THE possible outcomes of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are based on an honest and objective assessment of the current situation.

This analysis is partly attributed to Douglas McGregor, a highly distinguished retired US army colonel who served as an adviser to the US defence secretary and the US military academy (under then president Donald Trump). He is pro-Israeli and was also a high-level adviser to the Israel Defense Forces.

McGregor possesses insider information on the strengths and weaknesses of Israel and the three emerging regional Muslim powers: Turkey (The Turkish race is descended of the great Ottoman Empire with a proud history), Iran (Persians are descendants of the great Persian Empire), and Saudi Arabia (Arab are descendants of the origins of the great Islamic civilisation).

These three Muslim powers seem to be working together against Israel to become major game-changers in shaping the geopolitics of the Middle East. The reality, especially regarding economic strength, military technology, and power balance, has changed significantly in the last 30 years.

Israel and these three regional powers appear to be on a warpath.

Turkey is a regional military power with high-tech hardware, drones, and massive ground troops combat capability (second-largest army in Nato). Its close ally Pakistan can provide nuclear warheads to neutralise or offset Israel’s nuclear capability.

Iran is another regional military power with high precision missiles and drones that can destroy much of Israel even without ground troops involvement. Iran also has control over at least 100,000 well-trained and hardened Hezbollah fighters in Southern Lebanon with at least 150,000 missiles aimed at Israel.

Saudi Arabia is a regional economic power with oil and money.

The conflict is expected to escalate after the current temporary ceasefire and exchange of hostages from both sides, mainly due to the bellicose intransigence of Israeli leaders (based on extremist Zionist and apartheid ideologies) in wanting to exterminate and drive away all the Palestinian people from Gaza and the West Bank, similar to what they did from 1948 to forcefully establish the current state of Israel.

The above three regional powers are not likely to let this happen again, and they are expected to work together to fight Israel to the bitter end, perhaps with the support of China, Russia, and many non-Western countries taking the side of the Palestinian cause.

According to military and geopolitical experts such as McGregor, Israel has already crossed the line and offended the entire Muslim world, and it may soon be destroyed by the above-mentioned three regional powers with the support of many other countries. Millions of Israeli people may be killed. It would then be a sick joke to blame Hamas or the Palestinian Authority for the destruction of Israel.

The US, UK, and Europe may be helpless and unable to help Israel based on self-interest and geopolitical and economic rationale. There would be no tangible benefits versus risks anymore for the US, UK, and Europe to get involved. The US Congress is already looking inward on its severe domestic problems at home and is unwilling to provide further funding to Israel (and Ukraine).

Furthermore, public opinion in the US, UK, and Europe is swinging in favour of the Palestinian cause due to the cruel, inhumane, and barbaric bombings and killings of babies, children, women, other innocent Palestinian people, medical personnel, and UN staff in Gaza by the Israeli government.

According to leaked reports from both Israel’s internal and friendly government officials and intelligence agencies, the massacre by the Israeli government of so many innocent Palestinian civilians and UN staff is a significant strategic mistake, which has also undermined the legitimacy of the state of Israel.

The justifications used by the Israeli government for killing so many innocent civilians - self-defence and targeting Hamas for their Oct 7 offensive - have been rejected outright by the UN and its agencies, most Western allies of Israel, and almost the entire global community.

If Israel does not change soon enough to stop the killings and oppression of innocent Palestinian people and still refuses to accept a two-state solution, it may be “staring down the barrel of a gun” by the civilised global community and be cast into the dustbin of history.

If Israel is destroyed and weakened significantly, the only option left may be a one-state solution to integrate Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza into one democratic, secular, and multicultural state where every race or religion would be treated with full respect, equality, and justice.

The Israeli government may still have the option today of doing the right thing to quickly accept and implement the two-state solution proposed by the entire global community to give the Palestinian people a homeland with secured borders (pre-1967) and full sovereignty.

The takeaway from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is that peace can only be sustainable if it is based on justice and full respect for cultural diversity. – November 30, 2023.

* Letter is from former Federal Territories minister Khalid Abdul Samad; PATRIOT president Brig General Mohd Arshad Raji (rtd); former judge Noor Farida Ariffin; former police commissioner Shabudin Abdul Wahab; and geopolitical analyst KK Tan.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.