(American Purpose) Robert Satloff and Dennis Ross - President Biden wrote in the Washington Post on November 18, 2023,"If Hamas cared at all for Palestinian lives, it would release all the hostages, give up arms and surrender the leaders and those responsible for Oct. 7." Biden was right to raise the prospect of Hamas' surrender. Actively pursuing that goal might be the best way to save Palestinian lives and to achieve U.S. strategic objectives in the Israel-Hamas war. Since Oct. 7, President Biden has held fast to the principle that Israel has both the right and the obligation to wage war against Hamas for its unprovoked aggression against civilian communities in Israel. Israel has implemented numerous operational procedures to keep the tragically high civilian death toll from climbing substantially higher; it has also allowed inspected humanitarian goods to flow into the war-zone. Both Washington and Jerusalem recognize that the precondition for any effort to bridge their differences over the "day-after" is Israeli victory over Hamas. Any talk of a post-war political process is meaningless without Israeli battlefield success. There can be no serious discussion with Hamas either still governing Gaza or commanding a coherent military force. President Biden recognized early that "ceasefire now" presents an insurmountable obstacle to any "political process later." His correct and courageous decision has been to fight the growing chorus for a ceasefire and to play the long game. In the fog of war in Gaza, the only certainty is that the survival of a substantial element of Hamas would be a political and diplomatic disaster. If a battered but still operational Hamas is left in control of key parts of Gaza and is therefore able to claim victory, Hamas' rejectionist ideology will likely gain traction among Palestinians and throughout the Middle East. This would put Arab states on the defensive, and they would hesitate to take risks to advance a reinvigorated Arab-Israeli peace process. Robert Satloff is executive director and Dennis Ross is a distinguished fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
2023-12-08 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive