The only durable solution requires dismantling Gaza, humanitarian relocation of the non-belligerent Arab population, and extension of Israeli sovereignty over the region.
– Winston Churchill, May 13, 1940
We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.
– Albert Einstein
At the time of writing this column, ground operations in Gaza were still going on and reports of increasing casualties were coming in with depressing frequency. This should, therefore, be a time for national cohesion and solidarity, with unity and support for the war effort, and criticism of the government suspended.
Sadly, however, the government has given the public little coherent indication of its aims, or of the realities it is striving to create.
Ill-defined and inadequate objectives
Worse, not only is there no clear indication of where the country is going, there seems to be little willingness to recognize how we got here.
In the third week of Operation Protective Edge, the government is still waffling on its objectives. These keep morphing from one vague, vacuous formulation to another, as developments on the battlefield make each succeeding definition of the operation’s goals appear abysmally inadequate and ineffectual.
Initially, the government declared that all it aspired to was to “restore calm” – i.e.
to reinstate the status quo – and if Hamas would cease fire, so would Israel.
Just how myopic that would have been is starkly underscored by what has become chillingly apparent during the operation – the devastating potential of an elaborate tunnel system developed by the terror organizations in Gaza.
Had a cease-fire been implemented in such circumstances, Hamas would have been free to continue developing its deadly subterranean potential, which it could activate at a moment of its choosing.
This appalling prospect makes deeply disturbing questions, regarding the competence and/or judgment of the nation’s leadership, unavoidable, even as the battles rage on. Unless the reasons for the current predicament are understood, no effective remedy can be found.
Deeply disturbing questions
We must weigh the only two possibilities before us: (a) either the government was aware of the deadly menace posed by the network of tunnels; or (b) it wasn’t.
If it was, then willingness to agree to a cease-fire before the danger was eliminated reflects a disturbing readiness to reconcile itself to the dangers and expose the country’s civilian population to murderous consequences in the future.
If it was oblivious to these dangers, this reflects a grave ignorance of deadly threats facing the country, a sign of just how out of touch the leadership of the nation has been with the ominous reality we inhabit.
Although I rarely find occasion to quote Haaretz as a corroborating source, my eye could not help catching the pungent title of a piece written by veteran defense correspondent Amos Harel: “Hamas’ terror tunnels – a national strategic failure for Israel”.
Harel points out: “A week ago, Israel announced its willingness to accept a cease-fire in Gaza… This means one of two things. Either the ministers and generals were willing last week to let these tunnels, every one a ticking bomb, tick softly under kibbutz dining rooms until the next escalation, or they weren’t aware of the seriousness of the risk.”
He continues: “So either they were taking a calculated risk of unusual [read “gigantic” – M.S.] dimensions, or they didn’t have enough intelligence [information] before the operation (which doesn’t quite square with a senior officer’s claim…
that ‘never before has the army had such quality intelligence before an operation’).”
Prescient prediction
It is difficult to accept that the government was totally unaware of Hamas’s tunneling endeavor. As early as 2006, Hamas used a tunnel to abduct Gilad Schalit and kill two of his comrades near Kerem Shalom, eventually attaining the liberation of 1,027 convicted terrorists. Last October, the discovery of an almost 2-km.-long tunnel near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha was widely reported, and according to several sources, its objective was a kindergarten, located close to its exit point, 300 meters inside Israel.
The threat imminent in Hamas’s burrowing enterprise, and the conditions under which it might be employed, were presciently predicted 10 months ago by Harel. In an article, carrying the ominous headline: “Hamas’ strategic tunnels: Millions of dollars to spirit kidnapped Israelis into Gaza” (October 13, 2013), he warned of the likely reaction of Hamas should it feel weakened, precisely what Israeli politicians were crowing about just prior to the current round of violence. He cautioned: “… if Hamas decides to try to overcome its present distress by reigniting the front against Israel, using the tunnels to launch an attack could be one of its main options.”
His prediction proved chillingly precise.
Figuring the flaccidity factor: Impotence not ignorance
Given that it is highly implausible that the government was unaware of the danger looming under its very nose (or rather, feet), how are we to account for the flaccidity of its response – which, but for good fortune, could have precipitated outcomes of unthinkable tragedy.
Former Jerusalem Post Editor in Chief Bret Stephens, in a recent Wall Street Journal piece (July 14), provides a partial explanation for the phenomenon, suggesting that Israel’s “real weakness is a certain kind of vanity that confuses stainlessness with virtue, favors moral self-regard over normal self-interest, and believes in politics as an exercise not in power but in self-examination.”
For all its admirable eloquence, Stephens’s diagnosis relates more to the symptoms of the malaise, rather than its causes.
In numerous columns, I have been at pains to explain the roots of this enervating phenomenon (which I have designated “The Limousine Theory of Israeli politics”) and warned of the ruinous results it will inevitably wreak upon us.
The underlying reason for the inadequate responses to clearly apparent dangers is that Israel’s leaders have been cowered into this moralistic masochism by an aggressive and intolerant triad of left-wing civil society elites (in the legal establishment, the mainstream media and academe), who, through their unelected position of privilege and power, have taken control of the political discourse in the country.
The political discourse determines the elected political leadership’s perception of policy constraints and policy possibilities.
Through dominance of the discourse, these elites can control the parameters of Israeli policy-making and impose their worldview of political appeasement and territorial concessions on it.
Sacrificing lives for a ‘two-state deity’
These elites have, to a large degree, mortgaged their personal prestige and professional positions, and much of their livelihood, to the two-state concept and the land-for-peace doctrine on which it rests.
Were this doctrine to be discredited, all these benefits – material and otherwise – would be jeopardized. They, therefore, have a vested interest in preserving a perception that it is valid – no matter how incongruent with reality and rationality it proves – and must endeavor to prevent the adoption of any policy measures that put paid to the two-state formula.
Since the attainment of strategic victory in Gaza calls for measures that preclude any agreement on a Palestinian state, the policy-relevant discourse, which these elites mold, has been devoted to ridiculing such measures as impractical or infeasible, and to promoting measures that can only bring about a temporary respite to the fighting. These respites have always been exploited by the enemy to enhance its capabilities for the inevitable next round – and the next inevitable batch of casualties.
Oblivious to facts, and impervious to reason, in a desperate attempt to sustain an unworkable paradigm, Israeli left-wing elites perpetuate bout after escalating bout of violence, callously sacrificing ever more lives on the altar of the false deity of twostates- for-two-peoples.
‘Mowing the lawn’ won’t cut it
The reluctance to face unpalatable realities has spawned new terminology to paper over intellectual surrender, and mask unwillingness to accept the need for regrettably harsh but essential policies.
First, we were told that since there was “no solution” to the Israel-Arab conflict, we should adopt an approach of “conflict management” rather than “conflict resolution.”
Now we have a new term in the professional jargon to convey a similar perspective: “mowing the grass.” This is the name for an approach that entails a new round of fighting every time the Palestinian violence reaches levels Israel finds unacceptable.
Its “rationale” – for want of a better term – was recently articulated by Efraim Inbar and Eitan Shamir of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University, as: “The use of force, not intended to attain impossible political goals, but rather [as a] long-term strategy of attrition designed primarily to debilitate the enemy capabilities.”
Sadly, what we have seen is that far from “debilitating the enemy capabilities,” because said enemy keeps reappearing, spoiling for a fight, ever bolder with ever-greater capabilities.
It is an open question just how many more rounds of “mowing” the residents of southern Israel will endure before losing confidence that the government will provide adequate protection and choose to evacuate the area.
No, periodically mowing the lawn is not a policy that can endure for long – it simply will not cut it. The grass needs to be uprooted – once and for all.
Gaza: What would Einstein say?
Albert Einstein famously said that one could not solve a problem with the level of thinking that created it.
Clearly, the problem of Gaza was created by the belief that land could be transferred to the Palestinian Arabs to provide them a viable opportunity for self-governance.
Equally clearly, then, the problem of Gaza cannot be solved by persisting with ideas that created it – i.e. persisting with a plan for Israel to provide the Palestinian Arabs with land for self-governance.
The problem can only be solved by entirely abandoning the concept that Gaza should be governed by Palestinian Arabs. Any effective solution must follow this new line of reasoning.
Any other outcome will merely prolong the problem. If Hamas comes out stronger from this round of fighting, it will be only a matter of time before the next, probably more deadly, round breaks out.
If Hamas comes out weaker from this round of fighting, it is only a matter of time before it will be replaced by an even more violent extremist-successor – and thus, once more, only a matter of time until the next, probably more deadly, round breaks out.
The only durable solution requires dismantling Gaza, humanitarian relocation of the non-belligerent Arab population, and extension of Israeli sovereignty over the region.
That is the only approach that can solve the problem of Gaza.
That is the only approach that will eliminate the threat to Israel continually issuing from Gaza.
That is the only approach that will extricate the non-belligerent Palestinians from the clutches of the cruel, corrupt cliques who led them astray for decades.
That is the only approach that will preclude a need for Israel to “rule over another people.”
Gaza: What would Herbert Hoover say?
Former US President Herbert Hoover, dubbed the “Great Humanitarian” for his efforts to relieve famine in Europe after WWI, wrote in The Problems of Lasting Peace: “Consideration should be given even to the heroic remedy of transfer of populations…the hardship of moving is great, but it is [still] less than the constant suffering of minorities and the constant recurrence of war.”
How could anyone, with any degree of compassion and humanity, disagree?
Martin Sherman (www.martinsherman.org) is the founder and executive director of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies.www.martinsherman.net
dweller Said:
I can not agree more!!!!! Thanks for your insight.
@ yamit82:
The Sears-Roebuck Catalog?
@ yamit82:
In part, yes, I do; most definitely.
In fact, I almost said so directly, but then thought better of it; wouldn’t want to send you into shock.
Your protestations were entirely to be expected, and you came in right on cue. But then, you’ve had so many rehearsals, you could do it in your sleep. (Come to think of it, you probably did do it in your sleep.)
Well, you have that much in common with Patrick Buchanan. But you’re (both) also fullovit in that respect.
You are confusing “Judaism’ w/ the Jewish People in re this concept.
— Identity theft is quite real, but the theft was/is not that of the identity of ‘Judaism,’ but of the identity of THE JEWISH PEOPLE (as heirs to the Promises of haShem, and therefore to its patronomy as part of that heritage).
You’ve persuaded yourself of that, because it feeds your hungry paranoia — but it simply does not square with the history & development of the grafting concept.
The idea of the “grafting” of the wild olive branch onto the cultivated olive tree [Rom 11] — viz., the “grafting” of gentile followers of (what was known at the time only as) “The Way” onto the primarily non-particularistic elements of Jewish belief — was first committed to writing at a time substantially PRIOR to even the earliest minor separation between what came to be known, a couple centuries later, as “Judaism” & “Christianity.”
— Remember that Paul (the author of Romans) was executed a few yrs BEFORE the outbreak of haMered haGadol, the 1st Jewish-Roman War [AD 66-73] — thus, everything he wrote was written while the Temple was still standing.
@ the phoenix:
Funny boy, where do you find this stuff.
yamit82 Said:
Will Obama and the boys are selling arm to Qatar.
bernard ross Said:
Drats.. 🙁
@ yamit82:
http://youtu.be/mMSHOPkcVv8
@ 0:27
@ bernard ross:
@ the phoenix:
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Observation: Why did PM Netanyahu agree to indefinitely freeze destruction of the tunnels?
Observation: Why did PM Netanyahu agree to indefinitely freeze destruction
of the tunnels?
Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 27 July 2014
Late Friday night, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yaalon
decided to accept a humanitarian ceasefire during which the IDF would notdetonate any explosives. The only way to destroy the tunnels is withexplosives.
The ceasefire has already been extended twice by the Security Cabinet.
Unlike the earlier humanitarian pauses that were clearly to be of limited duration when they were agreed to, it is the hope and intention of the
international community that this humanitarian ceasefire will be extended until a long term ceasefire is established.
Simply put: By accepting this principle for this humanitarian ceasefire, PM
Netanyahu has set the precedent that Israel will accept conditions under which the tunnels are never destroyed.
Why did he do it?
Possibility #1: Washington came up with such a good threat that PM
Netanyahu felt compelled to give in.
Speculation regarding the nature of the threat ranges from having the FAA
renew the ban of flights to Ben Gurion to American support for a
“humanitarian flotilla” of supply ships that would offload in Gaza.
Problem: If the threat works once it will be repeated over and over again.
That’s the way blackmail works.
Possibility #2: Prime Minister Netanyahu is convinced that if conditions
prevent Israel from destroying the tunnels that the international community
will allow Israel to establish a buffer zone within the Gaza Strip so that
instead of blowing up the tunnels and leaving, the IDF will continually
operate in the buffer zone, seeking out and sealing up tunnels as they are
discovered.
Problem: Is it reasonable to make decisions now based on the assumption
that the United States – or anyone else in the world community – will
support such an arrangement?
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA ________________________________________
IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis
yamit82 Said:
with kerry on their side they may still yet lose
yamit82 Said:
perhaps we should be grateful to Kerry for giving hamas hope that its demands would be met and thus prolonging the war.
I would like to say this was a wily and canny move on the part of the USA but…………..
yamit82 Said:
perhaps these “missionaries” are cia spies who feed info to hamas. Perhaps they use the “mission” as cover to collect info on Iron dome firings. they should be arrested and questioned and investigated.
yamit82 Said:
beat you to this article 😛
https://www.israpundit.org/archives/63598562/comment-page-1#comment-63356000134216
Where did Hamas get all that concrete for the Tunnels???
Some Concrete Facts About Hamas
Hamas Planned Rosh Hashana Tunnel Surprise
Hamas had been preparing a murderous massive assault on Israeli civilian targets during the upcoming Jewish New Year holiday, Rosh Hashanah – according to anonymous sources in the Israeli security services cited by the Israeli daily Maariv.
UPDATED: Major Car Bomb Attack Averted at Beitar Checkpoint
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTF6SxHOfis
Hamas to Buy N. Korean Weapons as Kerry Pledges $47 Million in Gaza Aid
Wouldn’t a direct wire transfer from the White House to Pyongyang have saved on the wire transfer fees? 🙂
Abbas fumes at Kerry over alternative ceasefire bid
PA president believes the US secretary of state has ‘subjected Palestinian blood to regional power struggles,’ Palestinian official tells Arab daily
Must read:!!!
Kerry ceasefire proposal “was everything Hamas could have hoped for” (Updates)
Hamas has won.
bernard ross Said:
Dalan was the Fatah strong man and head of security in Gaza under Arafat. One of the instigators of the 2nd intifada but quite friendly with senior IDF officers and Shabak heads. He was a partner with hisIsraeli counterparts in creating monopolies on his side of the Gaza Israel divide with israeli monopolists on our side. He was mister go to as far as Israel ws concerned but as corrupt as any Mafia Don. The Hamas threw him and his cadres out of Gaza and threw the rest off the tallest building in Gaza. Does anyone today really believe the people in Gaza except his family clan will take him back???
@ yamit82:
This. Is. Insane. !!!!
Here is a talkback from this link:
Meyer’s solution should be a good start!
Missionaries Harassing IDF Soldiers Manning Iron Dome
IDF soldiers fighting the battle against Hamas are being forced into another battle – against missionaries. ‘They’ve crossed a red line’.
yamit82 Said:
what could possibly explain this odd behavior?
deposing hamas likely results in reinstalling PA and the agreements in place immediately after disengagement and prior to hamas takeover.
I have read that Sisi wants dahlan who is in opposition to
Abbas. I wonder if Dahlan would relate gaza more to Egypt than the PA?
@ Ted Belman:
Couple of points.
BB is adverse to conflict either political or military. He didn’t want to get into this thing in the first place and did all he could to avoid an open military fight with Hamas.
Once in he set very minimal war aims like quiet for quiet.. At each stage from no choice he had to escalate just a bit but if you notice eliminating or stopping the rockets are no longer a main war aim of BB and IDF. Tunnels have replaced the Rockets as primary targets and war aims of BB.
He has gone out of his way not to degrade Hamas by attacking their radio and TV stations transmitters and antennas. He has not turned of the electricity of interfered with their telecommunications. He has not held up transfer payment to Abbas PA who gives about a third to Hamas.
He has not set as a war aim the heads of the Hamas political establishment even though the IDF know which bunkers they are hiding in. (Like under the Shiffa hospital in Gaza City). I suppose he never heard of Bunker-busting Munitions. Beheading the political and military leadership will end this quick and at min. risk to our boys and min damage to the population of Gaza and their property.
Sissi would have had their heads long ago.
Seems BB’s end game is to preserve Hamas and basic status quo ante while downgrading Hamas for a time.
I can tell you that if he quits without eliminating the threat and risks coming from Gaza his political future is over. A third of the country will want his and his weak yes man flunkies who support him hung out to dry and you can use your imagination How.
@ dweller:
So you agree with me. 😛
Except that you are wrong in claiming a Judeo-christian ethic. There is no such animal!!
There is a Jewish ethic and a christian one and America is not based on anything specifically Jewish. The term is a christian invention to further their identity theft of Judaism and to further graft themselves into Judaism so as to eliminate the theological differences between Jews and christians in favor of christians.
@ AbbaGuutuu:
You’re correct to note the inexperience of the administration as explaining its incompetence.
But there is also a qualitative DIFFERENCE between this one & (all) the previous ones.
This one hates America — hates everything it stands for; sees it as purely the product of ‘theft,’ and nothing but.
Unlike the previous ones, this one wants to see America taken down a peg or three.
This administration is malevolent toward the American idea, the American culture & the Judeo-Christian ethic..
Hence it quite naturally hates Israel as well.
Howard Stern [!] told a caller just the other day, “Anybody who hates Israel, hates America.”
Incredible analysis and the right solution.
The article is absolutely brilliant! Mr.Sherman is not alone – Moshe Feiglin suggests the same.
yamit82 Said:
What concrete proof do you have to say so? There is probability for Gaza residents to learn their lessons the hard way once Hamas and other jihadists are routed out and Gaza demilitarized. Their hatred for Hamas and other jihadists that brought a disaster to them would increase thereby forcing them to elect others who may want to coexist with Israel peacefully.
yamit82 Said:
If you look at the background of most officials of the current US Administration, they do not have an experience for their respective positions (that includes BHO).
Ted Belman Said:
Ted, I wish everything you and Sherman suggest could be carried out immediately so that Israel could live in peace.
Does the Israeli public have a desire to assume the role of ‘occupier” in Gaza? Does Israel have a will to destroy Hamas and other jihadits? I know it has the ability to do so.
Where to send the Palestinian Arabs and will they be welcomed by other countries? Given the prejudices and hatred of most countries of the world, and the questionable friendship of the current US Administration with Israel – will Israel be able to implement all the stuff mentioned by Sherman by overcoming international pressure on its own?
Sherman is right. Its not enough to disarm them but we must also send them away. There is no future for Gaza being as crowded as it is. It must be vacated and returned to Israel.
AbbaGuutuu Said:
You are wrong…
Why do you assume that the US Admin is incompetent instead of deviously competent and actually achieving their policy aims and agendas? Bush was incompetent and Clinton was incompetent but not so Obama. He is doing exactly what he aimed for.
Sherman tells the truth. It is not politically correct but it is logical. This is a horrible problem and to solve it takes an out of the box solution. This will be hard to implement because the pro Palestinian crowd will call Israel many nasty names. This has become a zero sum game. Us or them here and they only want our destruction and co-existence has become impossible. I choose us over them it is that simple. If I am not for myself than who am I for?
Re-occupying Gaza will definitely eliminate a threat that could come from Hamas and other terrorists in the Gaza strip. However, it would be too costly to administer. Taking the responsibility of administering Gaza would consume more of Israel’s resources and undermines its ability to deal with Hezbollah, Iran, etc. effectively. Once Hamas and other jihadist are completely routed out and their infrastructures destroyed, with demilitarized Gaza, there is possibility for its residents not reelect the likes of Hamas (I could be wrong in this). Given an increase in anti-Semitism all over the world; hatred from most member countries of the UN; the incompetency of the current US Administration in international relations; reoccupation of Gaza may not be feasible. If those in Israeli leadership agree to the stuff laid out in the above article (taking into account its pros and cons), I will wholeheartedly support them in every way possible.