![]() They made clear that if Hamas is perceived as winning, it will validate the group’s ideology of rejection, give leverage and momentum to Iran and its collaborators and put their own governments on the defensive.īut they said this in private. Over the past two weeks, when I talked to Arab officials throughout the region whom I have long known, every single one told me that Hamas must be destroyed in Gaza. Israel is not alone in believing it must defeat Hamas. As one commander in the Israeli military said, “If we do not defeat Hamas, we cannot survive here.” Given the strength of Israel’s military-by far the most powerful in the region-the aims of Iran and its collaborators seemed implausible until a few weeks ago. The aim of these groups, both of which are backed by Iran, is to make Israel unlivable and drive Israelis to leave: While Iran has denied involvement in the Hamas attack, Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has long talked about Israel not surviving for another 25 years, and his strategy has been to use these militant proxies to achieve that goal. And whether or not Hezbollah opens a true second front from Lebanon during this conflict, it, too, will attack Israel in the future. If Hamas persists as a military force and is still running Gaza after this war is over, it will attack Israel again. That may sound like an exaggeration, but to them, it’s not. 7, there are many Israelis who believe their survival as a state is at stake. Hamas’s power and ability to threaten Israel-and subject Gazan civilians to ever more rounds of violence-must end.Īfter Oct. ![]() But today it is clear to me that peace is not going to be possible now or in the future as long as Hamas remains intact and in control of Gaza. In the past, I might have favored a cease-fire with Hamas during a conflict with Israel. But nothing has preoccupied me like finding a peaceful and lasting solution between Israel and the Palestinians. peacemaking policy and conflict resolution and planning-whether in the former Soviet Union, a reunified Germany or postwar Iraq. A perceived victory by the group will validate its ideology of rejection, give momentum to Iran and its collaborators, and foreclose the possibility of peace with Israel.įor 35 years, I’ve devoted my professional life to U.S.
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