by Emanuel Shilo, editor of the weekly BeSheva newspaper, translated by Hillel Fendel.
Although
reports are that a deal for the exchange of some of the hostages now, and
possibly the rest at a later date, is close to finalization, "it's not
over until it's over" - and this is one of the reasons why the following
article by the editor of the weekly BeSheva newspaper is still very relevant.
1. In only six days from
now, a good friend of Israel, Donald J. Trump, will again become the President
of the United States. In the two years that remain until the end of the current
Netanyahu government, Trump will enjoy a majority (albeit narrow) in both the
Senate and the House, as well as a supporting backwind from the Supreme Court
and its clear conservative majority. Hopefully we are smart enough to utilize
this special window of opportunity, by presenting the incoming Administration our
clear goals and plans of action for the Middle East, and making clear our
requests and expectations from our best friends. If so, these two years could
be dreamlike, extricating us from the current quagmire and guaranteeing a
better long-term future for Israel.
2. Pres.-elect Trump has already promised to
totally remove all vestiges of the arms embargo that the Biden Administration partially
imposed on Israel. The IDF can expect to receive from his administration generous
helpings of weapons, and can even hope for the top-quality bunker busters that
we so sorely need in order to attack the Iranian nuclear project. Trump's
people are already exerting pressure on the International Criminal Court at The
Hague so as to thwart future moves against Israel, and even to water down or
retract previous anti-Israel decisions – beginning with the arrest warrants (!)
issued against Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Galant.
Our requests from the U.S. in the near
future are expected to fall on open ears and hearts. We must correctly
prioritize our objectives and prove to the new Administration that we will know
how to use whatever aid we receive to fulfill them. If we continue to wallow in
the mire and drag out the war, our impatient friend in the White House is
liable to lose interest in us.
3. Our two most important goals for which we must
strive at this time are to, at long last, end the war in Gaza and fulfill its
goals – the destruction of Hamas and the release of our captives – and also to
uproot and destroy the Iranian nuclear threat.
Trump
is clearly committed to the release of the hostages, having stated that if
Hamas does not release them by the time he takes office, "all hell will break
out." We must see this as a promise from the United States to Israel and
its hostages. No longer should we look towards the brutal, murderous leaders of
Hamas and hope that they will sign some kind of disastrous deal with us.
Instead, we must get ready to "help" along the new policy by opening
the incinerators of hellfire and waging an absolutely major assault on Gaza: three
or four divisions that will completely occupy the Strip, rescue as many hostages
as possible, and destroy Hamas. We can absolutely not accept Hamas
administrative control of the population, and we must arrest or eliminate Hamas
officials involved in this. Even more importantly, we must stop the "humanitarian
aid" that always ends up in Hamas hands and essentially perpetuates the
war by keeping Hamas alive.
The
entire concept that has driven the war so far must be eradicated. We can no
longer implement the wasteful and failed approach led by Chief of Staff HaLevy
by which we conquer cities in Gaza such as Jebalya and Beit Hanoun, then
withdraw and allow the terrorists to regroup and re-arm themselves, then go and
lose soldiers as we conquer them again, and again, etc. Every area that we
conquer must be totally cleansed of terrorists and then must remain in our
hands! To some of these places, a carefully-screened civilian population can be
allowed to return and live under an IDF military administration. The gates of
Gaza must also be opened for mass emigration for whoever wants, such as
refugees who want a better future for their families. This will also help alleviate
the crowded conditions – which are certainly one of the reasons why Gaza became
such a dangerous hotbed of terrorism.
At the same time, the IDF must initiate more
military operations to release captives! It has been seven months since the
famous Operation Arnon, in which four hostages were heroically freed by our
forces. But since then – nothing. We can simply not accept this intelligence
and operational failure of the first order. Renewing such operations must be
part of the general war effort, causing the Gazan population and Hamas
terrorists in particular to realize that their end is near, and that the most
they can hope for is a safe escape route in exchange for the release of the
hostages.
All this must be done within a short time, because the incoming President is not known for his forbearance and patience. Yes, he wants us to win the war, but he also wants to see the war end – quickly.
4. Is Lt.-Gen. Hertzy
HaLevi the right man to lead the IDF to this critical and quick battle and
decisive victory? Doubtful. He has many merits, including having led Israel's
war on seven different fronts simultaneously (!) – but it is quite clear that
the responsibility for what happened on Oct. 7th is mainly his. He
is the one who received the intelligence just hours before the attack and
decided, with his senior colleagues in a late-night consultation, to take a
chance and do nothing, without even taking the trouble to inform his bosses in
the government. Despite this, he was not removed from his position, and instead
received humongous resources in every form to wage war against Hamas – which,
despite some impressive successes, simply did not succeed.
His
troubled relations with the government – which was forced to accept his
appointment scandalously dictated to it by the Lapid-Gantz-Bennett transitional
government – add to the question marks regarding his ability to seize the
golden opportunity and achieve the war's goals: the release of the hostages and
the decisive defeat of Hamas.
5. And back to the golden opportunity that
begins next week: No one truly knows why Israel did not take advantage of its
successful airstrikes in Iran to finally rid the world of Iran's nuclear
abilities and aspirations. It was likely because of the Biden administration,
and also perhaps because of Netanyahu's characteristic hesitancy. But it can
now be hoped that with Trump's taking up residence in the White House, there
will be no more excuses.
Netanyahu must know that this is most likely his last term as Prime Minister, and if he wants to leave with a good taste in our mouths, he would be advised to carry out what he has long defined as his major goal: the destruction of the Iranian nuclear threat. (The same is also essentially true for the liquidation of Hamas and the freeing of the hostages.) If not now, with the help of the friendliest American administration we can conceive of, then when?