A War Against Hamas -- Not The Palestinian People
Now that Israel has unilaterally declared an end to the hostilities it appears that Hamas, which has been badly crippled, will eventually sign on to the ceasefire. Having achieved its war objectives, Israel must demonstrate that the war was waged against Hamas and not the Palestinian people. The tragic losses of many innocent civilians and the destruction resulting from war must be a catalyst for an irreversible movement toward peace.
Since Hamas is a popular movement and it cannot be eradicated, the best outcome from the Gaza war for Israel and the Palestinians is to induce Hamas to eventually become a political party rather than militant resistance movement. This can come about through continuing pressure from the Arab moderate states, denying Hamas the re-supply of weapons through international efforts, distancing Hamas from Iran by meeting Gaza's financial needs mainly from Arab resources and by contrasting the benefit of moderation to the violent resistance where Israel can play a significant role.
Weakening Hamas will not in and of itself contribute to a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace because Hamas can overtime recover and continue to undermine the peace process. The only way Israel can marginalize Hamas' long term militancy and alienate ordinary Palestinians from its ideology is by taking immediate and clear measures on the ground to benefit every Palestinian. Having been able to weaken Hamas and render an indirect blow to Iran, Israel must convert its military gains to a political advantage for the moderate Palestinian Authority. Throughout the war in Gaza, the West Bank remained relatively quiet. Although this was certainly due in part to the PA commitment to keep the calm, it is also in large measure due to the West Bank Palestinians' determination not to entangle with the Israelis and lose the economic and security gains they have garnered during the past two years. Nevertheless, no security forces or economic benefits could have kept them quiet had they felt greater sympathy for Hamas. Thousands would have poured into the streets violently protesting the war.
Israel must now fully reward the Palestinians by taking immediate and meaningful measures on the ground to benefit the moderates. Other than several coveted measures such as a freeze on settlement expansion, release of prisoners, and removal of road blocks, Israel should allow thousands more Palestinians to work in Israel. In addition, the Palestinians need sustainable development projects that involve Israeli civilians to engage them directly and cement neighborly relations. Israel must also work with the international community to alleviate the humanitarian situation for Palestinians in Gaza by providing massive supplies of food and medicine and work out a satisfactory security arrangement to keep the border crossings open. In addition, to signal its humanitarian concerns Israel should facilitate the transfer of hundreds of critically wounded Palestinians for treatment in Israeli medical facilities.
Finally, since the current war on Hamas has politically weakened the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the United States must take extraordinary measures to empower the PA. The United States can offer economic assistance, military hardware, and training to fortify Palestinian governance to ensure its stability and deterrence capability against Hamas. By engaging full force in efforts to prove its long-term intentions to the Arab governments, the Arab street, and the international community that has been critical of its military incursion, Israel needs to deem itself a more reliable and credible partner in the peace process.
Past experiences have demonstrated however, that even with good intentions very little progress can be made on the ground as long as violence persists in undermining any sense of security. Consequently, Israel is now seeking a more permanent ceasefire while creating conditions that will inhibit Hamas from rearming itself from Iran and continuing a violent agenda to destabilize the region. The key to a sustainable ceasefire will be preventing the flow of new weapons, especially rockets into Gaza through tunnels across the Egyptian-border. To that end, Israel has successfully negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States to provide technical assistance to help in tracking new tunnels. This agreement is significant in that it has now engaged Washington directly into the maintenance of the ceasefire. The agreement will also entail the stationing of NATO monitors along the Philadelphi Route to prevent future smuggling of weapons and the construction of new tunnels. In addition, France, Britain and Germany have signaled their readiness to provide naval forces along with the Israelis to intercept delivery of weapons by sea from Iran.
The other important component that will substantially strengthen the peace process is a concerted Arab effort led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia to put pressure on Hamas to accept a unity government with Fatah. As long as the Palestinian house remains divided, it fosters violent rivalry hardly conducive to future stability, let alone an Israeli-Palestinian peace. Both countries seem more determined than ever not to tolerate any longer an Arab Sunni renegade group in the service of Shiite Iran-a country which is aggressively pursuing regional hegemony and threatening not only Israel but also the Arab Sunni states' collective security interests. This explains why the Saudis and Egyptians hardly hid their support of Israel's onslaught on Hamas and why they want to ensure that Hamas, which is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, will not constitute a threat to their regimes in the future. Egypt warned its fellow Arab states at the recent Arab Summit in Kuwait of "using the conflict in Gaza to allow for external forces to intrude on our Arab world." In order to highlight the importance of keeping Iran's influence in the region to a minimum, Saudi Arabia pledged one billion in development aid to Gaza which is likely to be funneled through the PA, which will overpower any contributions by Iran to reduce Hamas' dependence on Tehran. This aid money is also a sign to Israel that it must step up and show its commitment to creating a Palestinian state, or else risk losing future Arab cooperation.
Once the humanitarian crisis is substantially alleviated in Gaza and relative calm prevails, both Saudi Arabia and Egypt must use whatever means at their disposal to persuade Hamas to then accept the Arab Peace Initiative. Hamas, who refused to explicitly recognize Israel before, may now be more disposed to embrace the Initiative which will provide its leaders with a face saving way out. The United States and its Arab allies must also put direct pressure on Israel to accept the Arab Peace Initiative in which the two-state solution is central.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have made their positions loud and clear throughout the war and reaffirmed it from the Arab summit in Kuwait about Iran and future peace negotiations with Israel. If Israel does not respond positively and directly to their substantial gestures it cannot expect any future support in dealing with Arab militants and allow Iran to collect the spoils of the Gaza war.
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The objective of Israels' war on Gaza, according to Israels' own leaders, was to "break the will of the Palestinia
So your words, Mr. Ben-Meir, are spin and rationalization, after the fact. In other words: lies.
It is Israel which will not accept the Arab Peace Initiative.
Breakfast- I think you misunderstood. Israel's objective was to cripple Hamas. Hamas has sent about 10,000 rockets into Israel over the past 7 years- AIMING for civilians. They do this because Hamas believes Israel does not have the right to exist.
Israel has stopped the ground attacks and Hamas continues to launch rockets. You tell me who is working for peace.
Quote from the above: "Having achieved its war objectives, Israel must demonstrate that the war was waged against Hamas and not the Palestinian people. The tragic losses of many innocent civilians and the destruction resulting from war must be a catalyst for an irreversible movement toward peace."
This would have been one h- of a lot easier to "demonstrate" had it been "demonstrated" through action DURING the offensive instead of through words after the offensive. (And yes, I prefer to use the word "offensive" before "war" about a situation where one side's military is so much stronger than the other's.) Around half of the victims of the offensive were civilians. Around a third were kids. The objective may have been to wage war against Hamas and not the Palestinian people, but the people became the victims and the sufferers. No one can really know if Hamas did use people as "human shields", as objective reporters were denied access. What we do know, is that knowledge about civilian losses didn't stop the Israeli army. And so war was indeed waged against the Palestinian people, and no words uttered afterwards will change the deaths of those who did die from it.
Mr. Ben Meir, you forgot something kind of important. If Israel is to create the conditions for peace with Gaza; Israelis must allow an independent and full investigation of all war crimes. Until then, Israel won't know peace. 1300 people were killed, many in gruesome ways. Someone has to be held accountable.
Dear Mr. Ben-Meir,
I'm not sure where you have been, but Hamas has been a political party for some time now, one which won a election fair and square, exactly three years ago, next Monday.
It is impossible to dialogue with some one like Ben-Meir. In my circles he is simply considered as "intellectually violent" in order to justify a war of aggression against the Palestinians.
Hamas is the elected government of Palestine and Gaza.
It would make sense to imagine that as Israel has a right to defend itself from unlawful acts so does Palestine and Gaza and their government.
What seems to be happening is a steady campaign by Israel and the US to bring about and support the overthrow of the legal Palistinian government of Hamas and the institution of a compliant puppet government run by Abbas and the PLO.
There is no choice but to reach a political solution to this conflict and to deal with whoever is in power. Stop the cry-baby approach of stating "We don't have a partner to talk to." You talk to whoever is there, that has been elected to represent a people. If you don't like them, tough. You have to engage. This war in Gaza achieved nothing except further marginalizing Israel in world public opinion.
Here I am thinking that Mr. Ben-Meir is articulating a vision to stop the bloodshed and forge peace between Arab and Israelis. One would think that many Huffpost readers would agree the violence has been going on for far too long, and proposals for peace can be discussed without placing blame on either party. Instead, many of the comments thus far have managed to only find fault with Israel. Israel needs to stop doing this...Isr
Remind me again. Which side killed hundreds of children and wounded thousands more with their bombs, bullets and tanks?
That would be both sides. But, only one was doing it by blowing up buses of civilians on their way to work and school, and restaurants where people were having dinner.
The other actually dropped leaflets asking civilians to move out of the way before the attack.
you forgot to mention the creation of a Ghetto out of Gaza?
Israel possesses far greater military equipment and capabilities, and are responsible for much of the humanitarian toll in Gaza.
if you agree with the above conclusion, how is it in Palestinian interest to continue the violence? they suffer disproportionally more everytime Israel launches a military strike. Isn't it time groups like Hamas become less legitimate in their eyes? Yes, the Israelis maybe oppressive and ruthless, but firing missles into Israel proper will no more afford the Palestinians the self-determination and freedom they deserve.
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Good idea. Too bad the Israelis didn't think of this when rockets were falling on Sidrot.
Israeli policy has produced angry, radicalized populations on every border and is clearly counterproductive.
Its the behavior of a nation in the grip of a military-industrial complex - every military action simply insures that Israel will have to fight again another day.
once again, you are 100% correct in your conclusion of Israeli military actions fostering radicalism. however, be realistic and propose a solution to how Israel should respond if elements from the radicalized masses threaten its security with rocket fire? given world history, how have other nations responded to attacks from outside forces?
human nature is pretty predictable despite our more noble aspirations.
Charles Freeman, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, “Israel started Hamas. It was a project of Shin Bet, which had a feeling that they could use it to hem in the PLO. Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies, states that Israel “aided Hamas directly—the Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance to the PLO.” A former senior CIA official speaking to UPI describes Israel’s support for Hamas as “a direct attempt to divide and dilute support for a strong, secular PLO by using a competing religious alternativ
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Unfortunately, this has been the way of the world. The US supported the Shah of Iran who was overthrown by the Ayotollah. Then the US supported Saddam to keep Iran in check. That didn't work out so well either.
The US supported Castro in Cuba early on. That didn't last long.
Without justifying the behavior, I would say that I don't know why this would surprise anyone. International politics is a very dangerous business.
"Since Hamas is a popular movement and it cannot be eradicated, the best outcome from the Gaza war for Israel and the Palestinians is to induce Hamas to eventually become a political party rather than militant resistance movement."
Now what world is the author living in? Hamas is a politicial party, they participated in and WON the Palistinian elections, then everyone got upset and refused to accept the democratic will of the Palistinians.
Hamas won and they then offered a generation long ceasefire as they knew that tempers on both sides were volatile, they wanted to go down the politicial path just like Fatah did before them, but GWB and Olmert literally spat in thier faces.
hi ms moderator, i always get my posts deleted, don't you like europeans?
Heh. Well that one got through and I'm glad it did. Great response to a very dishonest article. If Israel's onslaught really was only about Hamas, then the UN schools, relief supplies and aid workers would never have suffered any attacks from Israel at all -- let alone the scale and obvious intent of the directed attacks against those international institutions.
The Palestinians were well aware of who they were "electing" and what the consequences would be. Once there, Hamas promptly executed the opposition in the streets of Gaza. An excellent tactic to get re-elected.
I am not aware of any law that says, because a government is elected, it must be supported by the international community.
Israel continues to seek a viable partner for piece. Arafat was afraid he would be assassinated, Abbas is too weak and his government corrupt and Hamas wrote into their charter the complete destruction of the "Zionist Entity" (for them, Israel doesn't exist. The sum total of their "political platform" is the destruction of Israel.
Typical Zionist rhetoric. You completely neglect to mention the 2002 Arab Peace Plan, or the fact that Hamas has been on board with it for some time now and Iran doesn't even object to it.
without an end to Israel's enforced apartheid system there will be no peace. Apartheid breeds hatred and violence and Palesitinians are right to fight to be able to have medicine, food, clean water, etc.
There was no winner and their won't be as long as Israel continues in their actions of the past
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If Israel had treated Hamas as a political party and at least talked to them as they offered after they were elected, & not instead clamped a blockade on ALL the Palestinians of Gaza & branded them terrorists only, we might be in a different place today & all those Palestinian men, women & children would not have been killed by the IDF. Will Israel pay reparations for all the death & destruction? Will they stop their navy firing at Palestinian fishermen trying to feed their families? Will Israel immediately lift the collective punishment blockade or continue to focus on the "smuggling" tunnels? Will the IDF stop targeting civilians & children?
Until there is some actual movement by Israel to end the oppression of the blockade, the occupation, settlement expansion, reign in violence by the "settlers" & stop the destruction, there is no way Hamas, any Palestinian or any person should give Israel any respect. The long history of murder, brutality, ethnic cleansing & racism toward Palestinians, destruction & theft of their property by Israelis must stop.
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Hamas is the free choice of the Palestinians in an election, it is their legitimate government and so a war against Hamas is a war against the people.
Their war is a people's war against a cruel and arrogant oppressor, armed with the latest weapons by poodle America.
Offering Palestinians a few more jobs -- hey, there's a shortage of Shabbas goys -- is a pathetic non-starter.
The only solution that will bring peace is to transform the Zionist state of israel into a genuine democracy that embraces both Jews and Arabs -- not some Bantustan as envisioned in the "two state solution-- which israel has effectively squelched with this horrible attack.
Hamas was not destroyed but weakened.
Now Israel can focus on its northern border, namely hezbollah and try to weaken them and their power over the Lebanese government that the U.S. abandoned after they became a democratic nation.
With the U.S. and Russia wrestling to supply Lebanon with weapons (to control that nation) Israel needs to act now. But it won't be just hezbollah to worry.
Syria has deployed elements of the 10th, 12th and 14th Divisions and the 3rd Army - withdrawn from the 600-km long Syrian-Iraq border - are now poised opposite Israeli positions holding the disputed Shebaa Farms enclave on Mt. Hermon.
The long-term goal is a nuclear Iran and to fight Iran before Obama can get settled in office and seek diplomacy.
Russia also is making its moves by sending the S-300 PMU-2's to Iran and deploying its aircraft carrier off Syria's coast right now.
If you think Hamas was weakened by this in the long term you're in for one hell of a surprise.
"Having achieved its war objectives, Israel must demonstrate that the war was waged against Hamas and not the Palestinian people."
What absolute nonsense.
If Israel's war aims were to destroy Hamas, Israel has failed. Hamas is still in power and the loss of some its leadership has not been enough to degrade its ability to govern.
If Israel's war aims were to eliminate the threat of more rocket firings, Israel has failed. Hamas' capability to shoot rockets was only slightly degraded - and they easily managed to get off some mortar rounds during the cease fire.
If Israel's war aims were to weaken Hamas politically, Israel has failed. Hamas will be seen as the defenders of Gaza and now the rebuilders - already the tunnels that remain functional are back in operation.
The best that can be said is that the engagement reduced the strength of the enemy somewhat, but was not decisive.
And now Mr. Ben-Meir wants the Palestinians to believe that the war was not directed against them! After 1300-some Gazans killed, children burned and a wrecked infrastructure does he seriously believe that? By that logic if Bin Laden said that the attack on the World Trade Center was directed against a corrupt US leadership, the US public would quietly go along. Here's a clue - that isn't the way it played out in New York when Bush gave his speech on the top of the rubble with an approval rating of 87%.
Unbelievable.
Paul, I agree with your comment.
I think Ben Meir has some good ideas but he is incapable, it seems, of taking his arguments to their logical conclusion: the Israeli onslaught on Gaza was a big mistake.
The slaughter of civilians and destruction of their homes and businesses can never encourage a "peace process". Civilians, with reason, believe the bombs were intended for them.
The Israeli government to the people of Gaza. If you continue to support Hamas we will continue to punish you by starvation and bombardment.
It is impressive that Ben-Meir can write, as if he's serious, that important military goals were accomplished here. Lots of Palestinians were killed. Israel showed it was man enough to kill lots of Palestinians. And I suppose Israel could consider it unfortunate that it had to kill so many Palestinians in order to show its willingness to kill lots of Palestinians.
But nobody seriously believes Hamas was weakened by this attack. Hamas lost a small percentage of its fighters. But the number of rockets they actually fire into Israel are not difficult to get through a small number of tunnels. And now Hamas is more popular (and Fatah the only group in a position to to compete with Hamas less popular) than before the incursion. And even the foreign leaders who don't like Hamas, of which there are many, aren't free to be seen as siding with the people who launched the invasion of Gaza over the people who stood up to it and fired throughout. (I know the Hamas standard is the same stupid look how tough we are form of respect, but given that it works to make groups popular among Israelis why should we be surprised the same pseudo-macho crap works with Palestinians.
If anything good comes from the incursion, which is frankly not likely, it's that the Israelis will be willing to pursue the policies they could have pursued without killing more than a thousand people without being afraid of being called weak.
If nothing else, and I doubt there is nothing else, Hamas failed to turn Gaza into a graveyard for the IDF, as it had boasted. And once the emotions from the fighting cool, Hamas will have lost quite a bit of its macho man image on account of that. Beyond that, quite a few Palestinians will remember the misery brought down upon them by the rockets, and Hamas will think three times before risking that again, as Hezbollah now does in Lebannon.
A military policy that leaves adjacent populations in the hands of your sworn enemies is simply dysfunctional.
Classic military-industrial complex behavior - every attack ensures only that another will be required in the future.
Quite a few Palestinians will remember the misery brought down upon them by Israel and will redouble their commitment to the resistance. The Gazans know very well who their jailers and tormentors are. You have to be stuck on stupid to think they will blame their own elected leaders.
Wonderful. Hamas lost its macho man image because Israel managed to kill hundreds of children and injure thousands more. And Hamas was the only group standing in Israel's way. Yeah, I'm sure the Palestinians are just tripping over themselves to remove the single most well-armed and organized defense and resistance they have against Israel.
Gideon Levy, writing for 'Ha'aretz' disagrees:
.....We have not weakened Hamas. The vast majority of its combatants were not harmed and popular support for the organization has in fact increased. Their war has intensified the ethos of resistance and determined endurance. A country which has nursed an entire generation on the ethos of a few versus should know to appreciate that by now. There was no doubt as to who was David and who was Goliath in this war.
Full piece here:
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The emotions from the fighting are still too fresh to determine if what Mr. Levy writes is true. Moreover, it is difficult to tell what things like "ethos of resistance", which sounds very learned, actually means. I doubt it has whetted the Gazan appetite for more missle firings that may put them yet again at risk. Of course, Hamas' tendency to silence any opposition by means of summary, extra-judicial execution may limit how much criticism of Hamas that we hear in the West.
"Of course, Hamas' tendency to silence any opposition by means of summary, extra-judicial execution may limit how much criticism of Hamas that we hear in the West."
Hamas is a terrorist organization - what did you expect?
So why, if the military assaults ultimately strengthened the grip of Hamas on Gaza, does Israel continue with such an obviously counterproductive policy? Especially since the attack on Gaza did nothing to degrade Hamas' ability to fire off rockets - ostensibly the cause of the conflict.
Mr. Ben-Meir thinks it is now just a matter of the proper PR, selling Palestinians on the necessity to destroy Gaza to get at Hamas. But he is delusional.
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