The Rubber Is Meeting the Road

A couple very interesting columns appeared this week in the Jerusalem Post. One claims that Israel might be drawing-down its forces in Gaza, at least a substantial number that can go back to their homes and jobs, which will boost the economy. There is worry that the IDF and the cabinet intend to leave the job before Hamas is totally destroyed.

The other was written by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This is an extraordinary step in wartime, as the commander in chief pens an op-ed.

Netanyahu didn’t sound like Israel would stop short of its goal:

“Hamas, a key Iranian proxy, must be destroyed. The United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and many other countries support Israel’s intention to demolish the terror group. To achieve that goal, Hamas’s military capabilities must be dismantled, its political rule over Gaza must end, and the hostages must be released.

“Hamas’s leaders have vowed to repeat the October 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 and contradicts the clear directive set by Israel’s war cabinet.”

It sounds like Netanyahu is sending someone a message, and it isn’t Hamas.

Reports are that the destruction to communities in southern Israel, the kibbutz system, was so complete that it will take years to rebuild and reinhabit them. That alone is stunning. It will take some time to learn just why Israel was so unprepared. This is one component of the most complex war Israel has ever fought.

Netanyahu then addressed whether the Palestinian Authority (PLO) can keep the calm post-Hamas:

“The expectation that the Palestinian Authority will demilitarize Gaza is a pipe dream.

“The PA 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.

“Third, Gaza will have to be deradicalized. Schools must teach children to cherish life rather than death, and imams must cease to preach the murder of Jews.

“Palestinian civil society needs to be transformed so that its people support fighting terrorism rather than funding it.”

I watched a documentary this week about the fall of Japan in 1945. The U.S. had to occupy the country for six years to demilitarize it. It is stunning how callous the military was in that country, even after the second atom bomb was dropped. What happened was, the population finally grew weary enough of the war that they had enough. The emperor called an end to hostilities and agreed to unconditional surrender.

I don’t think that situation exists in Arab society.

Here is the harsh truth: Of the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, there can’t be more than a handful that are not homicidal maniacs, mentally destroyed from years of Jew-hatred. Images of small children dressed in Hamas “costumes,” complete with toy guns, is unnerving.

We have entered a new period of uncertainty. I don’t think anyone can predict the outcome of this war, though I personally do not believe the Israeli society will accept Hamas as a continued threat. The world is quickly forgetting the horror of October 7—because it wants to—but Israel will not.

This presents a unique test of wills. Israel’s existential focus up against an entire people driven mad by their hatred.

What we do know, from the Bible, is that Israel is here to stay.

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The Most Savage War

(I posted this week a piece on the Times of Israel blog, and I’d appreciate it if you’d read it and consider forwarding it to your network. It involves anti-Semitic statements made by Christian leaders in the wake of October 7. Also, my Patreon page is growing by leaps and bounds and I’d ask that you continue reading and if you think beneficial, recommend to friends. Thank you.)

One day, history will look back in wonderment at the war Israel is forced to wage against Hamas. No military in history has been so handicapped by international opinion, malevolent diplomats and other political operatives, religious figures, and Media. In fact, one doesn’t know where to finger-point first. I will say that by far the most disappointing enemy that has emerged against Israel is the American Christian leadership.

(By the way, one aspect of this that is truly disgusting is the fact that evangelical leaders in America almost never criticize one of their own, even if anti-Semitic statements are made. The silence is infuriating.)

In any case, Israel is assaulted from all sides, including the Regime in Washington that is, while illegitimate, in charge. The “support” we’re seeing from Washington is purely in American interests; there is no love or the Jews among the Regime.

It is also coming out that the average Gazan is hardly innocent. It is being demanded that Israel minimize civilian casualties. This is rich coming from countries with a history of flattening enemy cities during war. The real reason “caution” is urged as Israel moves deeper into Gaza—far from caring about human life—is to further handicap Israel’s ability to fight and win.

I think Israel will win, but as came out in a conversation with an Israeli friend, we can rightly wonder, “What will victory look like?”

One of the hostages that was released has revealed that she was kept captive by a regular Gaza family. “No one is innocent in Gaza,” she said. Meaning, of course, that almost all Gazans support Hamas. In fact, the citizenry voted for the murderous gang in 2007. Now, notice what is being pointed out on social media.

On December 29, Marc Zell posted the following on X:

“The evil of Palestinian Terrorism knows no bounds. The other day I posted a story about a four-year old Palestinian child who was found wandering in Gaza by IDF soldiers. They took care of her, giving her food and drink and returned her to the Gazans through the International Red Cross. Now it turns out that she was not an innocent lost waif. Rather she had been sent by the Palestinian Terrorists to scout out the whereabouts of the IDF troops and report back so that the Terrorists could attack the Israeli soldiers. Yesterday, a Palestinian terrorist hid out under the wheelchair of an elderly Gazan woman. When the IDF soldiers approached, the Terrorist opened fire. Freed hostage Mia Schem reported in an interview that she was held captive by a Palestinian family with women and children. Her conclusion: all of Gaza is Hamas. It really doesn’t matter whether all Palestinians support Hamas. Most do and want to see more like October 7th. That doesn’t make them legitimate cannon fodder, but it does illustrate the challenges facing Israel as it acts to eradicate Palestinian Terror and create the conditions for normalcy on the borders of the world’s only Jewish State. Wishing all a peaceful weekend wherever you may be.”

How grotesque, to use small children to fight Israel. I know for a fact that Israeli troops are 100 percent benevolent when encountering children. Yet Westerners, like former writer Donald Miller in America, post terrorist propaganda. Miller’s 2012 blood libel blog post, in which he accused IDF troops of murder (shooting children) was never retracted or apologized for, a fact that stains whatever Mr. Miller does in the future (he has a marketing group now).

According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center:

“The IDF forces continued to attack terrorist targets in a number of central locations in the Gaza Strip, among them Daraj and Tufah in the northern Gaza Strip, the al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip and Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, where the IDF expanded its activity. In Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City, the IDF completed the destruction of the underground tunnel complex. Meanwhile, activity began in the area of Khirbat Khiza’a in the southern Gaza Strip near the Israeli border. The Palestinians reported that the IDF’s ground maneuver in the central Gaza Strip focused on the Juhor al-Dik area (Wadi Gaza) and the al-Bureij refugee camp, which control the Salah al-Din road, the main road running the length of the Gaza Strip. Hamas’ military-terrorist wing announced it was using ‘new weapons.’”

As hamstrung as Israel has been, there are clear indications the Hamas leadership is desperate. They have “informed” mediator Egypt that any post-war scenario that excludes Hamas and Islamic Jihad from a role in the Gaza Strip is “unrealistic.”

It is also troubling that the conflict is slowly spreading in the Middle East. The Islamic Resistance Front in Iraq claimed responsibility for attacking a vital target in the Golan Heights. Iraq, my friends. Syria and Lebanon are also involved in attacks against Israel.

Israel at the moment is heavily engaged in fighting in refugee camps that straddle the Salah al-Din Road, which runs the length of the Strip. Military, Israel has made remarkable progress, but the progress also parallels realistic assessments by the IDF that this process might take up to a year. Hamas spent the better part of two decades building a terror infrastructure second to none.

It is the use of civilians though, and adult civilians’ love for Hamas ideology that makes the post-war scenario very dicey. I do believe the Israelis, at the end of the day, will control the Strip for years, as they have promised. They have no other choice.

A recent Washington Institute poll shows that while a still-minority of Saudi citizens support Hamas, an overwhelming 90 percent see the conflict as a “win” for the Palestinians. This is known as nuance. What I think it clearly shows is that the Middle East continues to overwhelmingly be radical against Jews.

I believe the survivors that Gazans are cheering on the October 7 attacks.

This will prove to be the most problematic development of the war.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

Jimfletcher761@gmail.com

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