(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Israel-Hamas War Can Only End with Hamas and Netanyahu Gone [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-31 By Karen Rubin, News-Photos-Features.com I had had little sympathy for Gazans after the October 7 massacre of 1400 Israelis by Hamas, the equivalent of ten September 11ths given Israel’s tiny population – the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the worst death toll among Israelis since its war for independence, coming almost exactly 50 years after the Yom Kippur War. Gazans were complicit, for decades celebrating murderous terrorists as heroes after every atrocity, which seemed timed for whenever Israel got close to negotiating actual peace which would have relieved the very occupation they despise but unifies them, generation upon generation, in hate. The latest, most barbarous, evil attack on October 7 was timed to disrupt normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia. But now, I also blame Netanyahu – for the decades of policy that was designed to make a peace agreement impossible in order to keep his own power and empower an increasingly right-wing government. Since 2016, when he was desperate to stay in power in order to stay out of prison, his actions to neuter Israel’s judiciary and end the Rule of Law, prompted months and months of protests and resignations from the military and government leadership; then, in order to cement his own power, surrounded himself with loyalists, sycophants and lackeys instead of competent leaders, diverted attention from Israel’s security while propping up a false sense of security that left Israel vulnerable and exposed, as apparently its own military and security warned but who were ignored. (See New York Times: How Years of Israeli Failures on Hamas Led to a Devastating Attack) Most of all, Netanyahu should be blamed for squandering the good will of the international community and (again), turning Israel into the face of evil, providing the excuse and fuel for rising anti-Israel, antisemitic attacks in the United States and around the world. Antisemitic incidents are up 400 percent in the United States, since the October 7 attack, according to the AntiDefamation League. Just this weekend, a mob looking for Israelis and Jews overran an airport in Russia's Caucasus republic of Dagestan, after rumors spread that a flight was arriving from Israel. President Biden and Governor Hochul have had to call out extra security to protect Jews and Jewish communities at schools, synagogues, college campuses, on streets, in neighborhoods, and where Jews gather. (See: FACT SHEET: BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION TAKES LANDMARK STEP TO COUNTER ANTISEMITISM; GOVERNORS SHOW SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL) But each time the Gazans, 1.1 million of them shoved south where Israel told them to go to be “safe”, plead for Israel to restore electricity and water, Israel should say: return the 240 hostages and electricity and water will be restored. The onus should be on Hamas, reinforcing the reality that every day this terror group dedicated solely to the annihilation of Israel and Jews fails to return the hostages, it is Hamas, not Israel, that is causing the suffering of “innocent” Gazans. Each time they plead for Israel to stop the bombardment, Israel should say: when Hamas lays down its arms, stops firing its rockets, and agrees to a new government, we will stop the bombardment. Each time they blame Israel for bombing their apartments, hospitals, mosques, they should remind the world that Hamas has built its terror infrastructure under those structures – Hamas boasts 300 miles of tunnels (half the length of the NYC subway system) built with concrete and steel funded by diverting the aid that should have built solar energy farm, desalinization plants and a vibrant, productive middle-class, instead of an impoverished society dependent upon 400 trucks each day delivering humanitarian aid. How is Hamas able to amass tens of thousands of rockets but not able to get food, water and medicine through those channels? It is Hamas who has oppressed the Gazans and by extension, the Palestinians on the West Bank who have been denied their own state, not Israel which (reminder) unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, forcibly removing its own settles. So much for “land for peace.” So much for a wall. And so much for prisoner exchanges: the mastermind of the October 7 atrocity, the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history which also saw the most Americans, more than 30, killed by terrorists since September 11th, was one of 1000 prisoners, jailed for abducting and killing Israelis, exchanged in 2006 for a single Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who had been held by Hamas for five years. It is Hamas who is oppressing the Gazans and I frankly cannot understand how the Palestinians, who are so eager to fight Israel to be rid of their oppression, have done nothing to remove their real oppressors, Hamas. But much as Hamas has used and fueled hate-filled tension that has resulted after every terror attack in order to preserve its own power (and profit), Netanyahu has done everything possible to stoke that tension to take any two-state solution off the table, put peace out of reach, appease the extreme far right who he installed in government, to stay in power. He “tolerated” Hamas while their attacks were considered “manageable,” because he could claim Israel did not have a credible partner to negotiate a secure peace with. Hamas’ declared mission is to annihilate Israel and all Jews – there is no interest in peaceful coexistence but to take it all. Of course, Hamas and the Palestinians have benefitted from sophisticated agitprop, disinformation, propaganda campaigns. But even stripping away the lies and disinformation, such as that Israel bombed the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital (it was an errant bomb from Palestine Islamic Jihad) that triggered an international surge in anti-Israel, anti-Semitic attacks, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza’s south that dominates images undermines Israel’s position, literally pushing Israel off the high road of justifiable self-defense. It would seem that Hamas’ savagery was aimed at deliberately provoking an over-reaction from Israel in order to incite the “Arab Street” – the masses of people – against the rulers of Jordan, Egypt and Abraham Accords’ signatories - United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Sudan, Bahrain, and now Saudi Arabia - from daring to support Israel. And Iran (which finances Hamas and Hezbollah) and Russia (increasingly dependent upon Iran’s support to continue to wage its brutal war to destroy Ukraine) are celebrating. Meanwhile, the far-left Democrats (Justice Democrats, Socialist Democrats of America), which have long supported Palestinians against Israel (piggybacking anti-Zionism with antisemitism), are jeopardizing support for Israel in Congress and even threaten Biden’s reelection by weakening support in key Electoral College states (Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin). How happy will Putin and Xi be if Biden falls to Trump or, for that matter, any Republican. The absurdity (irony) is that Trump has pledged to renew his Muslim Ban. At the same time, Republicans are capitalizing on Biden’s call for humanitarian aid for Gaza and for Israel to use restraint, to energize their base. (Newly minted Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson actually has the audacity to make US aid to Israel dependent upon Biden eliminating $14 billion from the IRS to derail its collection from billionaire tax cheats, holding Israelis hostage to his donors.) But that’s the difference with a true leader who has a moral compass and convictions. If anyone can create the necessary coalition to replace Hamas in Gaza and the infrastructure for a two-state solution, with peace and security, it is Biden. Reminder: Hamas initiated this war with an unprecedented massacre, and to demand a ceasefire (a tactic going back to the Palestinian Authority and Arafat), to give Hamas time to rearm and regroup to attack again, prolong a chronic terror and insecurity among Israelis and Jews in Diaspora, is inconceivable. How does this end? Not by a brutal invasion, bombardment and unending occupation. Biden is correct to summon up the mistakes of Iraq and Afghanistan as reactions to September 11th terror attack. Netanyahu (who should step down or be forced out for putting self-interest above Israel’s), should be replaced by a leadership that has the credibility, competence and desire to negotiate true peace with security. Hamas must be replaced by a governing coalition led by Arab League nations. And the Palestinians have to give up their deal-breaking demands for a unified Jerusalem in the Palestinian state and the Right of Return to Israel and agree to a true secure peace. __________________________ © 2023 News & Photo Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. For editorial feature and photo information, go to www.news-photos-features.com, email editor@news-photos-features.com. Blogging at www.dailykos.com/blogs/NewsPhotosFeatures. ‘Like’ us on facebook.com/KarenBRubin, Tweet @KarenBRubin [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/31/2202765/-Israel-Hamas-War-Can-Only-End-with-Hamas-and-Netanyahu-Gone?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/