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Solving the Problem of Gaza

(JNS) Israel Kasnett - Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said, "everything that typically works doesn't necessarily work in the Gaza Strip....There are always two competing forces when we look at these flare-ups. There is Israel's desire to maintain calm, thinking of the well-being of its own people, and then there is the military interest in preventing this buildup." At a recent Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies (JISS) conference, former national security adviser Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror said, "a war in Gaza will only benefit [PA leader] Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] and Iran. And we don't want to give Iran any gifts." Prof. Efraim Inbar, president of JISS, wrote in Israel Hayom: "We cannot trust Hamas to keep the calm. Only when Hamas is afraid of IDF retaliation, which has yet to come, will calm prevail. Israelis tend to overlook the fact that in the Middle East, it is fear, above everything else, that governs how people act. Unfortunately, from time to time, we must give our enemies a violent reminder, lest they continue terrorizing us." "The assumption that boosting the quality of life for Gazans will reduce Hamas violence and hatred is fundamentally flawed. There is no place on this planet where there is a direct correlation between quality of life and terrorism. This holds true in the Palestinian case as well." Schanzer, referring to Israel's government, said, "They've tried everything. Overwhelming force, negotiations, working with Egypt, exploring non-conventional means of delivering aid. None of these things are working."
2018-11-16 00:00:00
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