Israel and by extension the U.S. are making deals with people whose only goal is to destroy Israel and the West.
Imagine Coca-Cola and Pepsi engaging in negotiations to make a new, joint product. The teams are made up of lawyers and business people. Looking at them, one realizes that those representing the two competing companies are very similar. All of those present went to top colleges, some of them went to Ivy League law and business schools. They all make about the same amount of money, their politics are similar, and some even live in the same neighborhoods. Even if the negotiations fail, there is enough commonality between the players that they can understand and respect each other.
Now, let’s think a little bit about negotiating with Hamas, something that Israel has done many times—indirectly. Clowns like John Kerry have chided Israel for not negotiating directly with the terror group, but somehow they forgot that Hamas does not recognize Israel and will not speak directly with any representative of the Jewish state. Let’s say as a rule that negotiating parties need to be working on the same coordinate system. In order for one to be similar to Hamas, then he needs a few things on his resume:
*Comfortable raping and shooting women dead.
*Burning families alive.
*Decapitating babies.
*Hiding behind its own civilians to protect oneself
*Enforcing Sharia by force upon others, at pain of death
*Be willing to blow oneself up to kill civilians.
If someone can meet all of the job requirements above, then he will be hired to negotiate with Hamas as equals. Obviously, Israelis and Americans want nothing to do with the points listed above. But, that’s a problem. Hamas does not care about how many buildings were demolished or damaged or how many leaders died in and out of Gaza. Rafah and Jabaliya look like hellscapes but Hamas is not worried. They are like a Terminator: destroy Israel and all of the Jews. They don’t care how many civilians in Gaza died. They don’t even care about the 20,000 of their fighters who are dead. They don’t care about finding some long-term agreement with Israel. And they certainly don’t care about respecting any ceasefire beyond the moment that they believe that they are ready once again to attack. October 7th was preceded by a ceasefire from the previous conflagration.
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And the problem in Gaza is that it’s not just Hamas. Let’s say that Israel actually had the will and wiped out anyone associated with Hamas. The people jumping up and down like hyenas near the hostages being returned to Israel hate Jews, hate Israel, hate Christianity and hate the West. Whether they salute a Hamas flag or a flag of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, ISIS or some other terror group, they don’t care. They will go with whoever promises to kill all of the Jews. The Palestinian Authority was involved in a lot of terror during the second intifada. But, whenever they have had to make statements or take actions—like they have recently in Jenin—that appeal to the West, then their local popularity drops. The Palestinians are not interested in living peacefully with Israel. They want to wipe the Jews and their country off of the map. Their hatred of Jews and Israel has metastasized with Qatari money for students and protests in the West. The hatred which was once localized is now global. Islamists and their useful idiots on the left hate Jews for existing. Same for Israel.
So what’s the best outcome in Gaza? It depends for whom. For the Gazans, they expect the place to be rebuilt and they intend on continuing their attacks on Israel as if nothing had happened. For Israel, the best outcome would involve Gaza never being a threat to Israeli citizens from now and forever. So what will be the outcome? I don’t know. Any formal government will be pro-violence. The alternative of just leaving the place wrecked and bringing in just enough supplies so that people will not die will never sit with the UN or the Europeans. How does Israel allow some rebuilding without allowing terrorists to use the supplies to prepare for war? The answer is that it is impossible. Because it is not just Hamas but rather the entire population of Gaza. Whatever building material that will be brought into the Strip will be divided between new structures and new tunnels/weapons. Nobody wants to truly patrol the Strip with the power to punish and kill. UAE, Egypt, etc. want nothing to do with Palestinians in their countries or in Gaza.
So what’s to be done? Use leverage. Israel made a massive mistake in not tying “humanitarian aid” to hostage release. Every day one hostage is released equals 100 trucks of food and medicine. No hostage, no food. Instead, we have this awful deal that includes the release of hundreds of hardened terrorists. The Israelis do not understand leverage. Donald Trump does. There should be no rebuilding of Gaza without understandings that include no more terror from Gaza. If they want to kill Jews more than they want a roof over their heads, then let them sit in the rain. If they want the rubble gone and new buildings in its place, then there is a price to pay. No more attacks on Jews and no more weapons entering the Strip. As it is now, aid is entering and Israel is getting bupkis. This situation has to change before there is any major building in the Strip.
Maybe the Israelis do not understand how to negotiate with terrorists. Donald Trump does. Let him lead discussions about Gaza’s future and maybe the Israelis can learn from a master class on the art of the deal.
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