#Israel / Hamas' complete defeat - and then Gaza's rehabilitation
#Ynet is publishing a disturbing proposal written by some Israeli academics and “policymakers,” who are promoting the establishment of a system of governance in Gaza that eerily resembles US's failed state-building experiment in #Iraq, or more closely, the apartheid-era Bantustans of South Africa. The working paper was allegedly already read by government officials.
The paper is titled "From a murderous regime to a moderate society". It was written by four Israeli academics, and reviewed by members of the Military Intelligence Directorate and the War Cabinet. Its authors state that there is a need for Hamas' "complete defeat" - which, in their opinion, includes losing control over territory and "public trials" for its leaders. It also outlines a path for rehabilitation and de-radicalization. "Rehabilitation under fire is doomed to fail," the authors wrote.
The document, written in February, deals with the question of how Gazan society can become “a peaceful neighbor to the State of Israel.” The authors assume that victory - at least in the sense of preventing Hamas' resurgence and harming Israel - requires "rehabilitating and transforming a nation led by “a murderous ideology,” and cultivating stable institutions and an Arab culture that does not educate for jihad and accepts the existence of the of Israel as the Jewish people's nation-state."
The authors’ conclusions are provocative. First, there is a need for Hamas' "complete defeat," which means losing territory (for an unlimited period of time) and "public trials" for Hamas leaders. One of the authors, Dr. Palmor, says: "My position is that the average Palestinian needs to feel defeated. He needs to feel that the path they've taken so far, including education, hasn't worked. In my opinion, we should have declared the entire northern Gaza Strip as Israeli territory, for all intents and purposes." This is his opinion, not the document's recommendation.
All the writers agree that Hamas' defeat is necessary and that “rehabilitation under fire is doomed to fail." To succeed, they propose setting a "positive horizon for the defeated nation, conditioned on achieving concrete and measurable goals," and suggest establishing an "autonomous Palestinian entity."
The authors proposed (already in February) the immediate establishment of an effective mechanism to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They wrote that "it is necessary to achieve control as soon as possible over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in order to prevent further deterioration and to deprive Hamas of one of its most important recruitment bases."
But this is clearly not a “peace plan”: "The state independence of this entity must be conditional on strict conditions, including education for peace, renunciation of violence and terror, and effective security and administrative capabilities," they write. "Even if Israel is not interested in ruling Gaza and prefers to establish a different civilian government in the Strip, the option of Israeli military rule must hover in the background."
A glaring omission in the proposal is, understandably, the occupation itself. Regardless of how Israel chooses to frame the events of October 7th, it's impossible to detach them from the broader context of Palestinian resistance and the right to self-determination, which is enshrined in international law. Israel can continue down the path of entrenching its occupation, but it's unlikely to find much support from its allies. In fact, by doing so, Israel risks becoming increasingly isolated and likened to the apartheid regime of South Africa, a comparison that already has severe diplomatic and economic consequences.
The full article will be published on Friday in "Yediot Ahronot" and ynet.
