The analyst David Weinberg has delivered himself of some thoughts on how Washington should be dealing with Hamas. More of his suggestions can be found here: “What real White House pressure on Hamas would look like – opinion,” by David M. Weinberg, Jerusalem Post, September 14, 2024:
After American-Turkish anti-Israel activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi mistakenly was shot by IDF troops during an altercation in northern Samaria last Friday, Washington fumed, thundered, and threatened Israel.
US President Joe Biden was “outraged.” He called Eygi’s death “totally unacceptable.” He demanded “full accountability” from Israel and “continued access” into the investigation of the circumstances of the shooting (suggesting that IDF investigations cannot be trusted).
Biden went on to decry “ongoing violence” in the West Bank by “extremist Israeli settlers” – a false accusation that has become the standard line in Washington’s whippings of Israel. And then came the holy (im)moral equivalency statement: “I will continue to support policies that hold all extremists – Israelis and Palestinians alike – accountable for stoking violence and serving as obstacles to peace.”
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin broadened the US demand for “accountability” from Israel by insisting that the “unprovoked and unjustified death” proves that Israel needs to completely reexamine the IDF’s rules of engagement for operating in the West Bank. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expanded on this, fulminating that the Israeli military needs an “overhaul” and must make “fundamental changes” in its rules of live fire engagement….
Full accountability from Hamas might have included the following actions:
• Unflinchingly supplying Israel with more and better arms to crush Hamas, instead of agonizing over the deaths of Hamas supporters and pontificating about armament restrictions. This might also include leverage on British and Canadian leaders to back down from their arms embargoes against Israel.
• Rethinking of the “humanitarian train” for Gaza, including enormous quantities of fuel and food, which everybody knows has been hijacked by Hamas to preserve its governing capabilities. How about cutting back a few fuel and flour trucks for Hamas every time that Hamas even threatens to torture or execute an Israeli hostage?…
International legal expert Prof. Eugene Kontorovich suggested to the Biden administration a formula to get the hostages back and end the war very quickly: “For every day Hamas does not give up the hostages, America will recognize 100 square dunams (roughly 25 acres) of Gaza as a permanent Israeli buffer zone. For every murdered hostage, 1,000 square dunams (250 acres). The war would be over in days.”…
This is an unusual proposal by Prof. Kontorovich, linking both the safety of hostages, and the swiftness of their return, to the final size of post-bellum Gaza. America knows that Israel would like a demilitarized zone inside Gaza; still better would be for a strip inside Gaza along its eastern border, akin to the Philadelphi Corridor that Israel intends to hold on in the south, land that could be turned over permanently to the Jewish state. Weinberg predicts with such a policy, all of the hostages would promptly be handed over, and “the war would be over in days.” It is certainly worth a try.
Weinberg suggests that the Biden administration also stop all of this talk about a so-called “two-state solution.” Mere mention of it boosts Hamas’ morale. The terror group will claim that its steadfastness against the IDF in Gaza has led the Americans to support a “Palestinian state,” but that isn’t true – Washington has been talking about this idiotic “two-state solution” for many years, but many Arabs in Judea and Samaria (a/k/a the West Bank) will believe Hamas deserves the credit. In Gaza, the situation is very different: only 5% of the population now supports Hamas, after all the destruction it has brought down on the Strip with its policy of embedding its operatives, its weapons, and its rocket launchers in civilian areas and buildings. Hamas is even more unpopular because of its massive theft of so much of the humanitarian aid entering the Strip, that it then sells, at extravagant prices, to the very people in Gaza who were supposed to be given that aid for free. Since October 7, Hamas has made $500 million from the sale of such aid.
For inflicting all kinds of pain on Hamas — in addition to that inflicted by the IDF – that’s what I’d call a good start.
somehistory says
biden had his hands near the mozlum terrorist’s throat, but not quite close enough.
Two hideous creatures of like mind.
biden will never fume or threaten hamas. And neither will his hyena.
And the idiot from turkey ‘provoked her own death’ by being where she had no business and campaigning on behalf of her fellow terrorists.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
US has no leverage w/ Hamas, which is a puppet of Qatar, but also has other patrons like Turkey and Iran. The key to doing anything to Hamas is crippling Iran, as well as reading both Qatar and Turkey the riot act. Given how Qatar was previously isolated in the GCC, additional US pressure could make them fold, while in Turkey’s case, the US needs to shut down Incirlik and pull out all its hardware from there, & maybe relocate it in the Negev
Walter Sieruk says
that top picture of this article of those two treacherous scheming scoundrels. standing there together in closes comradeship. In all fairness, they do make a good sinister match, Therefore they truly , do deserve each other.
This is a mild reminder that the Bible does pose a rhetorical question in Amos 3:3. Which is ” Can two walk together, unless they are agreed ?” [N.K.J.V.]
somehistory says
abbas at the un. he ended his speech with saying, ‘the world is responsible for what is happening in gaza.” No, adherents of islam and those who fail to say how very evil islam is, are responsible.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/palestinian-leader-criticizes-us-government-thanks-american-people-during-un-speech/ar-AA1rgOC6?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=4df39eecc2b042998418913f37770190&ei=67
Huapakechi says
The apologists and hand wringers would never stand for Israel taking land from the “palestinians” for their atrocities. According to that bunch, it would only incite the fanatics to more violence, but what has been the result of negotiation and appeasement? More violence.
The sponsor of global terrorism must be made to cease. If that involves the bloody removal of the theocracy that currently runs iran, counter that with the lives saved.