harry rakowski: why a ceasefire may be in israel's best interests
a full-scale ground assault on rafah is exactly what hamas wants. israel must not play into its hands
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israeli soldiers work on their tanks in a army camp near israel's border with the gaza strip on april 8.
menahem kahana/afp
the war in gaza and the horrible number of casualties it has caused are the result of hamas’s determination to destroy israel. the oct. 7 massacre, torture and rape of innocent civilians is simply another example of what israel faces in its ongoing struggle for survival. hamas and other iranian proxies, such as hezbollah, remain an existential threat to the existence of the jewish state.
israel had two goals at the start of the war: freeing as many hostages as possible and degrading hamas’s ability to attack israel again. it required a major air and land campaign in a densely populated region, against an enemy that’s quite comfortable maximizing civilian casualties.
it required finding and destroying hundreds of kilometres of underground tunnels.; attacking hospitals and civilian facilities that hamas callously used to store weapons and to act as bases of operations; and fighting an enemy whose goal was to galvanize world opinion against israel.
israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu’s stated goal of eliminating the remaining four hamas battalions requires an assault on rafah, which is now home to about 1.4-million palestinians.
however, attacking rafah without protecting its population plays into hamas’s hands. the world will ignore the care that israel takes to protect the lives of non-combatants and only see the damage that has occurred.
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wars need to be fought with clear goals and effective tactics. in his book “the art of war,” sun tzu, the legendary chinese general, wrote, “the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him … all men can see the tactics whereby i conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.”
he also wrote, “he will win when he knows when to fight and when not to fight.”
now is not the time to try and fight a brutal war that results in high casualties and the starvation of the civilians who are trapped in the area. that is the war hamas wants, in order to further poison world opinion against israel and stoke the flames of global antisemitism.
the war and its suffering may not be israel’s fault, but it is in its interests to show both its friends, and the hypocrites who judge it, that it is the only humane democracy in the middle east. thus, a negotiated ceasefire needs to be a priority.
as frustrating as it will be to not eliminate all those who started this conflict, it is important to focus on what victory for israel truly means. even if it wipes out the remaining hamas fighters, unless there is a plan for a durable peace, gazans will simply join a terrorist group by another name.
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rather than another ground assault, the focus should be on getting aid to the palestinians, while ensuring that supplies are not diverted to hamas.
the u.s. and its allies, along with friendly countries in the region, should help broker a deal to release the remaining hostages. it may require a prisoner swap, or even the safe passage out of gaza for hamas’s leaders. as unpalatable as that may seem, one day those leaders will get their due.
priority must also be placed on establishing a system of government that will serve the people of gaza, and allow them to prosper if they forgo their hatred of israel. it won’t be easy, but it has to be done.
ultimately, israel’s future security must be a top priority. a security perimeter that protects israel from future attacks will be a necessity. israel will also need to have access to sufficient arms to protect itself from its enemies, and will need to reserve the right to engage in targeted attacks against hamas until a ceasefire is in place, as well as in the future, if the ceasefire is violated.
israel is highly effective at precision bombing and search-and-destroy missions. the recent attack on an iranian commander in syria is an example of how israel can act on critical intelligence and carry out a carefully targeted mission.
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israel’s security will also require reining in iran and preventing it from rearming palestinian terrorists. and it will require peace accords with saudi arabia and other willing arab states to build a coalition against iran’s regional ambitions. this is the strategy for true victory and future peace.
israel grew out of the ashes of the holocaust, to provide a jewish homeland that was to be an oasis of strength in a challenging world.
theodor herzl’s vision was that, “we shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and in our own homes peacefully die. the world will be liberated by our freedom, enriched by our wealth, magnified by our greatness. and whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind.”
however challenging it is to fulfill this dream, surrounded by enemies who yearn for israel’s destruction, it remains the best path to victory, peace and israel’s security.
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