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Israeli academic Gadi Taub notes that the anti-Netanyahu protesters, demanding that he “bring them [the hostages] home” now by agreeing to whatever terms Hamas has proposed, are playing into Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s hands. By holding onto the hostages, and now by threats of executing still more of them — the way he did with the six whose bodies were just recovered — the Hamas leader hopes to enroll Israelis in a campaign to force Netanyahu to accept Hamas’ outrageous terms for a “ceasefire-and-hostage deal.” More on Sinwar’s playbook, and Hamas’ latest terms that few of us were aware of, can be found here: “Sinwar’s useful idiots,” by Gadi Taub, JNS, September 8, 2024:
…The mainstream media, itself a major player in the Never-Bibi info op, was not eager to emphasize the way the demonstrators are following Sinwar’s playbook. Predictably, the usual suspects rushed to blame Netanyahu for everything, as they always do. Prominent columnists such as Haaretz‘s Yossi Verter, Maariv‘s Ben Caspit, Yedioth Ahronoth‘s Nadav Eyal, Channel 12‘s Amnon Abramowitz and Channel 13‘s Raviv Druker unfurled the party line: it’s all on Netanyahu. Netanyahu has deliberately thrown in new demands (this time it was the Philadelphi Corridor, we were told) because staying in power is more important to him than saving the hostages.
Netanyahu has not made new demands. He has always insisted that the IDF had to maintain control of the Philadelphi Corridor. He may, in fact, have shown himself willing to make more concessions to obtain a deal — he no longer seems to be talking about retaining military control of the Netzarim Corridor that separates north from south Gaza. He has not changed his stance on the number of Palestinian terrorists to be released for Israeli hostages — it is Hamas that keeps increasing that number. But to those leftist Israelis who hate him, none of this matters. They seem more inclined to blame Netanyahu than Hamas for the continuing plight of the hostages.
Since this is what the Israeli media keeps repeating in both Hebrew and English, much of the foreign press assumes it’s true, and that Israelis generally believe it to be true.
But, alas, that’s wrong on both counts. Netanyahu could not have saved the hostages by giving up the Philadelphi Corridor even if he was so inclined. The corridor was never the only bone of contention. Giving it up (which Israel should not do) would not have brought about a deal.
As Khalil al-Hayya, Sinwar’s deputy for negotiations, recently reiterated, Hamas’s demands for a deal have not changed. They are tantamount to an Israeli surrender:
1. A permanent ceasefire.
2. A complete withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from all of the Gaza Strip, including the security parameter along the border, the Philadelphi Corridor and the Netzarim Corridor (which cuts the north of the strip from the south just below Gaza city).
3. Rebuilding the whole of Gaza.
4. An exchange of 50 terrorists for every female IDF soldier and 30 for every civilian in the first stage, then 500 terrorists for every male soldier in the second….
It’s an incredible list. A permanent ceasefire would leave Hamas still standing, its remaining fighters able, in the absence of IDF fire, to quietly regroup, and to recruit still more members, including from among the prisoners Israel will presumably free in an exchange for hostages. Hamas would become the hero of the Arab street everywhere, the “resistance” that faced down the mighty IDF. Think of how many young Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank would want to sign up with the terror group, and how many Arabs elsewhere might want to contribute to Hamas’ coffers.
If it complied with Hamas’ demands, the IDF would have to completely withdraw from Gaza, giving up even the control of both the Philadelphi Corridor on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, and the Netzarim Corridor which separated north and south Gaza. We all know what happened the last time – in 2005 — when Israel withdrew completely from Gaza. Hamas took control, and almost twenty years of intermittent attacks on Israel by Hamas in Gaza followed, culminating in the attacks of October 7, 2023. There is no chance that the IDF will give up control of the Philadelphi Corridor; the Netzarim Corridor is less important, as it does not involve preventing arms smuggling, but is useful in enhancing Israel’s ability to monitor north-south movements of both civilians and terrorists.
Hamas demands that Israel rebuild the whole of Gaza. It’s utterly preposterous. Hamas started the war with Israel when 6,000 of its operatives smashed into Israel on October 7, raping, torturing, mutilating, and murdering 1200 Israelis and kidnapping 251 others; it was a war that Israel did not want and did not expect; Hamas is responsible for the consequences, including the buildings damaged or destroyed in Israel’s counterattack. The rebuilding of Gaza will cost some $30 billion. Hamas’ financial backers, without whom it could not have started the war or continued it, are the ones who should be paying for Gaza’s rebuilding. These backers — Qatar and Iran — ought to be held responsible for Hamas’ attacks, and thus for the IDF’s counterattacks. They should pay for the damage. Of course, another way for the Gazans to raise money is for the people of Gaza to demand that the three Hamas leaders who stole billions in aid money meant for the people of Gaza — the estate of the late Ismail Haniyeh ($4 billion), Khaled Meshaal ($4 billion), and Mousa Abu Marzouk ($3 billion) — must disgorge those colossal sums. And if the rich Arabs of the Gulf want to chip in with a week’s worth of oil revenues, by all means let them do it.
Ya know what? Eff Monkey Face Sinwar and his stupid moronic demands. He should present himself for arrest in Tel Aviv. Why should Israel accede to what amounts to Israeli surrender?
Even if Israel did all of that does anyone actually believe that the pro Hamas protests would actually stop. The little campus darlings would find something else to protest about Jews and Israel.
These gasbags are about as coherent as geese farts on a windy day.
Lefty Jews
Bad for America
Bad for Israel
Bad for The World
I am Jewish, btw
Sometimes I think I’m hearing Holy Guffaws from the Throne Room of the Most High. Not exactly humorous, but God preordaining one of Israel’s enemies as having the name “Sin”-“War”?
What the protesters want us all to realise, is that it is they who are truly aware, in touch with their psyches, intuitively knowledgeable in a way that surpasses mere regurgitation of quantitative data. And by protesting, they are proving that they would not have dispossessed the America Indians, nor would they have enslaved the Africans. They are waging their own brand of justice at arm’s length (which also means that it costs them very little).
If Mr. Netanyahu agreed to Hamas’ demands, he would be betraying the Israelis who died on October 7th, the hostages and IDF fighters who have died since, and the many Israelis whom Hamas would kill in the future. He cannot restore life to those who died – but he can make sure that they will not have died in vain.
Since when have the “Palestinians” honored ANY agreement with Israel or even the UN for that matter? It’s easy to forget that not only did Hamas start this war with its invasion of Israel, but also it broke yet another cease fire agreement to do so! Hamas has NEVER kept its pledge for any cease fire. This proves their religious support to tell any convenient lie to gain eventual success as they define the word. Cease fire = time to regroup and rearm, more war then.
The world lets the Muslims rewrite history whenever and wherever they like. El Aqsa is admittedly some place inside Saudi Arabia and never has been, never should be, in Jerusalem. It was a sop to keep Saladin and his hoards happy and give them more prestige — called believing your own lies.
“surrender Dorothy!”
The Israelis have Stockholm Syndrome. I say take down a couple of sky scrapers in Doha and promise to keep doing more until they release the hostages.
Benjamin should execute all Hamas prisoners for a start. Then bucker busters the whole area. If not fully exterminated they only return to commit mayhem and murder. The world hates you any way so it won’t make a difference. David didn’t kill the philistine woman and children like God commanded and he was punished. Finish the job.
It’s a one nation solution: Israel.
The left in Israel is a cancer to Israel’s sovereignty and security. These so called educated elites are some of the dumbest people ever. BO EVIDENT COMMON SENSE AMONG THEM!!
All of Israel has and is now suffering horribly from the effects of their repeatedly failed strategy of appeasement to terrorists who are by definition, psychopaths!
Calling themselves intellectual is a ludicrous offense! They refuse to face the truth instead, clinging desperately to the many false precepts upon which their ideology is based. Fools!
Hamas and Yahya Sinwar..all dead! Gaza’s residents shipped via the Philadelphi Corridor into Egypt. We don’t want them; they are Arabs whose false identity was crafted by the Russian KGB and the Egyptian Arab, Yasser Arafat. There are 8 million miles of Arab territory–you can find a place for them, perhaps Iran. Though Iran is Persian and they speak Farsi…they both share violent Islam; they should sleep nicely together. If not, perhaps Saudi Arabia…though they are Sunni and not Shia practitioners of Islam. Not Israel’s problem! We are Jewish and have nothing to do with their “prophet”.
Send the IDF in for security and create construction plans to develop Gaza into a beautiful, tourist attraction with lovely hotels on the Mediterranean.
The hostages can only be saved if Israel is and however harsh that may sound, it is a very painful reality of war. An existential war cannot be compromised as has been done before. At this point it would be national suicide. And if the left in Israel hasn’t figured that out, it’s too bad., the rest of Israel wants their country back!