President Joe Biden is pressuring Israel once again. The latest ploy is a three-tiered ceasefire plan to end the conflict, while seemingly leaving Hamas intact. In the same breath as this proposal, Biden claimed that the terror group has been crippled, unable to carry out another Oct 7 attack.
There are huge flaws in this plan, the most striking of which is whose idea it was in the first place. Biden tried to pitch it as Israel’s. But Prime Minister Netanyahu insisted there will be no ceasefire until the war aims are achieved, implying that it did not emanate from Israel at all.
We all agree that Hamas needs to be dismantled, but there are two ways to understand this end. The first is the Biden administration’s: cripple Hamas’ ability to carry out more terror attacks on Israeli soil. Even if that were the goal, it’s not certain that this point has been reached. The most recent statistics show that there are 15,000 Hamas fighters remaining, and according to the Middle East Eye, 65% of the tunnels are still intact.
The second is Israel’s intention: not only to cripple Hamas, but to deliver such a crushing blow that it sends a message. There is a need for this type of display, because without it, Israel exposes itself to additional attacks on all fronts. It’s also the hope that, much like what was done with Naziism in WWII, Hamas’s total defeat will indicate to the Palestinian people that the ideology of Jew hatred is a dead-end philosophy and it’s time to work towards peaceful coexistence.
Many countries expressed their disdain with Israel’s response to the attack of Oct. 7 from the outset. Even before we entered Rafah, the Biden administration claimed this incursion would do nothing but embolden Hamas. What many don’t understand, because of the lack of media coverage, is that the exact opposite is true. What emboldens our enemies are the negative statements about Israel’s actions, be it from the ICC or the UN or the Biden administration. Each time these critiques are leveled against us, numerous rounds of rockets rain down from both the North and the South.
Bringing home our hostages is Israel’s other objective. As much as the Biden plan outlines the return of both live and dead detainees, it’s hard to see that will ever come to fruition through negotiations. The terror group, because of the world’s present view of Israel, sees that they have the upper hand. They’ve successfully sold the lie that Israel’s desire is to maximize civilian casualties while the opposite has been true. Each PR blunder, of which we’ve had many, has only increased international pressure for Israel to halt its offensive.
Speak to Israeli soldiers and they’ll tell you that their main priority is bringing home our hostages. There are chayalim actively looking for family members in the field. We’ve even heard stories of spray-painted messages such as, “We’re coming for you,” in various buildings throughout Gaza in the hopes of keeping hostages’ spirits alive until we reach them.
This reality weighs heavily upon most Israelis, as does the international pressure to halt the war prematurely. The experience is reminiscent of the movie Silence of the Lambs. For those unfamiliar, it’s a story of a serial killer who detains his victims in a dungeon until ultimately murdering them. The protagonist is in a race against time to find the perpetrator before he kills his next victim.
When Joe Biden and the rest of the world tells Israel to end the war, it’s like watching the Silence of the Lambs, as the hero is closing in on the serial killer. You can see the woman in the pit, the murderer lurking above her, and then the credits begin to roll. You’re left knowing that the victim will die a slow painful death and there’s nothing you can do about it.
The Israel Defense Forces is the hero of our story. Anyone who thinks otherwise is mistaken. And they need to eliminate the perpetrators and rescue our brothers and sisters trapped in the dungeons of Rafah. Anything beyond a temporary pause would not only leave the victims in the hands of our enemies, but it would make the sacrifice of our fallen soldiers meaningless.
It’s clear the world is obsessed with viewing Israel in a negative light. The media is hyper-focused on civilian casualties and the amount of humanitarian aid entering the region. But like all just wars, the objectives are not the unfortunate consequences. For those of us demanding the aims be achieved, we’re steadfast in the knowledge of what this conflict is really about – defeating a terrorist regime and returning our hostages. I only pray that we achieve our goals before the final credits appear.
