Israel’s Dilemma
Israel has a dilemma. After the October 7th Terror attack by Hamas, killing 1400 Israeli civilians, the Israeli government is duty bound to respond in the most aggressive way. And they have. But there are a couple of problems.
The first is a long-term internal political problem of Israel itself. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu long had a policy of ignoring the more moderate Palestinian factions in Gaza and the West Bank. There was no “negotiation”, just ultimatums, as Israel proceeded to build more settlements in the West Bank, and fully militarize the borders. That includes building a wall between the West Bank and Israel proper, one that became a model for the Trump Administration’s “Wall” on the Southern border.
By refusing to deal with moderates and encouraging Israeli encroachment on what is considered Palestinian land, Netanyahu drove Palestinians to become more radicalized. The Hamas group became the “home” and representative for many of them, particularly in the Gaza region. And that served Netanyahu’s own extreme political goals, forcing Israelis to “choose sides” of extremism.
None of that excuses what happened on October 7th. But when full blame is apportioned for the current Middle East crisis, Netanyahu bears his fair share. A more moderate government, working towards the goal of a “two-state solution”, would not have fed into Hamas’s power.
Collateral Damage
Waging war against Hamas in Gaza is “de facto” waging war against the Palestinians who live there. Hamas has infiltrated their military infrastructure into every part of Gaza life, from residential complexes to Mosques; schools to hospitals. There is no question that Israel is fully justified in waging war against Hamas. Hamas started it. But the physical reality of Gaza is that to wage war against Hamas, Israel must destroy much of Gaza.
The rub: what of the Palestinians in Gaza, whose homes, schools, hospitals, and Mosques are destroyed? To reach the three hundred miles of tunnels Hama’s dug deep under the cities (half the size of the New York City Subway System), huge “bunker buster” style bombs are used. The euphemism for civilian destruction, “collateral damage”, is even worse than the actual damage to Hamas.
Add to that, civilian casualties. While Israel takes “pride” in warning the Gaza citizens to leave, evacuating a city of a million takes more than a few days. And there are always those who cannot or will not leave. It would be like telling the people of Hiroshima to leave, a couple of hours before the atomic bomb dropped.
And that’s the example that the Israeli government is using: the all-out destruction of civilian cities waged by the Allies in World War II. America justified using the atom bomb based on the total warfare waged by the Japanese military. The estimated number of American casualties from a conventional invasion of Japan was more than a million. How could any American President justify that loss to the American people, without attempting to use the newly created atomic weapons?
And now, Netanyahu is talking about the “after” of Gaza occupation along the lines of the United States occupation of Japan after World War II.
Closing In
Today we see the results of Israeli action. After weeks of missile and bombing attacks, Israeli ground troops have surrounded northern Gaza (Gaza City). They are now closing in from all sides, rooting out Hamas forces from their underground shelter. It’s like the ancient Mongol strategy; surround the enemy, then burn and kill until the circle closes.
In each Israeli conflict since the founding of the Nation in 1948, the rest of the world has interceded to stop Israel’s advances. In 1956, 1967, 1973 and the long conflict at the beginning of this century in Lebanon; the forces of Israel weren’t defeated. They were withdrawn, due to pressure from the world, and particularly from the United States.
Netanyahu is trying to ignore the growing pressure now, holding firm until he can reach a “final solution” for Hamas. The United States holds the key – how long before the Biden Administration threatens to reduce financial and military aid? And yet, both the internal political pressures in Israel and in the United States still lean towards allowing Israel to decimate Hamas – as long as they do so quickly.
Two State
The US Administration is calling for a “two-state” solution to the Palestinian problem: a Palestinian homeland carved out of the Middle East, as well as maintaining the state of Israel. But Tuesday Netanyahu said that Israel will remain as the “security force” in Gaza for the foreseeable future. Much like the aggressive stand the Israeli military takes on the West Bank, now it will be even stronger in Gaza. No ‘two-states”, not even one state for the Palestinians. A zero state for them, occupied by Israeli forces.
That’s going to be tough for the rest of the world to swallow. In 1973 the oil producers (Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations) put the “squeeze” on the world market to stop Israeli expansion. It was the first peacetime that Americans had to line up for gasoline. If Israel continues with its “Zero State” solution, it’s likely that the world will experience that again.
Only Israel can solve this problem. It’s up to the Israeli government, sooner rather than later, to remove the Netanyahu government and find a more moderate leader. But with the blood from October 7th still fresh, that’s not likely to happen soon either. There’s no good answer – only more blood on the sand, and more hate embedded in both Palestinian and Israeli.
There is no immediate solution to any of it.
