Don’t Wait for Trump – Act Now!!!  

Fact: 100 Israeli hostages, some dead, some yet alive but in who knows what condition, remain sequestered in Gaza for over 450 days as a result of Hamas’ unilateral invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, when it slaughtered more than 1,200 people in the worst act of violence against Jews since the Holocaust.

Every additional day that the living hostages remain in captivity reduces the probability of their emerging alive and adds to the level of guilt of which the entire free world stands accused for its failure to do anything to force their release.

Our leadership here in Israel, in the face of continuing waffling by the people running Hamas activities in Gaza, seems to have taken the position that US President-elect Trump will make good on his “we will deliver hell on earth” promise and end the Hamas war and get the hostages released.  I would not wait for that to happen.  Nobody even understands what that means in a territory such as Gaza whose infrastructure has already been destroyed, whose “government’s” only objective seems to be to survive at all costs, no matter how many more lives are lost, and who seemingly have nothing further to lose by prolonging the war, as the enclave is already on life support waiting to take its last breath.

Under these circumstances, we here in Israel, who are today in the bast position we have been in since the start of the war vis-à-vis our stated enemies, would do well to consider drastic action to end the current insanity in the shortest possible time.

From our position of well-earned strength and in the name of the over 850 of our best and brightest who have given their all in our defense, we should implement a series of specific steps that could bring a satisfactory end to the fighting and the release of all of the hostages.

Specifically we should…..

• Announce that “tomorrow” we are pulling all of our troops out of Gaza and sealing the borders between Israel and Gaza.
• Except for the humanitarian aid entering Gaza by truck, nothing else should enter or leave the enclave.
• Advise the Gazans and the rest of the world that Hamas has one week to lay down its arms and release the hostages, no ifs, ands or buts.
• State that if Hamas accedes to these demands, Israel will work with a coalition of international partners to assist in the rebuilding of Gaza, so that it can become a place of life rather than the hell hole it has developed into as a result of the war its leadership caused to start.
• State clearly that if, at the end of that week, the two conditions above are not met, Israel will stop all further humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, and lay siege to the enclave until Hamas surrenders.
• Further clarify that each time a rocket is fired from Gaza into Israel, we will reduce the land mass of Gaza by creating an additional one-half kilometer buffer zone on the Gazan side of the border with Israel.

There is, of course, every reason to believe that during the one week pause in our operation there, that Hamas will attempt to resupply its military capability by smuggling weapons in through Egypt. Hopefully, Egypt will not permit that but, if it does, and we see that happening, we would neutralize that traffic with all the means available to us.

What happens if Hamas does not relent?  If, even under these extreme conditions, they choose to continue the fight?  Truth be told, their people will die.  Yes, it sounds awful and it gnaws at our collective sense of justice and mercy.  But it will be their choice, not ours.  Their leadership will have chosen to let their people starve, contract life threatening diseases and, in many cases, die of those diseases from lack of proper treatment.  They will have made that choice, not us.  We will have provided an out, while they refused to take advantage of it

No doubt the rest of the world will criticize us for taking such drastic action.   But the rest of the world has been critical of us ever since the very first Israeli was slaughtered on October 7^th.  We have been accused of Genocide by the International Court of Justice, our senior people have received arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court, our senior military leaders and politicians are afraid to travel for fear of arrest, the rest of us can travel but only on certain airlines for inflated ticket prices, Israelis are leaving the country to establish communities in Cyprus, Athens, Rome, London, Berlin, London, etc., and the list goes on.

However, it is those of us living here who have to deal with the constant funerals of our young people serving in the IDF, with the fear and worry about relatives still being held in captivity in Gaza, about nightly air attacks by the Houthis as well as the costs associated with this very long war.

At some point we have the right and obligation to say “Enough” just as we did in Lebanon, but there we were also dealing with a government not a bunch of ruffians.  Truth be told, there is nothing to be gained by either side right now in continuing this insanity.  Let’s end the war, bring our hostages home and get back to the job of building a country.  If the enemy continues to be obstinate and deny us that possibility, then they should get what they deserve.  They should pay the price for their intransigency, not us.   The sooner we accept that fact and act on it, the quicker this will all be over.

The writer, H. G. Wells famously wrote, “If we don’t end the war the war will end us.”  There is nothing more to say, now is the time to act.