(White Rose) Aryeh Tepper - Hamas belongs to the Islamist "resistance" camp. Through the Oct. 7 attack, this camp reasserted one of its main principles with barbaric clarity, the refusal to ever make peace with Israel. There is a tolerant camp in the Islamic world that opposes the Islamists. This camp includes future-minded regimes, scholars and clerics who want a pluralistic future for the Middle East. Peace with Israel fits into this vision. The tolerant camp drew a line in the sand with the 2020 Abraham Accords. It is forbidden for the Islamists to appear victorious. A Hamas victory - which means their holding on to control of Gaza no matter the material and human price - will inspire Islamists around the world and attract new recruits to the cause. Israel's victory, however, will demonstrate that resistance is futile. For the sake of its own survival, and for the sake of a humane, pluralist future in the Middle East and North Africa, Israel must annihilate Hamas. The writer, Director of Publications at the American Sephardi Federation, is a fellow at the Azrieli Center for Israel Studies at Ben-Gurion University.
2023-12-26 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive