(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Israel's Dilemma, and the American Help [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-19 Because it is so timely, I have substituted this piece to be my newspaper op/ed for this week, rather than the piece I said here earlier this week was going to run— i.e. “The Chosen Species,” which is “evergreen” rather than bound to the events of the moment. Some of this op/ed covers territory I discussed here last week about the complexity of the situation the Israeli decision-makers are confronting. (Namely, that the Israelis seem to be compelled to do what Hamas has deliberately provoked them to do.) But I’ve added to it a discussion of the American role — especially through President Biden’s deft handling of this crisis — in seeking to guide things toward a solution to that dilemma. ************************************************ Israel’s Dilemma, and the American Help The Dilemma One way to highlight the difficulty of the challenge facing Israeli decision-makers – on how to respond to the murderous atrocities inflicted on them by the Palestinian terror organization, Hamas -- is this: This attack essentially compels the Israelis to Hit Back in some meaningful way at those who inflicted upon it such a vicious blow. Israel Hitting Back is exactly what Hamas was trying to achieve with its vicious attack. That shows the heart of the Israelis’ dilemma: if what Israel must do against their enemies is also playing into their enemies hands, can there be some course of action for Israel that serves their interests and not their enemies’. Looking more closely at those two components: 1)Perhaps, in some ideal world, a nation so attacked would have more options. But in this world, it would be dangerous for any sovereign nation to refrain from forceful retaliation, lest potential enemies interpret that as weakness. (Especially dangerous for Israel, which faces enemies who have declared their intention to destroy the Jewish state.) In addition, no nation’s population could absorb such a profound trauma and accept their leaders not striking back hard. (And again, especially in Israel, whose people have had so much historical trauma triggered by this barbarous murderous rampage.) (Consider the American impulse to Hit Back in response to 9/11, in which the number murdered was much smaller -- in proportion to the national population -- than what Israel suffered on 10/7. The response to 9/11 illustrates the dangers of playing into the terrorists’ hands, as the American over-reaction did considerable damage to American power and reputation.) 2) Why would Hamas want to provoke Israel to Hit Back ferociously? The ultimate goal of Hamas is the elimination of the Jewish state from what it considers Islamic territory. To achieve that, Hamas’s wants to prevent a stable peace from developing between Israel and the Arab world. Whatever inflames the hostilities between Israel and others is useful to Hamas. Because Hamas is thoroughly embedded among the two-plus million Palestinian population in Gaza City, any meaningful Israeli retaliation is certain to inflict major casualties on Hamas’s innocent “human shields. That would generate horrific videos that would intensify hatred for Israel among Palestinians and the “Arab Street.” (Already, and this is said to explain the timing of Hamas’s attack, the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia has been put on hold because of the crisis Hamas chose to generate.) That would perpetuate the conflict, bolstering the chances for Hamas achieving its ultimate goal of the destruction of a non-Muslim state in the region. The American Help It is in this context that the role that the United States has chosen to play comes into focus. President Biden, and his Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, have composed a suitably complex set of American moves that appear designed to address this conundrum: i.e. to enable an Israeli response that maximally serves Israeli interests while minimally playing into Hamas’s hands. They have expressed strong support for Israel – and its having not only “the right” but also “the duty” – to defend themselves (by striking against their attackers). They have expressed empathy for the Israeli trauma and outrage in such moving terms that some Israelis wept at hearing the words of the American President, and billboards went up in Tel Aviv thanking him. President Biden has sent a major naval force to the Eastern Mediterranean along with the explicit message to Israel’s enemies -- “Don’t!” – to reduce the likelihood that Israeli action against Hamas would plunge Israel into a larger, regional war. Establishing American credibility in Israeli eyes as a friend in their time of need has given the American leadership the standing to move restrain any excessive impulses of its traumatized ally, to slow down the escalatory process, and to help dramatize to the world measures that lessen how much what Israel does against Hamas will inflame Palestinian/Arab/World feelings against Israel. The President and his Secretary of state, for example, have emphasized the importance of minimizing the “humanitarian disaster” in Gaza, for example: Speaking repeatedly about the “Laws of War,” meaning minimizing civilian deaths. Planning a joint operation to get humanitarian aid to the displaced people of Gaza City. In part, measures of this kind will save lives. In part, the display of genuine efforts will improve the image of Israel, however the eventual attack against Hamas plays out. (I hope I’m wrong, but I cannot see how this plays out well either in terms of the level of collateral death and suffering among the Palestinians of Gaza, or in terms of a happy outcome for the hostages held by Hamas. But, even if my pessimism on those scores are correct, there is real value in making good-faith, visible efforts to produce a better outcome.) The American leadership in this crisis strikes me as being masterful. That is not to say there’s any guarantee that things will go well. It is an ugly situation in a region filled with destructive forces. But I wouldn’t know how to improve this well-crafted a comprehensive policy. Putting this together with American leadership in the Ukraine crisis, I feel moved to say: Biden may look old, and be old, but in the two main world crises of his Presidency, he’s shown a deft hand as “leader of the free world.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/19/2200251/-Israel-s-Dilemma-and-the-American-Help?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/