Crying All the Way to the Banksy

Israel is winning Gaza battles while losing the war against extremism

Yes, two ideas can and should be held in one’s head at the same time. For example, try these: 1) Israel needs to destroy Hamas as a military and governing organization, and 2) Israel needs to do that without exhibiting a callous disregard for the safety and well-being of Palestinian civilians.

The reasons for 1) go beyond the horrific, ISIS-level attack on Israel of October 7th, and include Hamas running Gaza like a theocratic mob. For nearly two decades this mafia has built tunnels and rockets instead of schools and businesses, now using the population as human shields.

The reasons for 2) seem screamingly obvious to everyone except Netanyahu and the IDF, who blame Hamas’ use of human shields as an excuse for killing thousands of children. The Israelis aren’t overtly “targeting civilians,” but they don’t care if they’re in the way, bombs away.

Hamas knew how Israel would react to their attack, proven by their enthusiasm for dialing up the brutality to mind-numbing levels. By triggering Israeli blood lust, Hamas knew the IDF would not only bomb and invade Gaza, but in the process kill thousands of Palestinian civilians.

Surprise surprise, that’s exactly what Israel has done. The results have been equally predictable and successful: the Palestinians are again front page news, millions in anti-Israel/US protests, an explosion of antisemitism, and the entire Middle East on the brink of a multifront/multicountry war.

To repeat, Israel has no choice but to destroy Hamas as a military and governing organization. The Palestinians themselves will benefit from this. But the way Israel has gone about doing that has played right into the hands of Hamas, and all the Jewish State’s enemies throughout the region.

Here’s another example of holding two ideas in one’s head at the same time: 1) Israel needs to destroy Hamas as a military and governing organization, and 2) Israel doesn’t need to do that immediately, and has numerous options that don’t also result in thousands of dead children.

While putting the heat on Hamas, Israel needs to get its own house in order: Remove Netanyahu from power, refortify all of its boundaries, stop building illegal settlements in the West Bank, and start taking a two-state solution seriously. Half of Gaza is leveled, thousands dead, enough already.

Of course, Israel will do no such thing as grant a ceasefire, let alone pull back out of Gaza. The genie of their vengeance is out of the bottle, casting its spell of collective punishment in the name of bringing peace and security back to shocked and terrified Israelis. The war is just beginning.

Meanwhile, the bombing and invasion of Gaza is live streamed throughout the world. Even people without bias against Israel or antisemitism ask the obvious: “How is it ever OK to bomb a hospital full of civilans?” “Blame Hamas!” counters Israel. Who in their right mind thinks that is convincing?

Enraptured by rage, the fog of war is making it difficult if not impossible for Israel to see the medium- and long-term damage this war is doing to its own safety. Every Palestininan child killed spawns a hundred new radicals, hellbent on eventually exacting their own revenge, the sad cycle repeating.

Every Palestinian child killed also spawns more anti-Israel/US protests, more outrage throughout the Arab world — most of whom want nothing to do with the Palestinians, unless, of course, they help further fuel anti-Israel/US hatred, bonus points for increased antisemistism and violence.

“But Israel is winning,” some say, citing the relatively rapid progress of Israeli armor and infantry in Northern Gaza. But the US learned this lesson in Iraq: don’t be fooled by a quick military victory, because you’ll never, ever win over the “hearts & minds” of the people you’ve just humiliated.

Regardless which tribe you call your own, Israeli or Arab, Jewish or Muslim, US/NATO or Russia/Iran/China, the current strategy of Netanyahu and the IDF is a #fail for Israel, the Jews, and their allies. How can we be sure? By realizing that Hamas has been calling the shots since October 7th.