| October 15, 2023 by Victor Rosenthal
At this moment, the IDF is poised to begin a ground invasion of Gaza. The objectives of the campaign, however, have not been spelled out with sufficient clarity by the political echelon, other than by saying that Hamas will be eliminated as a military threat and sovereign power in Gaza. The following are my ideas of appropriate short and long-term goals for the IDF.
The first and highest-priority objective must be the restoration of Israel’s honor and power of deterrence in the Middle East. This is the part that is the most difficult to understand for the West, particularly by the elites in the US and Europe, but it is an existential condition for the survival of our state. A person or a nation without honor will not live long in this region. What was done to us, what we allowed to be done to us, was so shameful that today we stand naked, a target for anyone who wants to kill us, to invade our country, to take our property, to defile our women, to enslave our children. You can say that this point of view is atavistic and uncivilized, and perhaps it is when compared to the (supposedly) morally evolved West, but we live in the Middle East, not in Europe or America.* The law here is not the post-1945 international law of the West, it is a code that has evolved in the harsh conditions of the region over millennia. It has been impossible until now for our own Israeli elites to internalize this, but one hopes that the viciousness of the attack on us – the worst since the founding of the state and the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust – will shake them out of their dream of living in a villa in the jungle. So what does this imply for the IDF’s short-term objectives? I see it this way: all important Hamas leaders, wherever they are, and every commander, soldier, and civilian that took part in the terrorist attack should be killed. Not “brought to justice,” not captured and tried for war crimes, not imprisoned. Killed. Overall Gazan casualties will need to reach a level of ten times more than the number of Israelis murdered and violated. There are other important objectives for the invasion, like the rescue of hostages and the destruction of weapons and military infrastructure, but the recovery of honor – revenge, if you insist – must be top priority. Only thus can the appropriate message be sent to all the players in the region, and the rest of the world. The long-term objective must be to ensure that this cannot happen again. And from a strategic standpoint, that implies that Israel must either implement a military occupation capable of controlling the population and preventing the rise of a new terrorist regime, or she must force a change in the population to one that will not become a threat. Most of our leadership believes that an occupation is untenable. It would tie down a large part of our army, be very expensive, and provide a focus for continued terrorism and insurrections. But at the same time they shrink from the alternative. Population transfer is anathema to the West, despite the fact that they’ve done it countless times in the past. But the tribal nature of humans implies that it is often an absolute condition for peace. Antagonistic tribes must be separated by natural barriers that make predation difficult or impossible. The Gaza Envelope – the location of the Israeli communities next door to Gaza – is not viable for Jews unless the hostile Arab population is removed or somehow prevented from attacking them. Israel built a barrier above and below the ground at a cost of a billion dollars. Sophisticated sensors above ground and hundreds of tons of concrete below were intended to provide a sense of safety to the people on the Israeli side. But like all Maginot lines, simple and inexpensive ways were found to bypass it, and Hamas brought death and destruction to the Jewish farmers who had trusted their leaders to protect them. Some of our leadership seems to believe that we can sail peacefully between the Scylla of occupation and the Charybdis of transfer. The Americans are promising that they will help us bribe the Palestinian Authority to take control and that will solve the problem. The foolishness (or malevolence) of this plan is so obvious that only the most deluded or corrupt Israeli could accept it. As if the murderous Fatah would be a better neighbor than the murderous Hamas! No Jew will return to live in the Gaza envelope while Gaza remains populated by Arabs. Not one. Are we prepared to give up the Negev? That is, in essence, what the Americans are asking in return for their ammunition and diplomatic support. On Friday I explained that Israel should force the major part of the Gazan population into the Sinai, where they will become the responsibility of the international community, which created the problem in the first place. The area should be secured by the development of Jewish settlements, and ultimately become a part of Israel. And for the sake of justice, land in Gaza and financial aid should be provided to the descendants of those Jews who were so cruelly expelled from their homes there in 2005. __________________ |
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The US wants Israel to sacrifice the lives of its people to clear out Gaza for the Arab state:
He [Biden] says an Israeli re-occupation of Gaza would be a “big mistake.”
“There needs to be a Palestinian authority, there needs to be a Palestinian state,” he says.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/biden-israel-must-eliminate-hamas-but-path-to-palestinian-statehood-also-needed/
@Edgar Factually true, but this is the way people talk, and nobody but us will even know who are what we are referring to if we don’t use the language they know.
Moreover, the “Palestinians” – however recent their manufacture or the stolen coinage of the term – are, at this point in time, a distinct group that has members all over the world acting as members of a singular group.
If they are a “people” at this point, it’s one that needs to be dissolved and dispersed. “Blotted out from under heaven.” On that I’m sure we agree. But they do, unfortunately exist separately from other Arabs now and must be dealt with as such. In fact, the Abraham Accords would make no sense without that recognition. In a sense, there is a certain poetic justice to them appropriating them name of our historic enemies the Philistines, even though they were Greek. And they deserve the same fate. Better, yet, call them Amelekites.
Reader I sadly agree with you
@Reader No, this in line with the strategy to drive the Arabs out of Gaza City, which is on Israel’s border to give the IDF more latitude. As Ted once put it, you can’t suck and blow at the same time. Then, they will be massed on Egypt’s border. They are being forced to flee South towards Egypt.
Michael S true dat
Israel already caved in:
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378577
CNN reported today that “Biden warns Israel against occupying Gaza, as ground invasion appears near”. They further reported that in a “60 Minutes” segment aired Sunday, Biden said it would be a “big mistake” for Israel to occupy Gaza, even as a humanitarian crisis grows… Biden has called for the protection of civilians. Biden told interviewer Scott Pelly that “Hamas doesn’t represent all the Palestinian people”.
So, now we know what side the US (led by Biden) is on. What allies does Israel have who can give assistance? Maybe it was best said 2700 years ago:
21 Now, hinei, thou trustest upon the mishenet (staff) of this bruised reed, even upon Mitzrayim, on which if a man lean, it will go into his yad (hand), and pierce it; so is Pharaoh Melech Mitzrayim unto all that depend on him. Melachim Bais 18:21 Orthodox Jewish Bible
I think that we need to first eliminate Hezb (and Iran) then complete our mission in Gaza. A pulsed electrical attack over Teheran and Beirut as a pre-emptive strike should keep them off balance ling enough to do what needs to be done in Gaza. The go full blown on diplomatic offensive accusing Egypt and Gulf states as inhumane allowing their own people to suffer and starve at their doors
Raphael,
Count most US Jews, in the “morally superior” crowd. They have been destroying the US with their open borders, full-term abortions, transgenderism and all manner of craziness — all in the name of “tikkun olam”. They want to “fix the world”. Hopefully, God will still have time to “fix” them, beginning with their above-average-IQ brains.
EvRe1
You have a baad habit.
Get it into your head ONCE and for ALL time that there are NO. repeat, NO such creatures as a Palestine People. They are plain Arabs,
They are YESHA Arabs, They are Gaza Arabs-actually Egyptian Arabs-
But NO Palestine Arabs.
Palestine as a name for Israel became defunct in 1948 after a long period given to Yahuda by the Romans as a stamping out of Jewish pride and rebellion.
Remember. .there are NO “Palestinians” never were. Also there is NO “West Bank” except during the 19 year occupation by Jordan in 1948.
I don’t know what will ultimately happen to Gazans and Palestinians living in Judea and Samaria.
From this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOzDWjDz8Hs
I am learning about the unity in Israel. There are Israelis coming back to Israel from around the world. People are sending money from around the world.
The number of people serving in this military campaign is around 300,000. Already. It is very unusual to be able to mobilize these kinds of numbers so quickly, but Israelis are pouring in to army bases all over Israel.
I have learned that Israeli special forces have liberated a large number of hostages from Gaza.
From this video I learned that Gaza has fallen.
400 Hamas have been taken prisoner. The top commander of Hamas was killed, Moussa Nasir.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDH64LBIGYg
This video also claimed that Iran has spoken with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, and is trying to unite all the Muslim countries of the Middle East into a war with Israel. Turkey has offered to fight on the side of the Palestinians, if President Erdogan agrees to do so. Turkey is a NATO member, so this might be a problem for NATO. The US aircraft carrier in the region is meant to convey a warning to Iran not to attack Israel.
Despite the Muslim world outside of the Middle East conveying their support for the genocidal maniacs in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, and the West Bank Palestinians, Israel is already meeting the attack, defeating Hamas forces, and deterring missiles from Hizb’allah.
Ooo, the West, especially the “morally superior” Europeans, aren’t going to like this at all. The rest of the non-west world isn’t going to like it either, but probably not on moral grounds.
Vic, the objective in Gaza is correct but the question the War Cabinet together with the IDF need to answer is do we take care of the Hezis and Iran first and then go in on the ground in Gaza.
The biggest danger at this point is the Hezis. Preemptive massive airstrike would reduce their capabilities to attack Israel. I will not get into what a whole battle plan should like but that is what the War Cabinet needs to decide now!