A Rabbinic Disagreement Is Influencing My Thinking About The Gaza War
By
Leonard Zwelling
It will come as no surprise to readers of this blog that I had adopted the thinking of Tom Friedman of The New York Times when it came to solving the conflict in Gaza that began with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. I think I can sum that stance up this way:
- Cease fire
- Return all the Israeli hostages, dead and alive, in return for some Palestinian prisoners in Israel
- Israel must commit to a Palestinian state of some sort—the two-state solution
- Allow foreign aid into Gaza to feed and care for the hungry and injured
- This negotiation would be ultimately between Israel and Hamas with intermediaries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United States
- This should lead to Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords
I think that’s a fair description of the Freidman solution. In communications with one of my rabbis, I had felt that he too saw things this way. He, like me, could not abide by the mass killing by Israel of Palestinian Arabs in Gaza. The problem with this solution is that it leaves Hamas in Gaza and potentially to Israel’s east as well in some part of the West Bank.
I think it is safe to say, that such a solution was not that of the current Israeli government who will not settle for anything less than the complete absence of Hamas in Gaza and will not sanction a Palestinian state on the borders of Israel. I thought this hard line stance was not realistic in today’s world. Then, my other rabbi spoke up.
His point is basically a very simple one. As long as there are people, Arab or not, who wish to kill Jews simply because they are Jews there can be no peace. Such people cannot be ensconced in their own country next to Israel only to launch another October 7. It seems that the attack in Doha, Qatar by Israeli jets in an effort to kill Hamas leadership in that country indicates once and for all that Mr. Netanyahu will not endorse the Friedman solution. I think I finally understand. (see attachment).
The Friedman solution is guided by modern day diplomacy in a complicated world of give and take with associated treaties and security guarantees. The problem is that no one, and I mean no one, will or can guarantee the safety of Jews in Israel from the Arabs who surround them and have pledged to kill them. Yes, Israel has been able to make peace with Egypt and Jordan post-1973. These were old hatreds and they were overcome. But Egypt and Jordan were real countries. They had been sufficiently beaten up by Israel since 1967. It was in everyone’s best interest to make peace. It seems to have worked so far.
The people of Hamas, backed by Israeli-hating Iran, want to kill all Jews. This, in the eyes of Israelis, they can have no country and are unlikely to get one. They would not be reliable neighbors after what they did on October 7. Essentially, on October 6, 2023, Hamas ruled Gaza. After October 7 and the Israeli assault, they are in danger of being evicted.
It seems that the judgement of the current Israeli government is that they can never trust Hamas. If Hamas is to be the representative group of the Palestinian people, Israel will never consent to giving Hamas oversight of a Palestinian homeland. Ditto the useless Palestinian Authority.
Like I said, I have a rabbi in each ear. I understand both points of view. As a Jew, I reserve the right to hold multiple points of view at once. But for now, I get the resistance of Israel to any deals that keep Hamas alive. Hamas, like the PLO before it, wants all Jews dead. Hamas like its Iranian sponsors want all Jews dead. It then should come as no surprise that the Israeli Jews want all Hamas dead. Thus, the attack in Doha. I don’t think Mr. Netanyahu is remotely done. He has moved on Gaza City using ground troops today, September 16.
If the world wants peace in Gaza, the world will have to extract Hamas from Gaza by any means necessary. If the world is unwilling to do that, and it is thus far, then Israel will have to do it.
The Palestinians elected Hamas to run Gaza after Israel left almost 20 years ago. There have been no elections since. If the world wants peace in Gaza, sever Hamas from Gaza. Until then, Israel will fight on.
What the world doesn’t seem to understand is that Israel believes that it has no choice.
