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Hamas' Failed Strategy
(Bloomberg) Zev Chafets - Hamas' strategy of bleeding its young people was aimed at influencing three target audiences. First, it hoped to incite the masses of the West Bank and east Jerusalem to rise up in solidarity, but they didn't take the bait. Compared to the residents of the Hamas mini-state in Gaza, they are relatively free and prosperous. The Palestinian Authority, whose security services control West Bank cities, hates Hamas even more than Israel does. The second audience was the "international community." Bloody Monday got the media coverage it expected. But Egypt and Saudi Arabia are allies with Israel in the fight against Iran. Europe is preoccupied and demonstrably weak. Russian President Putin and Netanyahu have a respectful relationship. And never before has any American administration been so supportive of Israel. Hamas' third target was Israeli public opinion. That hope, too, was misplaced. Israelis have been hardened by decades of intifada, Iraqi Scud missile attacks, Iranian threats of genocide, Hamas and Hizbullah rocket barrages, and the failure of even "moderate" Palestinian leaders to compromise for peace.