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Postwar Political Landscape of Gaza Hinges on the Fall of Hamas
(Jewish News-UK) Dr. Jeremy Havardi - Amid the wreckage of Israel's communities adjacent to Gaza, Western demands for a Palestinian state appear to endorse another rejectionist terror regime that would be beholden to Iran and its proxies. The idea that this would bring long-term security to the region is a fantasy. Israelis are entitled to feel that Gaza was already a test case of Palestinian statehood, with Hamas' genocidal rule a realization of their worst fears, namely that surrendering land can only bring years of terror and warfare. There is clearly a need to think about the postwar political landscape of Gaza. However, the moderate Arab states are unlikely to commit financial resources to reconstruction in Gaza unless they are certain that Hamas is defeated. A Palestinian Arab state has been on the table on six or seven occasions since 1937. Yet it has been rejected every single time by the Palestinian national movement. One sticking point is the right of return, the unworkable idea that six million Palestinians have the right to live in Israel, even though the vast majority are not refugees and have never lived in the country. Fatah, the dominant movement in the Palestinian Authority, encourages the same hatred of Israel and rejection of Jewish sovereignty that guides Hamas' deranged ideology. Through its policy of "pay for slay," the payment of stipends to the families of terrorists, the PA has created a perverse incentive for young people to murder Israelis. The writer is director of the B'nai B'rith UK Bureau of International Affairs.