(JNS) Jonathan S. Tobin - The majority of Israelis were ready to welcome a Palestinian state if it meant peace during the period of post-Oslo Accords euphoria in the 1990s. That foolish optimism died in the violence of the Second Intifada that followed Yasser Arafat's rejection of statehood offers in 2000 and 2001. Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 led to the creation of an independent Palestinian state in all but name ruled by Hamas. That allowed the terrorists to build a subterranean terrorist fortress from which they fired rockets at Israel for years, and eventually launched the terrorist pogroms of Oct. 7. After that, the Israeli constituency for allowing the Palestinians sovereignty and the freedom of action to repeat those atrocities from either a rebuilt Gaza or a state in Judea and Samaria that would likely also fall under Hamas rule became nearly nonexistent. The will to continue the war against Hamas until it is wiped out isn't a matter of Israeli domestic politics. It's what the overwhelming majority of Israelis are demanding since they know that anything less than Hamas' eradication will be a formula for more terrorist horrors in the future.
2024-02-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive