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| Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar (CNN) |
That being said, it appears to me that it is time for Israel to end this war. A couple of months ago a Charedi friend of mine living in Israel happened to speak to an IDF soldier that had just returned from combat in the heart of Gaza. He told my friend that Hamas was ‘Tzeshmettered’ - Yiddish for utterly demolished! There was not a hint of them anywhere as any sort of organized military force. Any violence occurring by a member of Hamas was by individuals or gangs of individuals planning things for themselves. Without any kind of higher command structure. He saw nothing but pure devastation in Gaza.
I know the prime minister keeps talking about Israel winning the war and fighting until they do. But if what that soldier saw is accurate, what is it that Netanyahu is actually looking for that he can call a victory? The idea of wiping out every single member of Hamas is very likely impossible. And even if it is possible, it would at the very least require an endless war with increasingly more Palestinian civilians being killed per Hamas terrorist.
That would continue to feed the worlds perception/obsession that Israel is guilty of genocide and will increase US consternation over ‘too many civilians being killed’. As well as creating more sympathy for Palestinians protestors seeking Israel’s demise. And perhaps more importantly more IDF Jewish blood would be spilled.
And then there is the ‘little’ matter of the remaining hostages. The idea of a special forces type rescue seems to be increasingly unlikely. It worked once. But the next time it was tried the hostages were slaughtered by their captors before the special forces got to them.
Ideally, of course, with Hamas in this condition they should have raised the white flag a long time ago. But ideologues like Hamas that are willing to both die and kill innocents for the cause will never surrender.
Maybe its time for Israel to make a cease fire deal with Hamas for the release of the hostages and declare victory. The hostages in exchange for a permanent cease fire. Israel withdraws from Gaza and both sides would have to abide by the cease fire. As soon as Hamas or any Jihadist group in Gaza breaks it - as they always have in the past - Israel can start re-bombing Gaza full force again.
Prime Minister Netanyahu insistence on continuing the war could very well be for the right reasons. But his enemies and protestors are certain that he is doing it to stay in power.
I don’t think those two reasons are mutually exclusive. But there are several news items that make me wonder if his critics haven’t been right all along. Two are from a publication called World Israel News, an unabashedly right wing publications that strongly supports the Prime Minister. The first one reads as follows:
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed a document on Wednesday written by the now-deceased Hamas military commander in Gaza to Yahya Sinwar describing the “difficult situation” the military wing of the terror group faces.
The former commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, Rafa’a Salameh, who was killed with Mohammed Deif in an airstrike in July, wrote to Sinwar, “We have lost 90-95% of our rocket capabilities, and we have lost some 60% of our weapons.”
The letter continued, “We have lost at least 65-70% of our anti-tank launchers and rockets, and most importantly, we have lost at least 50% of our fighters between those who are martyred and wounded, and now we are left with 25%. ”
Salameh added, “The last 25% of our people have reached a situation where the people do not tolerate them anymore, and they are broken on a mental or physical level.”
Gallant pointed out that the letter emphasizes that even Hamas’s most senior commanders have reached a breaking point.
This resonates with what that IDF soldier told my friend. Hamas is Tzeshmettered’.
Then there is the following very sad story:
The IDF confirmed on Tuesday that three of the five dead hostages it recovered in Gaza City in December were killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Previously, the IDF reported recovering the five bodies, describing the cause of death of two of them while only hinting at the circumstances surrounding the other three deceased hostages.
In similar circumstances, the IDF blames Hamas for the deaths, but in this case, the indictment against the terror group was absent, with reports that airstrikes may have been the cause but with no confirmation of this.
The confirmation arrived between Monday and Tuesday when Israel’s military revealed the fact to the families of the deceased before releasing it to the public.
Coupled with the fallen IDF soldiers in Gaza, the nearly year long hostage crisis, and the terrible – if unjustified – PR Israel is getting worldwide about its conduct in the war, I think the time has come to end it. The war has gone on long enough. At this point it is becoming counterproductive.
Again, I am no privy to the military intelligence information that a sitting prime minister is. But I am fully aware that his extremist right wing coalition partners led by Ben-Gvir and Smotrich have threatened to bring down the government if Netanyahu makes a cease fire deal with Hamas. I am also aware of what the polls in Israel are saying if the elections were held today. Matzav synopsized it in a recent headline:
DISASTER POLL: Likud Would Only Receive 22 Seats, Opposition Reaches 61 without Arab Parties
I’m not saying that Netanyahu is deliberately prolonging the war exclusively for his own benefit. What I am saying is that it could very well be coloring his perception of what the right thing to do is.
The most important thing for me is the safety of the Israeli people. Israel must do whatever it takes to protect its people. Normally I leave that up to those in leadership. They are closest to the situation and in the best position to make the right decisions.
I have been a strong supporter of Israel’s conduct in the war thus far. And categorically rejected all the unfair criticism of Israel by people that are either ignorant or have an anti Israel or anti Netanyahu agenda.
However, admittedly as an outsider looking from afar, based on all the above, I have to ask, is prolonging the war still in Israel’s best interests? Is it productive toward safeguarding the lives of the over 6 million Jews living there? Or is it counterproductive?