Can't quit, won't quit Gaza

Netanyahu's prerequisites for peace add up to an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza for years. Maybe forever.

This week, in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined three conditions for Mideast peace: The destruction of Hamas, the demilitarization of Gaza and the beginning of a de-radicalization process of Palestinian society.

Once those requirements are met, Netanyahu wrote, “Gaza can be rebuilt and the prospects of a broader peace in the Middle East will become a reality.”

Notably, it didn’t include as a prerequisite the release of the 129 hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and are still being held in the Gaza Strip. Unsurprisingly it did not mention a Palestinian state or a two-state solution as an ultimate goal of peace.

Each of these goals are legitimate, necessary even. But the bar Netanyahu sets for their completion before Gaza can be rebuilt as part of a larger peace deal promises an Israeli occupation for years to come. Maybe forever.

Allow me to respond point by point:

Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized, and Palestinian society must be de-radicalized. These are the three prerequisites for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors in Gaza. How do you define peace? An end of conflict that includes a two-state solution?

First, Hamas, a key Iranian proxy, must be destroyed. The U.S., U.K., France, Germany and many other countries support Israel’s intention to demolish the terror group. To achieve that goal, its military capabilities must be dismantled and its political rule over Gaza must end. Define “destroy.” Yes, it’s critical to dismantle Hamas’ military capability, end its political rule and remove top Hamas leadership from Gaza. But even the allies you mention above know it’s unrealistic to think you can kill your way out of this.

Hamas’s leaders have vowed to repeat the Oct. 7 massacre “again and again.” That is why their destruction is the only proportional response to prevent the repeat of such horrific atrocities. Anything less guarantees more war and more bloodshed. Hamas must be destroyed. Obviously Hamas fighters can’t expect to have an ongoing role in Gaza, but many civil servants working for Hamas-run ministries of social welfare, health and education are not political and should be retained to help run the territory. The Biden administration has warned about repeating the mistakes of the de-Bathification process the US undertook in Iraq. We saw how well that went.

In destroying Hamas, Israel will continue to act in full compliance with international law. By whose judgement and by what legal parameter? I hope you are documenting the calculations that led to these legal judgements strike by strike. The rest of the world is.

This is especially challenging because an integral part of Hamas’s strategy is to use Palestinian civilians as human shields. Hamas places its terrorist infrastructure inside and underneath homes, hospitals, mosques, schools and other civilian sites, deliberately putting the Palestinian population at risk. Let’s stipulate everything Hamas has done since October 7 has violated the laws of war and international humanitarian law. They are not exempt as a non-state actor. But let’s not equate your government with Hamas. As a nation-state with an organized military, not to mention a democracy, the laws of war and international humanitarian law apply at least as much to your government.

Israel does its best to minimize civilian casualties by dropping leaflets, sending text messages and using other means to warn Gazans to get out of harm’s way. Yes, you have have dropped leaflets, though there are several documented instances where you to instructed Palestinians to get out of “harms way” only to bomb them the areas you sent them to. Other “safe zones” were described by UNICEF as "tiny patches of barren land" with no water, sanitation or shelter.

Also, what is the threshold of acceptable collateral damage? It seems to be higher than American and international standards, let alone meet the “average person” test. Are you continuing to make new calculations as the war continues to destroy Gaza about how many civilians in total are dying and how much civilian property is destroyed? Have you made a calculus about how this affects Israel’s standing in the region and the world, your security and the prospects for peace?

Hamas by contrast does its utmost to keep Palestinians in harm’s way—often at gunpoint. True. Unjustly blaming Israel for these casualties will only encourage Hamas and other terror organizations around the world to use human shields. To render this cruel and cynical strategy ineffective, the international community must place the blame for these casualties squarely on Hamas. It must recognize that Israel is fighting the bigger battle of the civilized world against barbarism. Many countries have already recognized this, but again, that isn’t a blank check. As a democratic leader, it is your job to minimize the civilian toll despite the cynicism of Hamas’ tactics, as President Biden has continually stressed to you.

Second, Gaza must be demilitarized. Israel must ensure that the territory is never again used as a base to attack it. Among other things, this will require establishing a temporary security zone on the perimeter of Gaza and an inspection mechanism on the border between Gaza and Egypt that meets Israel’s security needs and prevents smuggling of weapons into the territory. Extending the period of security control of Gaza, establishing a buffer zone and downgrading the role of the Palestinian Authority adds up to a reoccupation. Nobody wants that, including you. More on that below.

The expectation that the Palestinian Authority will demilitarize Gaza is a pipe dream. It currently funds and glorifies terrorism in Judea and Samaria and educates Palestinian children to seek the destruction of Israel. Not surprisingly it has shown neither the capability nor the will to demilitarize Gaza. It failed to do so before Hamas booted it out of the territory in 2007, and it has failed to do so in the territories under its control today. For the foreseeable future Israel will have to retain overriding security responsibility over Gaza. It’s likely Israel will need some security responsibility for a period of time to deal with ongoing threats until a functional Palestinian security force is stood up. The question is, can you do that in a way that falls short of a full on occupation, and one that recedes gradually in favor of an empowered and effective Palestinian entity? If so, where is your plan?

Third, Gaza will have to be de-radicalized. Schools must teach children to cherish life rather than death, and imams must cease to preach for the murder of Jews. Palestinian civil society needs to be transformed so that its people support fighting terrorism rather than funding it. Let’s agree that education is an issue that needs to be addressed, but continued military action will not de-radicalize a population, only further radicalize it. More on that below.

That will likely require courageous and moral leadership. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas can’t even bring himself to condemn the Oct. 7 atrocities. Several of his ministers deny that the murders and rapes happened or accuse Israel of perpetrating these horrific crimes against its own people. Another threatened that a similar attack would be carried out in Judea and Samaria. Let’s also stipulate that President Abbas has not shown anything resembling responsible leadership. Have you done anything through your engagement with the Palestinians to help identify and support a new generation of moderate leaders? Will you help empower them once they are identified?

Successful de-radicalization took place in Germany and Japan after the Allied victory in World War II. Today, both nations are great allies of the U.S. and promote peace, stability and prosperity in Europe and Asia. Post World War II Germany? I’m not going to go there.

More recently, since the 9/11 attacks, visionary Arab leaders in the Gulf have led efforts to de-radicalize their societies and transform their countries. Israel has since forged the historic Abraham Accords and today enjoys peace agreements with six Arab states. Such a cultural transformation will be possible in Gaza only among Palestinians who don’t seek the destruction of Israel. Read the room! Again, there are legitimate issues with Palestinian education curricula, but it’s blindingly obvious that de-radicalization can’t take place in a classroom while Gaza is under military occupation, classrooms are destroyed and the students’ lives are ruined. Further generations will be radicalized without a glimmer of hope.

Once Hamas is destroyed, Gaza is demilitarized and Palestinian society begins a de-radicalization process, Gaza can be rebuilt and the prospects of a broader peace in the Middle East will become a reality. You are essentially tying peace solely to Israeli security. Of course that is a huge part of it. But in your view. as expressed here, peace has nothing to do with Palestinian rights, freedoms or security, let alone their own state.

Prime Minister: As its laid out here, the bar you set for peace with the Palestinians is a pipe dream and the project of a generation – 25-years at best. Which means you are headed for permanent occupation. It may be crowd pleasing as a political statement, but it’s not a sustainable policy. And it isn’t what Israelis want. Naturally after the horrific events of October 7, the Israeli public is not ready for a two-state solution this year, but polls show they certainly aren’t looking for a permanent reoccupation of Gaza.

No Western or Arab state will come to your aid to rebuild Gaza under those conditions and without a political horizon as part of the package. Having killed more than 20,000 people, displaced 1.9 million others (so far) and flattened much of the territory, are you ready to run Gaza once again - this time practically inhabitable with a traumatized population rife with poverty, hunger and disease? Even if that isn’t your intention, you have fallen victim to Colin Powell’s Pottery Barn rule: You break it you bought it. Remember what Albert Einstein said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

There is another way. The British learned the hard way in Northern Ireland that if you keep treating a conflict as a military problem, it will remain a military problem. It wasn’t until the Good Friday Agreement addressed both nationalist and unionist causes provided them a political path forward that both sides stood down and decommissioned their weapons. People may change if you offer them something better. At the moment, what you are offering them is something worse and one-sided. As much as this is about failed Palestinian leadership, it is also about your own.