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Losing Is Victory in Hamas's Orwellian World
(Jewish News-UK) Andrew Garfield - The initial outrage over the brutal Oct. 7 pogrom has been all but eclipsed by anger over Israel's response, as it has been hauled before both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court amid charges of genocide and war crimes. For Israel, winning the real war is really what counts. PR is secondary. For Hamas, this war was always only about PR. In those Orwellian terms, losing is victory, as the more suffering, the more victims, the more utter the devastation of Gaza, the greater the pressure on Israel to suspend hostilities and agree to a deal on humiliating terms. War is unbelievably nasty and modern urban warfare against a ruthless enemy which wants you to kill as many of their civilians as possible, doubly so. Once civilian casualties started piling up, Israel's determination to eliminate Hamas was never going to win it friends. None of the Arab states who have established relations with the Jewish state have broken them off. The idea of a pan-Arab entity taking over Gaza once the war is over is not as fantastical as people think. The Arabs seeking peace with Israel are doing so not because Israel is weak but precisely because of Israel's position as a formidable military and economic superpower. They need Israel to win. The writer is a member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.