arises whether the two sides will not have to break out of this logic of violence at some point. For if Israel wants to “destroy” Hamas and conquer the Gaza Strip as announced, thousands of people are likely to die, he said.

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“The current spiral of violence has started from an unprecedented terrorist attack. You cannot make peace with Hamas, that is clear to everyone by now,” Lewin said, adding that in the current situation, demanding that Israel focus on de-escalation is “politically impossible”.

Nevertheless, Lewin also sees limits to Israel’s actions. He could not judge whether Israel’s sealing off of the Gaza Strip violated international humanitarian law – as the United Nations says it doesExternal link – but Israel also had to abide by it and thus show consideration for the civilian population.

‘Thorny’ process

And what about the fundamental peace process? “I have been dreaming of a peaceful solution since I was a student,” Lewin said. He also knows that the two sides will also have to approach each other again.

As a prerequisite for this, he says the Palestinians need another interlocutor. If the Palestinians send signals that they are ready to talk, he is convinced that part of the Israeli population will resume talks, but after the recent events, this will be an extremely “thorny” process.

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However, many also doubt whether peace can be made with the Israeli government; after all, Israel has been massively expanding settlements in the West Bank for years. “Israel has proven that it can make peace,” Lewin said, pointing to the agreement with Egypt. He hopes that this ability to make peace still exists in Israel today.

Concerns in Switzerland

Regarding the situation in Switzerland, Lewin said the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities welcomed the fact that Hamas was now deemed a terrorist organisation.

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“We think it is right that the government now sees that one cannot negotiate with such an organisation,” Lewin said. However, he said the federation was concerned that the current solidarity with Israel and the Jews would change again and that anti-Semitic incidents would increase.

He called for moderation in Switzerland and for dialogue. “We mustn’t transfer the conflict to Switzerland, which is why it is also very important for me personally that we have a good dialogue with the Muslim authorities in Switzerland,” Lewin said.

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