The recent fighting between Hamas and a Fatah-linked clan in Gaza reminds us that Hamas is not sitting still, but rather is steadily pursuing its aims, rearming, training, consolidating. What does this mean for the “two-state” plan which is given at least lip service by the Israeli government, and which is an article of faith for most liberals and centrists in the US — including the two presidential candidates? What does it mean for those who think that “ending the occupation” is a prerequisite of peace?
Elder of Ziyon wrote,
What is striking is that of all the players in the Arab/Israeli conflict, Hamas and Hezbollah (as Iranian proxies) seem to be the only ones with real plans, strategies and the ability to follow through. The current Israeli government’s strategy is more based on wishful thinking plus some IDF contingency plans, and the Palestinian Authority [PA] has long ago become a joke.
Hamas, though, knows what it wants: it already replaced Gaza with an Islamic state, and it is mopping up any leftover opposition. It plans to take over the West Bank as well.
If, G-d forbid, Israel abandons large areas of the West Bank to Hamas, it really will become another Gaza. Anything Israel does to defend itself from the inevitable rockets will involve civilian deaths. Giving the Palestinian Arabs a state wouldn’t slow Hamas down – on the contrary, it would accelerate Hamas’ reaching its goals. Hamas’ prestige will grow and affect Jordan as well as Egypt, and Israel will literally be surrounded by Iranian proxies.
Liberals scoff that Israel doesn’t face a real existential threat from what are dismissively described as a few kids with stones, but the real threat is what I’ve described – at least two Iranian proxy armies on Israel’s doorstep from the south, east and north.
And the only thing that can stop this sequence of events is Israeli “occupation,” which, from decades of propaganda, is regarded as evil incarnate.
— Elder of Ziyon, “The Hamas threat to the West Bank – and Israel“
For those who want to help ‘solve the problem’ in the region today, here’s a quick primer on what the problem isn’t and is:
- It isn’t checkpoints or the security barrier.
- It isn’t Israel building houses inside existing settlements or Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.
- It isn’t the closure of Gaza crossings (can you imagine the result if Israel allowed Hamas operatives to cross freely into Israel?).
- It especially isn’t ‘The Occupation’.
- Rather, it is Iran’s attempt to destroy Israel and kill its Jewish inhabitants by means of its Hamas and Hezbollah proxies.
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