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Source: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trumps-triumphal-march-5bb61e77
The Middle East Hasn't Yet Entered an Era of Peace
(Wall Street Journal) Walter Russell Mead - After the release of the last living hostages from their inhuman and indefensible captivity in Gaza, the dark cloud hanging over Israel and the Jewish people worldwide since the atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023, has lifted. There is mourning for the dead, horror at the survivors' suffering, and gratitude for the heroism of those who gave their lives in Israel's defense after the attacks. But despite President Trump's optimism, the Middle East hasn't yet entered an era of peace. The core cause of the conflict hasn't been and perhaps can't be resolved. The existence of a Jewish state in the predominantly Muslim Middle East presents an unendurable civilizational and religious affront to so much of the region's population that Israel has had to become an armed camp to survive. Hamas was the enemy of every Arab government in the Middle East. It had no positive program for the people it ruled, and its tactics were as revolting as its methods were brutal. That a movement so deranged and misguided could command such wide support among the world's restless youth reflects in part the careless sentimentalism of people whose genuine concern for the Palestinians blinded them to the cynical and bloodthirsty duplicity of Hamas. Mr. Trump's triumph over Hamas came from his ability to organize a coalition of realists against the pretensions of fantasists. The Gulf Arabs want Hamas to suffer the kind of crushing defeat that would reduce its ideological appeal among their own citizens. The writer, a fellow at the Hudson Institute, is Professor of Strategy and Statecraft at the University of Florida.