Were Israel's goals achievable?

(JNS) — On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas and other jihadist organizations (what I refer to as “Hamas-plus”) initiated a war against Israel. Shortly thereafter, Israel declared that its military would promptly retrieve the hostages and eradicate those responsible. These goals were not achievable because the actions of Hamas and others were based on a belief system that only the followers of their radical branch of the Muslim religion are entitled to live on this planet. Recent polls indicate that 60 percent of the citizens of Gaza support jihad—the killing of nonbelievers.

Belief systems are ingrained into societies over hundreds of years and are extremely difficult to change. To eliminate Hamas-plus within a few months, Israel would have to kill more than half the population of Gaza—something Israel would never do. To defeat Hamas-plus without killing such a large part of the population requires their unconditional surrender and turning over control of Gaza to an anti-jihad political or military organization.

Even though Israel captured thousands of terrorists, its military actions did not result in the prompt return of hostages. Except in a few rare cases, the hostage returns have come after Israel agreed to release a large number of Palestinian prisoners, many of them convicted terrorists who have murdered innocent Israelis. The media too often portrays the release of these terrorists as the release of “freedom fighters” and not the killers of innocent men, women and children.  

It is estimated that Hamas-plus has recruited 20,000 new terrorists to replace those killed in battle since Oct. 7. This is very strong evidence that Hamas is not going away soon. Hence, the eradication of Hamas-plus is not close to occurring.

Parts of Gaza have been destroyed, but Hamas and other terror groups, like Palestinian Islamic Jihad, have used scenes of the destroyed areas to garner world sympathy, and receive contributions of supplies and money. The fact that the destroyed sites—mosques, schools, apartment buildings and hospitals—were used to launch rockets and hide weapons and terror tunnels, has been forgotten by the media. A picture of a destroyed building is more powerful than in written explanation that the building was used to store or launch rockets. Media tend to dramatize specific aspects of war without providing the overall context.

As of now, Israel has not achieved its original goals of quickly returning the hostages and eradicating Hamas-plus. Both were unrealistic goals to set at the start of the war. From now on, any goals that Israel sets must be realistic and objectively obtainable.

Historically, a victory is the unconditional surrender of an enemy. In today’s culture, a victory also includes achieving political change, such as regime change, and a positive public perception of the conflict and its outcomes. Hence, we know that this war is not over. Who will win the next active phase of this war?

To win the next phase, often called “the day after,” Israel must have more achievable goals. To end the proxy wars against Israel and bring peace to the Middle East, I suggest that Israel and the United States, along with a coalition of other countries, pursue the following goals:

Eradicate Iran’s nuclear capability.

Cause a regime change in Iran, turning it from a theocracy to a democracy from a theocracy. The new government must commit to stopping all financial support, military training and arms supplies to Hamas-plus and other Iranian proxies.

Destroy the military capabilities of all of Iran’s proxies.

At the same time, the United States and its allies need to get the financial backers of Hamas and other terror entities to:

Stop funding Hamas and all jihadi organizations.

Force a complete change in the school curriculum throughout the Middle East to recognize Israel’s right to exist and the benefits of peace and religious freedom, and a change in their religious teachings to one praising peace and rejecting hatred and jihad.

Exclude Hamas and other jihadi groups from all rebuilding efforts and humanitarian supply distributions. This will remove the terrorists’ control over the citizens of Gaza.

Achieving these objectives will require strong American support. The United States and other nations should immediately stop funding all organizations that directly or indirectly fund Hamas-plus. The United States must also pressure Qatar, the United Nations, Egypt, European nations, Turkey and other countries to stop funding these groups.

Israel does not have the power to accomplish this by itself. The United States must lead in this effort and apply significant pressure to cause these changes. Achieving these changes will bring peace to the Middle East, a region that has rarely seen peace.