What kind of concessions do you think Israel should offer, having been the victim of a brutal attack?
I don't think Israel should make concessions to Hamas.
That does not mean Israel should be given free rein to starve, bomb, and brutalize the civilians of Gaza. It should not be allowed to deny them water. But I firmly believe Israel should want peacemakers to succeed in bringing prosperity to Palestinians who have chosen to forswear violence, which means rewarding Abbas and Fatah with major improvements in Palestinian communities and recognition of Palestinian rights. And IMO Israel should insist on having the PA be the go-between negotiators for Gaza, at least until the current spate of fighting dies down.
The biggest problem with the situation in Gaza and the West Bank is that people who don't fight back against Israel's expansion have their land stolen, their orchards and farms ruined, and their livelihoods destroyed, while people who do fight back have the exact same thing happen only quicker. We can all see the incentive to be violent but where is the incentive to be peaceful?
Years ago, the PA offered
major concessions on Jerusalem and the settlements. This was after it formally recognized the Right of Israel to exist and the Right of Jewish immigrants to live there. I think it's time Israel offered a few major concessions as well, starting with recognizing the Right of Palestinians to remain in their homes in Palestine. Honestly, I don't believe Israel will be doing that anytime soon. The settlers have the upper hand in Israeli society and the Knesset. The violence they commit has been
on the increase since 2022
but arrests and prosecutions for those acts of violence haven't.
I know there’s long history of enmity between Israel and Palestine. But Hamas is a terrorist organization which attacked Israel without warning. There has been grave wrong in the part of Israel and grave wrong on the part of Palestine prior to the recent attack by Hamas. I cannot see how Israel now owes Hamas concessions for a brutal surprise attack.
Do you honestly think the IDF and Hamas have been warning each other about impending attacks before this one?
I agree for the most part with your points. However, reading Don2's post below, I think that it is very likely that indeed, both sides DO warn each other but whether that warning is noted by the right people and treated seriously enough, I can't say. Perhaps no one can.
As to your point about earlier agreements between Israel and PA, yes, both have violated and continue to wage aggressions against each other.
The PA doesn't. That's a very important point that gets swept under the rug all too often. Hamas broke away from the PA when it engaged in a shooting match with Fatah and then stopped holding elections in Gaza.
Israel apologists used to say Israel would be happy to make peace if only the Palestinians would recognize Israel's Right to Exist. The PA did that.
Then it was "Israel would be happy to make peace if only the Palestinians would recognize Israel's Right to Exist in peace and security on the land it has claimed". The PA did that.
Then it was "Israel would be happy to make peace if only the Palestinians would forswear violence as a means to achieve their ends". The PA did that. Not only did Israel not make any effort toward peace, the Israelis pitched a bloody fit when the PA sought recognition and representation at the UN so they could pursue peace at the international institution devoted to doing that very thing.
The Palestinians have made huge concessions over the years. It's time for Israel to make them too. And it's time for Israel to stop building settlements and start arresting settlers who commit acts of violence and intimidation.
Frankly, I don't see anything but more brutality and killing happening anytime soon. Racists and bigots are running things in Israel and Gaza, the PA is mostly toothless, and the only acts of violence the likes of Netanyahu and America's Religious Right decry are the ones that kill Jews.
IMO the Two State solution died with the Oslo Accords. The only options left are genocide, ethnic cleansing, Israel's defeat, or equal rights in the One State solution.
The question is why? Why are the fans of war being flamed (both sideds)? WHO PROFITS? Not Israel and not the Palestinians. I have no idea what entities it might be who are profiting from war, conflict, death and destruction but someone is. Who profits is always the most salient point to any armed conflict. I mean directly, via currency, not by winning some political point.
Israel profits:
The United States committed over $3.3 billion in foreign assistance to Israel in 2022, the most recent year for which data exists.
[1] About $8.8 million of that went toward the country's economy, while 99.7% of the aid went to the Israeli military.
Israel can afford to throw its weight around because it gets a HUGE amount of military funding and support from the US. It can afford to keep building settlements, roads, pipelines, etc. while providing universal health care and to pay the basic living expenses of ultra-religious Jews who spend all day studying the Torah. It can afford to appease it's most violent and strident factions because it doesn't have to support itself.
Also, Israel profits every time an orchard, farm, mineral deposit, well, grazing land, etc., is seized by Zionists and declared Israeli property. The amount of wealth each individual parcel of land is worth may be small but in aggregate the profit to Israel is huge.
If the US cut everything except for disaster relief and basic humanitarian aid, the Israelis would be a lot less bellicose and the theft of land would have to stop. We Americans bear a lot of responsibility for what's happening in Palestine because we provide the funding that makes it affordable.
