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Erol Araf

Snatching victory from the jaws of perceived defeat

AP Photo Leo Correa

In the current Gaza War, we are facing the consequences of ignoring Ben Gurion’s sage counsel: no long wars and no wars without the support of a primary power. In the ongoing imbroglio, the linkage between the two components should be clear to discerning strategists. Moreover, we are confronted with the Abandonment of Jews 2.0, an avalanche of breaking of diplomatic relations, boycotts, and trade sanctions; the U.S. Administration imposing restrictions on how the war ought to be conducted ( President Biden has provided invaluable support where it most matters but leaving Hamas in control of Gaza or participating in a Trojan Horse agreement with the Palestinian Authority will bring us down to step one in the endless game of Snakes & Ladders) and ICC persecutors working on arrest warrants for Israeli leaders whom they place in the same category as Hamas terrorists. Under these circumstances, rowing against the current is becoming impossible. Instead of drifting on the tides of adversity, Israel should make a dramatic move and turn the tables. Alas, the current leaders of Jerusalem lack such a vision as they are preoccupied with covering up their ineptitude with cry-wolf-too-many-times hubris, confusion, lack of war-ending strategies, and appalling decision-making before, during, and most probably after the war! I find it hard to write these words. Very!

My unsolicited proposal for a bold, game-changing move to avert further emasculation of Israel’s deterrence posture (the sine qua non of Israel’s Grand Strategy) is as follows:

1- Declare a cease-fire in exchange for the release of all hostages and several Palestinian prisoners after Rafah is surrounded by working out a deal with Egypt concerning the control of the Philadelphia Corridor.

2- Announce that any missile launch or terror attack in and from Gaza after the deal is sealed will render the cease-fire null and void.

3- Keep the gates of humanitarian help wide open. Protect humanitarian corridors from Hamas marauders.

4- Release the graphic video of the October/7 atrocities world-wide.

5- Declare that Israel has neither the intention to occupy Gaza nor allow any Jewish settlements in the strip.

6- Predicate this plan on establishing full diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia.

7- Convene a conference with the USA and Arab partners to organize the day after the war ends. The objective of this gathering will be to establish the architecture of new governance for Gaza and regulate the terms, conditions, and stages of Israeli withdrawal.

8- State that the new Arab-Palestinian- American condominium in Gaza will last for a five-year trial period.

9- Maintain that only after five years all the parties will reconvene to discuss a Gaza First solution to the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian State wherein Israel must have a participatory role as opposed to receiving written guarantees.

10—Work on this template to launch the India-Israel Geostrategic Partnership of Peace and Progress, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority, under the aegis of the USA. This will deliver a fatal blow to Chinese-Russian-Iranian aspiration in the Silk Road Initiative.

11-Proclaim that the economic reconstruction of Gaza should go hand in hand with the development of the West Bank.

12- Launch this process with eyes- wide- open as the vast majority of Palestinians oppose peace with Israel under any mutually beneficial circumstances, and bear in mind that unless the educational system of Gaza and the Palestinian authorities change, there will be no further progress. Either there is a will and determination to live side by side with Israel, or there is not.

13- Inform the ICC to occupy themselves with countries without judiciaries operating under democratic governance lest the Muslim Pakistani prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, metamorphoses into Alice in Wonderland’s Queen, whose motto is Sentence First, Verdict Later.

These components are intertwined and would require the endeavors of Benedictine monks to transform them into a comprehensive arrangement. It will be slow and painful work, but unless we base it on a concrete foundation providing Israel with steel-clad security anchors on the ground, we will continue to reiterate meaningless platitudes and utter repetitive agnifications. When I peruse the magnitude of Israeli concessions made in the rejected Barak and Olmert Plans, I see clearly that the onus this time will be on the Palestinians.  So long as they are determined to resolve the conflict by clamoring for a Palestinian state from river to sea and conducting terror operations against Israeli civilians, this conflict will persist. Now, we have an opportunity to change the cursed destiny of the Middle East.

 

About the Author
Erol Araf is a strategic planning analyst and international business development consultant with years of experience in global marketing with an emphasis on developing and managing international projects. Before consulting, he was National Director of Public Affairs at the Canadian Jewish Congress and was Director of National Marketing & Quebec Regional CEO at Canada Israel Securities Limited. Canadian [born in Turkey], Conservative Party of Canada, Morachist League of Canada, International Churchill Society. He designed and developed the concept for the movie "Mozart in Turkey," which was filmed on location at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. It won the Golden Rembrandt Award in 2002. B.A. Business Administration, University of Hertford, U.K.
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