Exercise in foolishness

The Arab League met on Tuesday in Cairo and blew it again. The topic was future and re-construction of Gaza. From what I have read so far it is déjà vu as it lacks new ideas. Rather than bringing new concepts and constructive plans aimed at building better future not only for Gaza, but also its neighbors it re-hashes old strategies if implemented would pretty much lead to status quo. The most important element is missing – getting rid of Hamas, the major de-stabilizing factor for Gaza and its neighbors. Yes, in addition to the $53 billion for actual reconstruction the Arab League proposes post-war governance by “independent Palestinian technocrats unaffiliated with Hamas” as reported earlier by Times of Israel. It is not clear what screening and tests the candidates to govern Gaza will undergo to weed out the bad guys. According to TOI “the committee would be responsible for the oversight of humanitarian aid and managing the Strip’s affairs for a temporary period of six months, in preparation for the return of the Palestinian Authority”. This is an “Egyptian plan, called “Early Recovery, Reconstruction, Development of Gaza,” based on “preserving the rights, dignity and humanity of the Palestinian people, and on the horizon of a two-state solution.”

Oy vey, we are in trouble, and so are Palestinians as this will be the same people running the West Bank right now. And it accuses Israel of obstruction. Why does not the plan call for the rights, dignity and humanity of Israelis? After all it was Hamas who attacked Israel, massacred 1,200 innocent people, took hostages and still threatens Israel. Not clear whether Hamas would be involved at this stage, but Hamas is quite satisfied with the outcome of the summit – and this tells you that this is a bad news. It means that Hamas intends and prepares to take reins over Gaza, and that this temporary “governing body” will be a charade and enabler. Though the UAE understand what Hamas stands for and would like to see Hamas disarmed, and disabled, other Arab countries prefer “gradual weakening” of Hamas. Is it because they do not know what to do with disarmed Hamas members, are they afraid of Hamas (I am sure that they are) or do they hope that there is a big club in the neighborhood able to take on Israel again? Probably a mixture of all of the above. The League also recommends that Gazans stayed put in Gaza during reconstruction – probably on the insistence of Egypt and Jordan. Would Gazans be allowed to leave Gaza if they wish either on a temporary or permanent basis like many people living around the world are able to do?

There is another peculiar aspect to this proposal. It would like EU to participate (most likely to force it to pay for a portion of the reconstruction bill), but participation/input from Israel and USA is not included, because, yes, you guess right, those two countries are not welcome to participate and/or help. It is hard to believe, if not outright outrageous that after diminishing Hamas forces, after destruction and massacre by Hamas in southern Israel, losing many Israeli soldiers and many hostages (some still in captivity) Israel has no word whether and how to disarm and oust Hamas to make sure that the terrorist crew will not ever attack Israel again. According to the proposal Israel has no say about the governance and reconstruction of Gaza. The “merit” for this omission should go to Jordan and even more to Egypt as these two countries do have peace treaties with Israel, and have not been very helpful during the war, Egypt especially refuses most Israeli proposals. The US is in a similar position as Israel, no, they did not lose soldiers but they lost some hostages (I am sure the reader remembers Hersh Polin-Goldberg) and put a lot of effort into ceasefire mediation and supplying humanitarian aid to Gaza. However, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, a participant in the Summit, endorsed the proposal, as did EU Council President Antonio Costa. He might be disappointed in the future when he learns how EU funds were squandered. And finally, what is the point of spending all this money if there is a real possibility of stealing the money and construction material by Hamas and the threat of another Hamas attack and war against Israel? Will the participants be willing to go through the same process of “reconstruction” again?

As far as the two-state solution goes, it is dead. In order to resuscitate it, or better to replace it by a new outline of viable Palestinian entity or two, several unlikely things have to happen: Hamas has to go, and Palestinian Authority needs to be replaced rather than “reformed”. The Biden administration conditioned the implementation of the two-state solution on substantial reforms done by PA. What was so far done is not substantial, more like a farce. Pay for slay is still in place but masked, the corruption is there, lack of any progress in revitalizing economy and institutions (needed for a stable state) non-existent and hatred is spewed at Israel at every occasion (e.g., in the UN). And perhaps most importantly, Hamas issued a statement firmly clarifying that it is to stay armed and govern Gaza for eternity. It stated that only Palestinians can make a decision who will govern them. How this goal will be achieved it is not mentioned.