Months after Oct. 7, Israel and Hamas still locked in war | Opinion
Seven months after the heinous Hamas attack on Israel is a good time to assess how Israel fares compared to the situation before the attack, and to the declared war aims.
On the brighter side, Hamas has suffered a major blow. Significant portions of its military capabilities have been destroyed, and with the calls for Arab forces coming in to control Gaza on the day after the war, its rule over that area will surely be restricted, if not abolished altogether. Therefore, its capability of harassing Israel in the future will be diminished.
On the Lebanese border, Iran’s proxy Hezbollah has also been repeatedly hit by the Israeli Air Force, and it seems that the combination of the military pressure will eventually lead to a political arrangement, which will push the terrorist organization away from the Israeli border.
The Iranian missile and drone attack on Israel proved to be a colossal failure. Not only have most of the missiles and the drones been shot down (or have failed to reach their destination altogether), the anti-Iran coalition led by the U. S. showed that it is alive and kicking. Furthermore, Israel’s response to that attack exposed the weakness of the Iranian defense systems. Israel’s deterrence has definitely been enhanced.
On the downside, the attack on Oct. 7 was a big humiliating blow to Israel, and the fact that after 215 days, 94 Israelis are still kept hostages in the hands of Hamas is extremely painful. If and when they will be released, the price Israel will surely have to pay, especially by exchanging them for jailed terrorists and pulling out of Gaza, will be a bitter pill to swallow. Also, Israeli leaders kept telling the public that the releasing of the hostages was one of the top war aims.
As long as this doesn’t happen, Israelis are increasingly doubting whether the continuation of the war actually leads toward the release of the hostages, and with each additional day, the chances of them returning alive are diminishing.
Another goal of the war, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kept trumpeting, is the “total victory” over Hamas. No one really knows what exactly that means, but if after six months of ferocious fighting and so much destruction inflicted on Gaza, Hamas still stands on its feet, then there are more doubts about the wisdom of the Israeli policy.
In the meantime, tens of thousands of Israelis have been evacuated from the border areas both near Gaza and on the Lebanese border, and it remains to be seen when they will be able to return to their homes without being attacked again by either Hamas or Hezbollah.
Then, there is the tension between the Biden administration and Netanyahu’s government over the refusal of the latter to discuss the day after the war and the dire humanitarian conditions of the people of Gaza and the continued attacks.
Finally, once the initial empathy towards Israel abated, there emerged a global negative sentiment, which sparked not only political pressures and anti-Israeli demonstrations, but also anti-Semitic attacks, culminating in the emerging violence on the US campuses.
Weighing all these pros and cons leads many Israelis to the somber conclusion that the current government has failed twice: First, by its policy over the past years of “containing” Hamas and weakening the Palestinian Authority, it actually helped strengthen Hamas.
And then, by launching the constitutional coup against the Israeli democracy, it portrayed Israel as a weak society, torn apart from within, something which seduced Hamas to unleash its attack. Secondly, many Israelis believe that Netanyahu is prolonging the war in order to deflect criticism or, in other words, simply to remain in power.
Protesting against governments in times of war is always a sensitive issue, as the Vietnam era has shown.
In Israel, though, the public pressure is rising, with more Israelis becoming convinced that the current government has failed and it should go; the sooner, the better.
Uri Dromi was the spokesman of the Israeli government from 1992-1996.
