Israel’s key mistake in Gaza...was to allow the international community to dictate the tempo and tactics of the war

Photo: Flash90/Oren Cohen

W

hether you’re a Binyamin Netanyahu supporter or detractor, there’s consensus that he’s among the world’s most astute and savvy leaders.

Nevertheless, even experienced politicians can make poor decisions, and Bibi is facing pressure on multiple fronts that would overwhelm most people.

The Netanyahu-led cabinet’s decision to order the IDF to conquer the 25% of Gaza it doesn’t yet control — but wait, hold on — only after another two months, once Israel guarantees safe passage and three balanced meals a day for all the starving men, women, children, and terrorists in Hamas’s last stronghold of Gaza City, is baffling to everyone, whether you were hoping for a quick and decisive military victory or a swift return of the remaining hostages and the end to almost two years of warfare.

Right-wing coalition partners like Bezalel Smotrich publicly distanced themselves from Netanyahu, saying he had lost confidence in Bibi’s ability to lead Israel to victory in Gaza. Calmer voices like veteran Likudnik Tzachi Hanegbi, Bibi’s national security advisor, argued from another perspective that the IDF offensive would endanger the remaining hostages. IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, who recommended encircling Gaza and conducting targeted raids from those positions, argued vociferously with hawkish cabinet members.

Longstanding Bibi antagonist Avigdor Lieberman said the cabinet erred by ignoring the IDF brass’s professional advice, and opposition leader Yair Lapid warned that the plan that called for Israel to eventually cede Gaza to a neutral Arab third party (as if one exists) would trap Israel in a pointless occupation with no clear goal.

Lapid is right in this case, because if Israel has no plans to restore the Jewish settlements of Gush Katif that it foolishly uprooted 20 years ago this week, or if it just holds Gaza in escrow until wealthy Arab nations step in and develop it into the Monaco of the Middle East, Israel’s conquest would be pointless.

To top it off, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, one of the few remaining pro-Israel holdouts, or so we thought, responded to the cabinet decision by announcing Germany would not export weapons to Israel that could be used to conquer Gaza.

No one ever claimed rooting out Hamas would be easy. Hamas spent 16 years militarizing Gaza, constructing a subterranean terror network, training its forces to attack Israel, and subjugating and indoctrinating Gaza Arabs to its jihadist cause. Besides grossly underestimating the threat from Gaza, Israel lacked human intelligence sources there similar to its assets in Lebanon and Iran, which allowed the IDF to crush Hezbollah and humiliate the Islamic Republic.

Two Months — An Eternity

Israel’s key mistake in Gaza, which has haunted it since the Simchas Torah massacres, was to allow the international community to dictate the tempo and tactics of the war.

Netanyahu should have told the 11 world leaders who flew to Israel for “solidarity” visits, including Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Olaf Scholz, and Britain’s Rishi Sunak, to stay home. It’s noteworthy that three of them are no longer in office.

Bibi should have told them, “It’s our war to fight, show us your solidarity from afar,” and then placed the entire Gaza Strip under the siege he envisions now. No food, no water, no electricity, no gas until you release all of our hostages. Barbarians aren’t entitled to humanitarian aid. Civilians who aid, abet, and cheer terrorists and adorn their houses with pictures of the al-Aqsa Mosque on Har Habayis are not innocent.

Taking such a stance would have put the Israeli government on a collision course with the international community, but that’s precisely where Israel finds itself now. Back then, Israel had the world’s sympathy. That disappeared long ago, as much of the world now sees Israel as the villain, while anti-Semitism has become alarmingly normalized in many countries.

You can’t turn the clock back, but the cabinet’s newest plan for Gaza, with its built-in two-month delay, is guaranteed to keep Israel stewing inside a pressure cooker. The hostages are in far worse condition than they were 673 days ago, so if the primary goal is to rescue them or win their release, time is fleeting.

If the cabinet’s primary goals now are to defeat Hamas militarily, force them to disarm, and exile them from Gaza, why give them two months’ lead time to prepare?

Act, Don’t Talk

The Netanyahu government’s last chance to rectify its mistakes and set the nation on course for a more secure future is to finalize arrangements with President Trump over the future of Gaza.

Is the Trump plan to relocate Gaza Arabs to new lands still viable? Are the gates of Gehinnom still open if Hamas doesn’t release all of the hostages?

If so, it’s time for action, not more talk.

Retired IDF Brigadier General Amir Avivi, who heads the NGO Habitchonistim that includes dozens of former high-ranking IDF officers, recently suggested on the One Jewish State podcast that to destroy Hamas at the governmental level, the US must demand that Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey extradite Hamas leaders living a life of luxury in five-star hotels to stand trial in the US for their role in the kidnapping and deaths of US hostages.

Is President Trump willing to take the gloves off with Qatar like he has done with almost every other nation in the world?

With negotiations about to begin for the upcoming Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) covering US military aid to Israel for the next decade, Israel must remind the US that the $3.8 billion it’s been spending annually under the current plan is a bargain.

In the last two weekly editions of the Ettinger Report, Yoram Ettinger, a former congressional affairs liaison to Israel’s embassy in Washington, has emphasized Israel’s geopolitical value in the key region covering the Mediterranean and Red Seas, the Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf.

“This area is the leading epicenter of anti-US global Islamic terrorism, a source of 48% of global oil reserves and a critical intersection of commercial sea lanes,” Ettinger wrote. “Israel’s geo-strategic location and battle-proven capabilities have spared the US the need to increase its direct presence, which would have required an annual cost of $15 to $20 billion.”

Trump’s MAGA wing, whose backing he needs in next year’s Congressional midterms to maintain and expand Republican control of the House and Senate, insists that the US avoid costly, prolonged foreign military involvements. Ettinger makes a strong case that US military aid to Israel will help America do just that.

Netanyahu is feeling the pressure himself, and he faces elections by next November at the latest, possibly much sooner given current trends. He may only have one more chance to convince Trump that making Israel strong again means permanently eliminating all border threats, which also means Israel must keep control of territories where its enemies have attacked.

However, Netanyahu may need to convince himself that hesitation and halfway measures are a losing proposition if he hopes to persuade Trump.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1074)