Hamas in Gaza must be chortling: Everything has been going its way

I sit here in Tel Aviv where the war in Gaza dominates everything wondering how it came to pass that Israel, which has such a record of winning wars quickly, has allowed this one to go on for so long. I am sure of two things: 1. Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has been a disaster for Israel. 2. Hamas must be loving it.

Here are things that Hamas in Gaza has accomplished by attacking Israel.

1. On October 7, 2023, Hamas managed to kill roughly 1,200 Jews because they were Jews. It raped dozens of Jewish women before murdering them. It burned numerous Jews alive in their homes. Most nefarious of all, Hamas has proved that taking 241 people as hostages, most of them Jews, pays enormous dividends. Because the October 7th massacre was, from Hamas’ point of view, such a success, Hamas is to  able to and does boast to the the entire Arab world, that the October 7th massacre was a terrific accomplishment which should be repeated as many times as possible.

2.  Hamas has proved once again that Israel is totally irrational when it comes to paying for hostages. It began with Gilad Shalit, a single soldier who Hamas kidnapped in 2006. Shalit was only released in 2011 after Israel agreed to release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, over 500 of whom had blood on their hands. Among them was Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7th massacre.

This time Hamas has had 241 hostages to bargain with. Consequently, it has released hostages over time, obtaining substantial payment each time. Even so, Hamas still holds roughly 20 live hostages.

3. Hamas has watched Israel tear itself apart. In the past when the State of Israel was attacked, Israelis have set aside their political differences and, together, won the war. Not so this time. Ever since the present war in Gaza began, there has been an element of Israeli society which  has emphatically chanted “bring them home NOW!” That was the chant when Hamas held 241 hostages. It is the same chant now, when there are only 20 live hostages left. Moreover, as the number of hostages has gone down, the number of “bring them home” people has increased exponentially. Recently in Tel Aviv a crowd of over 200,000 people demanded that the remaining hostages be brought home now, no matter what the cost. These people are a very vocal minority, but have been able to exert enormous pressure on politicians who disagree with them.

Israel is being torn apart this time in a second way. By far the most important political issue to the fast-growing Haredim is that their members should be exempt from serving in the IDF. It matters little to them that Jews have been fighting with the sword to protect themselves since Biblical times when, according to Torah, Joshua defeated Amalek by the “sword”  Exodus 17:13.  Nor does it matter to them that during World War II,  the greatest Jewish heroes were the ones who gave their lives fighting in the Warsaw ghetto. In the past, virtually all Israelis of age set aside their political differences and banded together to fight Israel’s enemies. The ultrareligious and secular often died side by side. Not so anymore.

4. Hamas has made the IDF look pathetic. Gaza is tiny; it is only 25 miles long. In the 1967 war, which only lasted for six days, the IDF conquered  Gaza quickly, even though it was being defended by an entire Egyptian  army division comprised of 100,000 soldiers and 1,000 tanks. This time, thanks to Hamas, Israel has failed to gain control of Gaza despite trying to do so for almost two years.

5. Israel is getting clobbered by the international community. There are a number of reasons for this. First, Hamas is MUCH better at working the international press than Israel is. See, https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-israel-is-getting-clobbered-in-the-foreign-press/. Because Israel’s actions are so unpopular, 27 of the 30 members of the European  Union recognize a State of Palestine. Recently, four more countries, France, The United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada have threatened to recognize a Palestinian state unless, by September 25th, Israel begins negotiations with Palestine. (This one is particularly mystifying to me. Israel has enough to worry about negotiating with Hamas in the  hope of ending the war in Gaza, much else opening negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.) Indeed, Israel will never have peace until it makes peace with Iran. Since the Ayatollahs, who control Iran, believe, as a matter of religion, that Allah  promised Muslims all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, peace between Israel and Iran is very unlikely to take place in anything like the near future.

Second, the longer Hamas in Gaza can draw the war out, the more international pressure will be put on Israel. Hamas does not care if Gaza is destroyed, nor does it worry about how many Gazans get killed. Indeed, it inflates the numbers of people Israel has killed in the war in Gaza and refuses to differentiate between Gazan civilians and Hamas members whom Israel has killed. By exaggerating the number of Gazans killed in the war, Hamas is able to and does say over and over again “Israel did this” so that  the world will turn against Israel more and more. So far, this has worked to Hamas’ enormous advantage.

As one who lives in Tel Aviv, and has spent hours and hours in my safe room (mamad) listening to Iron Dome intercepting Hamas missiles being fired at me, every one of which is a war crime, I can only think how sad this is.