Brainstorming About Gaza after Hamas
“A foot or horseback, rocketing or rowing,
It helps to give some thought to where we’re going.” – Harvey Jackins 1972
Earlier in the war, I already tried to think about what Gaza should look like after Chamas will be gone. I didn’t get very far.
Now, after four months, it should be easier to think about. A flurry of others is also brainstorming on the day after. Let’s make up a balance.
I don’t want to sound too cynical but to prevent some disappointment, I suppose that the outcome of the war will not lead to a fantastic solution. That’s just not how the world seems to work. Gaza should have a brand-new start, but it will not. It is important to think about ideals, but we shouldn’t be so naïve to assume all of it will be. A prime reason is that the politicians who need to decide this will not have a brand-new start. They will not repeat some old mistakes, but some others with be continued.
This is difficult to write because there are so many unknowns about the future and so many different opinions already and diverse interests.
Let’s think about good options, hoping that some of them may trickle up and get implemented. Especially when others say similar things.
A. Don’t seek other terrorist leaders to reign Gaza. If we could learn one lesson from October 7, it is that there are no good terrorists. Living with them is as if with a venomous snake. You know it’ll bite, just not when.
B. Don’t seek solutions by giving the reigns in the hands of bodies that are part of the problem: Turkey, Jordan, the UN, the EU, etc. Ever since the Final Solution, distrust the Two-States Solution or any ‘solution’ by foes.
C. Loan the Strip to Egypt for $ 1 per year and have the World Bank give them billions to do with the lands and the people whatever they want. It has a good track record of keeping Muslim extremists out of power. It can choose if it wants to let the Gazans settle through the whole of Egypt, in the Sinai or in the Strip itself. Gazans must get voting rights and work permits in Egypt as all Egyptians. Cash-stripped Egypt might be interested.
D. Let Israel annex the Strip. This not because Israel needs the expansion but to give Gazans human rights and democracy as all citizens of Israel. Those who want to continue their violence give them jail or expulsion. Demand that the World Bank finance this charity project. The Strip would then count Muslim and Jewish villages, just like the North of Israel.
E. A mixture of C and D. I prefer C since Egypt is better equipped to weed out extremism. On D, the whole world can scream that we cannot annex the Strip, but frankly, it’s none of their business. Israel may hold elections in the Strip to let Gazans decide if they want Egyptian or Israeli rule and where they would like to live. Each Gazan may have a tailor-made option.
F. Let Israeli Muslims (most of them are now very clear that October 7 was a very shameful day for Islam) reign over the Strip and teach the citizens equality and democracy. Israeli Jews who want to facilitate could join at the discretion of the Muslims. Again, the World Bank must finance it.
G. Agree that, at present, there is no solution. ‘There must be a solution’ and then advancing a Two-State solution is like saying a patient with incurable cancer must heal and thus start a diabetes treatment. This kind of non-solution typically comes from ‘experts’ living outside of Israel and sporadically from failed Israeli politicians no one here listens to anymore.
H. Whatever comes next, for sure, major opposition against Israel and Jews worldwide will continue. Our allies must intensify efforts to protect Jews and the Jewish State against any attack. This should include protective actions long overdue, like stopping BDS, missionary activity against Jews, and other genocidal hate speech against the Chosen People.
I. Our Christian Allies should know we have no need for their ancient fight with Islam. Stand with us and with Muslims who want to stand with us. And now we’re at it: Stop attacking Biden’s Israel stance because you love Trump. It’s to further your own interests at our expense. Biden is fine. We need your help to stop Jews from attacking Jews, so stand with all of us.
J. There is no way forward without considering what to do with the Gaza terrorists and their local and worldwide supporters and what to do with all the rewards the Palestinian Authority is paying the families of terrorists who murdered, injured, and raped, whether they are dead or in jail now.
K. We must consider that whatever solution we agree on for Gaza might be best too for the West Bank, Jordan, and South Lebanon.
L. The future of Gaza is also determined by what will happen to its allies. Iran’s nuclear power must be taken out. The terrorists in Iran, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, and the West Bank are not going to take that lying down. That could be the beginning of WW III, with, basically, democracies against dictatorships. Egypt is a democracy; it keeps terrorists out of power. The US under Trump would align with Putin, under Biden will lead the Allies with Israel and democracy. The defeat of China, Russia, North Korea, Turkey, and Iran will change completely what becomes possible.
M. All talk of who’s good, who’s bad, who’s guilty, and who can make us all safe is all nonsense. It’s about strategy and ideas, not about persons. It is totally unimportant who (dis)likes whom or speaks good/bad about whom.
N. Extremists and fanatics are often single-minded, ignoring details and wider implications. But realists admit it’s not so simple. You cannot just do the right thing if it seems wrong to bystanders. Then, you have to explain yourself to reasonable onlookers. You cannot strive for your favorite scenario if your friends would take offense. Then you might have to settle.
O. An important question is: What does Jewish Law say about the state? What must we, individually and collectively, (not) do? How (un)important are long-term safety, looking good, etc.? Rabbi Goren enshrined much of Halachah already in the laws of the IDF, but does this need updates?
P. Many believe the daily Gaza pictures with a ‘humanitarian disaster’ or ‘genocide’ spread around the globe for free. Biden just revenged the three US soldiers killed per drone by Iran with scores wounded. Then Iran said it had been inadvertent. Didn’t work. The US fired back at 85 locations, with more to follow. Seems overkill to me. No pictures. It would make Biden look strong, and there are no Jews involved, so who cares how many died?
Q. Almost every house, school, hospital, and mosque in Gaza had doors to the tunnels or had weapons and munition in them, so are legitimate war targets. The degree of destruction only shows the degree of complicity; the degree of civilians hurt shows how many human shields Chamas took.
R. We can totally ignore anyone who starts by: ‘Let’s assume that terrorists and rabid Jew-haters also want a reasonable, humane solution …’
S. Young people in the US are not going to read any of this. You tell them.
***
Ideas About Gaza After Chamas That I Found in the English Israeli Press
Exiling Hamas leaders. I’m sure Netanyahu agrees, convinced Israel can kill them later.
Hostages return won’t happen no matter what Israeli pollsters say unless the price is right. (Pollsters typically do a lousy job anyway.) Without the International community forcing the Palestinian leadership and their allies, it won’t happen. They are monsters, and niceness only encourages them.
Why would Israel want to take over the border control between Gaza and Egypt if Chamas gets eradicated? Without Chamas, no control is needed.
If you think a Two-State Solution is real, you don’t take seriously that there is no Palestinian peace partner. It is Western Racism to try to transplant their ideas instead of listening to the Palestinians who just want Israel gone. Besides, you can’t reward genocide by giving national power. When Arab leaders speak of Two States, they mean to show to the West that they are more moderate than the genocidal ‘From the river to the sea, all of Israel will be Jew-free,’ and to their populations that they won’t abandon ‘the Palestinians.’ It doesn’t mean they see Two States as an option. They had a State (Gaza), and look what they did with it.
Yet, hardly anyone wants Jews now to re-engage with parts of Gaza we were living until the enforced Disengagement.
Terrorist-led organizations can no longer be empowered. It’s irrelevant if they are called Chamas, the PA, or anything else, or what text they sign.
We could dream up a civil governance of the demilitarized Strip, with Israel retaining military control on the borders, and the right to take any military and security action necessary inside Gaza. Regrettably, all present Palestinian leaders are war crimes celebrating terrorists. Some power could gradually go to local clans, bureaucrats, civil servants, and academics screened for their commitment to democracy and financial transparency.
Israel could coordinate and plan an oversight role in civil governance, be responsible for inspecting incoming goods, and oversee law and order in the Strip. I would prefer Israeli Muslims or Egyptians to do that. A buffer zone of no-man’s land around Gaza seems not up for discussion.
The US, European, and non-hostile Arab nations could work for economic rehabilitation of the Strip, together with operating infrastructure issues like sewage, electricity, and water, and humanitarian aid distribution.
The UN and UNRWA never meant to give ‘humanitarian help’ to the Palestinians. Their only and ongoing goal is to perpetuate the ‘refugees’ situation for generations to hurt the Jewish State. They are part of the problem and therefore cannot be part of any solution.
Jordan, with its Antisemitic population and leadership, is part of the problem too and therefore cannot play any role in a new Middle East.
***
Chamas is still not disempowered. Even not inside Gaza. There cannot be peace until they have surrendered, are captured, or dead. It will take time.
There is no rebuilding of Gaza as long as there is war with the Houthis in Yemen, the PA in the West Bank, Chezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran; possibly followed by China, Russia, North Korea, Turkey, and Jordan (WW III).
No one feels more frustrated about the lack of peace and harmony than us. Yet, we now also learned that fake solutions are the worst. We’ll need to wait until a generation grows up that is not taught to hate and kill Jews.
