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| Hamas official promising to do it again and again (TOI) |
It is literally a ‘them or us’ situation. And it is certainly not one of our own making. It is embedded into the theology of Hamas to restore the glory if Islam in all of Palestine and to remove any and all obstacles toward that end. Including the genocide of all 7 million Jewish residents in Israel is if that is what it takes. That’s why they kept screaming ‘God is Great’ throughout their barbaric October 7th rampage!
The Israeli people know that. That is what they overwhelmingly support Israel’s goal of eradicating Hamas. Thankfully so does the President. Even now under the increasing world wide pressure calling for a cease fire. Even though it has caused Biden the Palestinian vote in the next election, he has not wavered. He is a man of principle and does not buckle under pressure. For this we owe the President a tremendous Hakoras HaTov - recognizing with gratitude his support for the Jewish people.
That he has some views we differ with does not nor should not detract from that. His misguided (and possibly politically motivated) ideas about what should come after - should not deter us from expressing our gratitude for what he is doing now.
On the other hand there is the ‘little’ matter of the hostages. According to recent reports there are just over100 hostages still alive being held captive. Sadly 32 have apparently died in captivity.
As things stand now, these two goals conflict with each other. Hamas wants to live to fight another day so they can complete their ‘holy’ mission to retrieve Palestine from the Jews who have no place in their land. Toward that end - in exchange for the release of all the hostages - they are currently demanding a 135 day cease fire, the release of 500 named imprisoned Palestinians – many of whom have blood on their hands; that the cease fire lead to a complete withdrawal of the IDF; and a negotiated permanent end to the hostilities.
To the chagrin of hostage families, the Prime Minister flatly rejected this offer and said he will continue the was until the goal of eradicating Hamas (or at least their ability to function as a threat) is completed. To his credit, Secretary of State Antony Blinken understands that some of these Hamas demands are indeed non starters.
But what about the hostages? Should their lives come first? And thereby allow 7 million Israelis to live under the threat of another October 7th? …fearing their own annihilation - if Hamas is spared because of the hostages? (Which is their open goal.)
If the hostages come first, then Israel must agree to the Hamas conditions for their full release. I don’t see Hamas settling for much less than what they are asking for. A cease fire of that duration will allow them to rebuild the infrastructure they lost during the war. And rebuild their terrorist ‘army’ with the more than willing Palestinian recruits.
The idea that they included a permanent end to the hostilities is laughable. What they really want is a permanent end to a cease fire only from Israel. And then they will eventually do what they always do... what they openly promise to continue to do. You cannot believe a single word they say.
If Hamas were to, God forbid, succeed in their ultimate goal, the released hostages would suffer the same fate as the rest of Israel.
That being the case, families of those hostages nonetheless want them to be released. Whatever it takes. And I don’t blame them. If they were my family, I would feel the same way. But what abut the increased existential threat that agreeing to their terms would entail? Does this mean we give up on the hostages? Are they to be sacrificed for the far greater existential good?
This is the rock and the hard place I was talking about. Going with one option might mean giving up the other. As I said a while back it is a sort of Sophie’s Choice. That was the case then. And it is still the case now.
The best solution I can hope for is that Israel negotiate for the best deal they can for the hostages and then finish the job. Even if it means breaking any kind of deal they would make with Hamas for a permanent cease fire.
I have absolutely no compunction about breaking a promise to a terrorist organization whose religious goal is to destroy the Jewish people; have promised to do so; and began doing it on October 7th in the most barbaric way imaginable. Terrorists who believe as a religious imperative that they can sacrifice their own people – including women and children - as human shields.
The world will yell at us about that? What else is new? Those terrorists brutally slaughtered 1200 Jews, raped and killed many Jewish women, and took Jewish hostages as leverage to achieve their aims. All to the cheers of their fellow citizens in Gaza. The world wants to condemn Israel for breaking a cease fire?
How many times over the years has Hamas broken a cease fire by sending tens of thousands of rockets indiscriminately into Israel? Where was their condemnation then? And October 7th wasn’t breaking a cease fire?! And yet a far more common than a condemnation oi even that were comments like ‘This didn’t happen in a vacuum!’ Which in essence blamed Israel for their own massacre!
Let the world yell all they want. I don’t care. I will not lose any sleep over their condemnations. Nor am I worried that Israel would lose US support because of that. While the US may criticize Israel for breaking a cease fire - they will not break relations with them for that. Israel is too important an ally.
Hamas started this war and, God willing, Israel is going to finish it.
I only wish that instead of demanding Israel cease fire, that they were demanding Hamas release the hostages.. Other that Secretary Blinken and another White House official, I haven’t heard any of Israel’s ‘friends’ demanding that! Not even once.