July 30, 2014
23 days have passed.
The war continues. Additionally,
the conflict has now assumed unprecedented levels on the diplomatic front. A “misunderstanding” exists between the US
and Israel. That is based on the human
suffering in Gaza, which is, admittedly, enormous. Due to the immense pressure from President
Obama, PM Netanyahu is holding the IDF back, but only to a certain point. Israel’s current goal, expressed almost
unanimously (unprecedented since 1973) is the destruction of Hamas’s warfare
abilities. There is much compassion for
the many innocent men, women and children who have lost their lives and
possessions, but the feeling is that the threat against Israel has crossed
every red line. The primitive missiles
were an annoyance, and Israel dealt with them sporadically. However, the extent and purpose of the
tunnels that Hamas has dug deep into Israeli kibbutzim, cities and towns, has
made the situation absolutely untenable.
I have to say that in all the previous “operations” that I
have personally witnessed—the two Lebanon Wars, Intifadas, and 3 previous Gaza
conflicts—I’ve never seen such unanimity both in the general population and in
the government. The estimate is that
Netanyahu has something like 85% support. Even the opposition parties have expressed
support for Netanyahu and the importance of destroying the military
infrastructure of Hamas.
The tone of the “discussion” between Secretary of State
Kerry, President Obama and Netanyahu is also at a harsh level I cannot
recall. Whether the transcript of the
Obama-Netanyahu phone call that is circulating widely is accurate or a total
fabrication, as the two sides claim, the damage is clear.
This afternoon, Israel agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire
for four hours. Hamas totally rejected
it and continued firing missiles. Why is
it doing that?
Hurting Israel is Hamas’s purpose and raison d’etre. It will not give up until it is forced to.
The pressure on Israel to agree to an unconditional cease-fire has bolstered
Hamas’s resolve and led it to believe that it will continue to survive. That in itself represents a victory for
Hamas; its ability to harm Israel may be temporarily restrained, but the fight
is far from over.
Those are the reasons for the current impasse. The frustration, both among Israel’s partners
and within Israel itself, is very deep.
So what’s next?
I suspect Israel will give in to the pressure. It has done that before, and will do so now
too. What will the conditions be? That is unknown at the moment, but along with
many other Israelis I don’t believe that, with the concessions that Israel will
be forced to grant, Hamas will stop its attacks. It will restore its firepower, augment it and
probably arm itself with even more deadly weapons.
Of course, one can always hope that Hamas has learned a
lesson as well, that it will hold its fire, at least for a somewhat longer
period of time. But then it would be
untrue to its own purpose—and there’s not much chance of that, in my opinion.
Until radical Islamists agree to accept Israel’s presence in
the Middle East, I don’t believe there will be permanent peace in the region.
What is saddest of all is that, if peace really does ever
come to this area, it will benefit everyone. Trade, commerce, education, health—all will be
enhanced and will in turn improve everyone’s life here. Tragically, the radicalization of Islamism
has led to more and more conflicts, to more resentment, hatred, to more
isolation. The ones who have suffered
the most are the Arabs themselves. Yes,
the suffering in Gaza is immense. But
who brought it upon the general population?
The same people who have brought incredible suffering to Syria, Libya,
Lebanon, Iraq and even the US. It’s the
fundamentalists whose philosophy is totalitarian, whose thirst for power is
without limit, whose inhumanity towards anyone who believes differently—who
dares to be different— knows no bounds.
In Gaza, the responsibility for the suffering cannot be laid
upon Israel. Ultimately, it must be
owned by those who are truly responsible for the ongoing poverty and suffering
there—those who placed their rocket launchers in and near apartment buildings, in
schools, mosques and marketplaces; those who dug tunnels with openings under
kitchen sinks, those who teach hatred not only for Israel, but indeed for all
Jews.
It’s a human tragedy, one that we in Israel feel intensely
because we are in the middle of it. The
deaths of 56 soldiers, each the flower of his generation, the cream of the crop
of Israeli youth, hurts terribly. The
injuries of hundreds of others will leave permanent scars. Israel will discuss its “failures”
interminably; videos of the war, the suffering, the crying, will repeat like an
endless loop. That seems to be Israel’s
fate.
That is the price and the cost of hate. In truth, it isn’t only Gazans and Israelis
who suffer. All humanity pays for it. We are all the worse for all the hate we see
and create.
We pray for peace.
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