What should be Israel's strategic takeaway be from Operation Breaking Dawn, the latest round of warfare with enemies in Gaza, fought last weekend?
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The answer is this: Israel must be willing to continually degrade enemy military capabilities, operation after operation, day after day, in a campaign of unremitting attrition meant to crush the radical Islamic armies seeking to set up shop permanently on Israel's borders. This means much more than "mowing the grass," intermittent military operations meant to weed enemy fields that Israel has engaged in until now. It means much more than occasional bombings meant to temporarily deter the enemy and bring periods of quiet to residents in Israel's outlying areas.
It means a regular "war between wars" against Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other enemy armies. It means nightly raids on jihadist weapons storehouses, factories, and training camps. It means no respite between Operation Breaking Dawn and the next operation. After all, this is the way Israel operates against jihadists and other terrorist enemies in Judea and Samaria, in Syria, and in Iraq. There is no respite between one operation and the next.
It is only courtesy of nightly IDF raids on jihadist cells in Jenin, Nablus, and Hebron that Israelis and Palestinians alike live a daily life of relative calm. Otherwise, the West Bank would become Gaza.
It is only thanks to foreign media reports on weekly IDF aerial bombings and ground operations against Iranian-backed militias, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps emplacements, and Iranian arms shipments running through Syria and Iraq (en route to Hezbollah in Lebanon) that Israelis in Tel Aviv life a life of relative calm and prosperity. Otherwise, all of Israel would become living hell.
Israel must ensure that West Bank is not militarized over the long term (as mandated by the Oslo Accords), with its own forces, and act to bring about the demilitarization of problem areas like Gaza and Sinai. None of this is possible without a strong and permanent Israeli military imprint on all fronts. Israel must act with unrelenting ruthlessness and project endless grit in this continuous war against terrorist armies – while maintaining a healthy and resilient Israeli home front despite ongoing military offensives and enemy missile attacks.
Let's face it: Given a situation of multiple threats from implacable, non-state enemies who encroach on Israel's borders and are ideologically opposed to peace with Israel – like Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Al Qaeda, and ISIL; given the feebleness and fecklessness of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank; and given an environment where many Arab and Islamic states from Marrakesh to Bangladesh are beset by instability – Israel's strategic posture must remain resolute.
Especially in the changed international environment (with the Biden administration courting Iran and providing Israel with only subdued backing), and in the changed domestic environment (with persistent internal political deadlock), Israel must demonstrate that it is not defenseless. Its leadership (however temporary) must remain clear-eyed, and Israel must retain freedom of action against any and all enemies.
If this sounds militaristic, get used to it. This is the necessary Israeli strategic posture; this is the Israeli reality. It is the only true path to Israeli security, and ultimately to regional peace.
Simultaneously, Israel's hand is always outstretched for peace with moderate Arabs who (correctly) view Israel as the legitimate home of the indigenous Jewish People of Zion; who understand Israel as a leading force for regional stability and prosperity; who embrace the Abrahamic partnership for peace.
In fact, Israel's new Abraham Accords peace partners are closely watching these conflicts too, judging Israel. They ask themselves whether Israel is going to appropriately crush Hamas and PIJ (Iranian-backed enemies of the Gulf states) the way it normally would, or is Israel hamstrung by the conditions described above. A weak Israel is far less attractive as a friend to the governments in Abu Dhabi, Manama, Rabat– and Riyadh.
In short, Israel's necessary strategic posture is ferocious, in addition to peace-seeking. Get used to it. As Golda Meir once said: "I prefer condemnations to condolences."
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