'Israel must do more than manage the conflict,' Haskel says in rebuke of Netanyahu's policy

Former deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel joined On the Record on Wednesday to discuss her time in the Foreign Ministry, Israel's performance on the diplomatic front, and what Israel need to do differently.

Haskel held the position from 2024 until July 2026, when she resigned. The day after her resignation she formed a new party called Israel First.

Haskel saw first hand how the conflict at home and abroad are one and the same, while Israel fights radical Islam in the Middle East, radical Islam is fighting for control of the West. "It's not just a problem for Israel, but there is a problem for the world," she told i24NEWS. "This is the time of radical Islamism taking over the world."

She says the problem is not localized. From Paris to New York to Berlin, Western governments have allowed "propaganda not just to settle in, but to root into their society so that their children are growing up with hatred towards their own country, to despise their own flag and their traditions." Haskel says the war is not just against Israel but against the democratic values that generations of people have fought to achieve.

"Any expert will tell you that it's far easier to spread lies than to spread the truth," she says. Although she argues that in this generation the problem is that both sides of politics are inflaming the issues.

"On one side, extreme progressives that refuse to have a debate and a conversation, refuse to acknowledge facts, data, or real information, and base all of their theories only on emotions. And then you have the other radical right-wing propaganda where they rely a lot on conspiracy theories."

She argues that it's Israel's role to combat both, no matter how challenging. However she says Israel performed well on the diplomatic front, despite these issues. She defended the Foreign Ministry's adaptation of technology such as AI to help identify specific areas where the Ministry could respond, allowing them speed up the process. "We can respond immediately and not wait six, seven, eight hours until we get a report from the embassy."

Haskel came out strongly to attack the previous conflict doctrine fostered under Netanyahu. "One of the biggest lessons learned from the October 7th is that Israel should never manage the conflict, but dismantle the enemy. Because whenever you try to manage it, it grows to proportions that are life-threatening and pose an existential threat."

It's unlikely that Israel would be able to defeat radical Islam in the next decade, Haskel argued, so Israel must take the fight to them and remain constantly vigilant against possible threats that may emerge in the region. She highlighted Syria as the new front where managing the conflict would be disastrous and short-sighted.