The War Goes On but There Can Be No Compromise With Evil
March 13, 2024 - Issue #45
It has been five months now. The war drags on. Questions mount. Second guessers proliferate.
When will it end? How should it end? Will it ever end?
All valid concerns. But they fall short of the central issue, which is—should Israel accept any plan that enhances Hamas’ chance to survive as an entity able to govern and command organized forces?
I think not. But why?
That Hamas is evil is without question. For readers of this newsletter, I don’t think I need to explain. You know it in your heart, your mind, your soul. And you know that Israel can never allow Hamas the opportunity to do another October 7. On the other hand, you see horrible images from Gaza, and you read and hear reports of Gazans suffering and dying even though some or much of it is carefully curated, designed to pull at your emotional heartstrings, and, sometimes falsified. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that more than two million Gazans now live lives envied by none. An existence that is the direct result of Hamas cowering behind the people of Gaza leaving Israel with the difficult task of saving Gazan lives that Hamas cheerfully expends.
How then to reconcile that rooting out evil causes increases suffering?
Doing so requires looking to the future not just dispassionately but passionately too. And remembering what history teaches us. Evil accommodated grows. Evil appeased bestows the illusion of peace now that masks the certainty of future death and destruction, potentially on an even greater scaler than before, especially should other evils be inspired to join in the mayhem. Evil does not change its tune. Evil sees mercy as weakness.
For individuals, like nations, survival requires a willingness to defend oneself from evil when attacked. It is both a fundamental right and duty. That doesn’t mean we embrace violence. Far from it. In fact, it is our intolerance of violence that gives us the right to defend ourselves. But by exacting a price for evil’s perfidy, we dampen evil’s inclination to sow violence while simultaneously honoring and protecting the miracle of life within us. Israel is no different. It is a spark, easily extinguished, that must be preserved. Especially so following the failure of so many millions to stand up to Hitler’s depravity. Never again. Not for Israel. Never once for America. Never once for any nation.
And we must understand that Hamas’ evil nature will never compromise. It has only one vision, one reason for its existence—destroying Israel and replacing it with a Jihadi Islamic State that would further endanger the western world. Any attempt to appease Hamas will be seen by it as weakness which will make it more strident with its demands and as an opportunity through which it will survive, rebuild, and strike again—this time with even greater effect. Furthermore, as a direct consequence of appeasement, old enemies such as Hezbollah and Iran would be emboldened by Hamas’ survival and new ones would rise, all hungry to take their turn at bloodying then destroying Israel—no different than a wolfpack surrounding, biting, and taking prey down before devouring it.
Meanwhile, while Israel is a meal Hamas longs to consume, since 2005, Hamas has devoured the people of Gaza. Through intimidation, murder, and radicalization, Hamas has put its ideology first and Gazan well-being last. Hamas’ policy of waging war against Israel from Gaza for almost two decades while sowing terror within the Jewish State, has been coupled with an unyielding tyrannical rule within Gaza that stole economic resources intended for the Gazan people and bled freedom and tolerance from Gazan souls. Gaza has been a dead land—not because of Israel’s justified defensive measures but because its people have been chained to Hamas’ dreams.
An end to Hamas brings the possibility of an end to the enslavement of the Gazan people. All those that fret the war will bring more hate towards Jews ignore the blight that Hamas has propagated among its people. In their rush to pressure Israel to engage in a permanent ceasefire, they sentence Gazans to permanent servitude on behalf of an evil cause that considers Gazans cannon fodder for its purposes. This dark future is a certainty if Hamas survives—even in weakened form.
Thus, there is no middle ground despite the human cost today because the future cost would be more. If Hamas continues to exist, more Israelis will die. But so too, more Gazans will die due to inevitable future rounds of fighting. More Gazans will remain impoverished. More Gazans will suffer from the yoke of their Hamas masters. More Gazans will be stuck with nowhere to go, no hope for the future, sustained on hate rather than enlightenment. And any dreams of a two-state solution will die.
It is in this light that I return to where this essay started— When will it end? How should it end? Will it ever end? The answers to the first two questions are simple. The war in Gaza will only end when Rafah is taken. The longer it takes, the longer the war will take and the suffering continue. The longer any future ceasefire, the longer hostilities will continue. The sooner Hamas’ leadership and ability to cause mischief on a large scale is eliminated the more likely Hezbollah will back down or else be dealt with and Israel and the world can get to the next pressing issue—Iran’s nuclear program.
But answering the third question is hard—Will it ever end? The answer to that question is not in Israel, not in Gaza, and not even in Lebanon or Iran. It is in the hearts and minds and politics of the western world. The more Israel is pressured to stand back, the more it is pressured to not finish the job in Gaza, the more it is castigated for its record on humanitarian assistance and caring despite doing more for civilians in a combat zone than any army has ever done in the past—the more the world ensures that Gazans will continue to suffer, the more that Israel’s enemies will be incentivized to join in the fight, the more likely that Hamas will continue the fight, and the more likely that the hostages still in Hamas’s possession will die.
Over the next couple weeks, Israel has two fateful decisions to make:
1) Whether to knuckle under to Hamas’ demands.
2)Â Whether to attack into Rafah during Ramadan.
Then Israel can decide what to do about Hezbollah and Iran.
Half measures will bring defeat. It is in Israel’s interests, the world’s interests, and the long-term interest of Gazans that Israel act resolutely and decisively to end Hamas’ existence. Otherwise, Hamas will continue to feed, Hezbollah will continue to provoke, and Iran’s shadow over the region will grow.
Kill Hamas now. The idea can linger but its power to physically control must be eliminated. Otherwise, peace has no future.
I would like to introduce to you Yaakov Lappin. He is an Israel-based military affairs correspondent and analyst and a frequent guest commentator on international television news networks, including Sky News and i24 News. He also is the author of the Virtual Caliphate: Exposing the Islamist State on the Internet.
I find his work highly informative and his almost daily broadcast on i24 News well with listening to. He, like Sarit Zehavi and the staff at Alma, a research and education center focusing on northern security issues, are dedicated to explaining the nuances of the issues Israel faces to English speaking audiences. Because I think it important to support sources of light fighting Israel’s information war, I ask that you consider making a donation to Alma after reviewing its website, and also to become a member of Yaakov’s Patreon site. They can be found at:
Alma - https://israel-alma.org/
Yaakov Lappin - www.patreon.com/yaakovlappin
IRAN (Israel vs. Hamas, Israel vs. Lebanon) UPDATE, MARCH 12, 2024—Institute for the Study of War
GAZA’S UNDERGROUND: HAMAS’S ENTIRE POLITICO-MILITARY STRATEGY RESTS ON ITS TUNNELS—Written by John D. Spencer for the Modern War Institute—January 18, 2024. This is an in depth look at the problem caused by Hamas’ tunnels.
How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers—Written by Abraham Wyner for Tablet—March 6, 2024
A view of the destruction in Gaza, February 22, 2024. (AFP/ Said Khatib)
The devastation of Gaza was inevitable: A comparison to US operations in Iraq and Syria—Written by Barry R. Posen for the Time of Israel—March 2, 2024—An important in depth read about the difficulties of urban warfare
How to explain Israel's narrative in the Gaza war to Arab media—Written by Ohad Merlin for the Jerusalem Post—March 4, 2024.
How to Delegitimize the Practice of Hostage Taking—Written by Thomas Warrick for The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune—March 2024
Israel's naval patrol boats: A key to defeating terrorism—Written by Seth J. Frantzman for the Jerusalem Post—March 2, 2024
My Mother’s Secret—My mother was a top Middle East analyst for the CIA. On her deathbed, she begged me not to raise my children Jewish. To find out why, I asked her former colleagues. I’m still reeling from their answers.—Written by Justine El-Khazan for Tablet—February 25, 2024.
Israel’s Struggle with Hezbollah—A War Without End is now available in eBook and hardback format on Amazon and IngramSpark. This compelling narrative explores Hezbollah’s origins and cancerous growth, traces Israel’s response, and reveals Israel’s present readiness to meet Hezbollah’s challenge.
Cliff Sobin
Important Link—Alma Research and Education Center: Understanding the Security Challenges on Israel’s Northern Border
Powerful article. And I appreciate your additional links added below your own text.