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** Israel's True Enemy: Hamas, Not Netanyahu ([link removed])
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by Bassam Tawil • September 10, 2024 at 5:00 am
* More than 30 years ago, these "elites," overwhelmingly on Israel's political "left" (think "peace," as if most people in democracies do not want peace) played a significant role in convincing the Israeli government to sign the Oslo Accord with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), headed by Yasser Arafat. The assumption back then was that if you bring Arafat's PLO from the Arab countries to Gaza and the West Bank and help them create a government and police force, the Palestinians would renounce terrorism and give up their dream of destroying Israel.
* The Palestinian Authority, established in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1994, had no intention of making peace with Israel, and still has not.
* Palestinian leaders continue to praise terrorists as "martyrs" and "heroes" and pay monthly salaries to their families.
* Many Israeli "elites" chose to turn a blind eye to the Palestinian leaders' support for terrorism and incitement of violence and hatred against Israel. Some Israeli peace activists continued to argue that Abbas who, since 2014 has refused to resume peace negotiations with Israel, is somehow a credible peace partner.
* "He [Arafat] did not negotiate in good faith; indeed, he did not negotiate at all. He just kept saying no to every offer, never making any counterproposals of his own." – Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, quoted by Benny Morris from interviews in late March and early April 2202.
* The Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip in 2005 to enable the Palestinians to create a Dubai on the Mediterranean, instead enabled Hamas and other terror groups to turn the coastal enclave into a huge base for Jihad (holy war) against Israel. With the help of Iran, the terror groups smuggled weapons into the Gaza Strip from Egypt in tunnels dug under the border, and were taught to manufacture rockets and missiles. The Gazans also built a vast network of tunnels throughout the Gaza Strip, with many extending into Egypt.
* It turned out the belief of Israeli "elites" that the expulsion of Jews from the Gaza Strip would contribute to peace with the Palestinians was a catastrophic mirage.
* The Palestinians did not see the "disengagement" as an indication that Israel wants peace. Instead, many Palestinians viewed the withdrawal as an Israeli display of weakness and retreat in the face of rockets and suicide bombings. The thinking among the Palestinians became, "Oh, it's working! So let's do it more!"
* In a similar way, Iran, Qatar, Hamas and Hezbollah have been gaining more confidence from the current anti-government protests in Israel, especially since the Biden-Harris administration began pressing Israel to make concessions, but never Hamas, Hezbollah, Qatar or Iran.
* "Continue to exert psychological pressure on the families [of the hostages], both now and during the first phase [of the ceasefire] so that public pressure on the enemy government increases.... Arab forces should serve as a buffer to prevent the enemy [Israel] from entering after the war in Gaza ends, until they [Hamas] have reorganized their ranks and military capabilities." — Hamas document, written in March for the terrorist group's leader Yahya Sinwar, discovered on a computer allegedly belonging to him that was seized by the IDF.
* It is wrong for Israel's anti-government demonstrators to blame Netanyahu for the deadlock in the hostages-ceasefire negotiations. As the Hamas document shows, it is actually the terror group that is not in a rush to reach a deal. Hamas and the Israeli demonstrators seem to hope that the protests will succeed in overthrowing Netanyahu, so that the Israelis can elect a new prime minister – one who will allow Hamas to rearm, regroup and attack again, and one who will allow on Israel's border a Palestinian state committed to Israel's destruction and free of Jews who might prevent further attacks.
* Sadly, many demonstrating in Israel today appear unaware that they are being used by Hamas; that they have walked into Hamas's trap to force out a leader, Netanyahu, who is finally succeeding in defeating Hamas.

Pictured: Anti-government demonstrators near the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, Israel on September 7, 2024.

Israel's self-appointed "elites" governed Israel during the first few decades after its independence in 1948, and, after an unfortunate track record of calculating and assuming things incorrectly when it comes to Israel's policies towards the Palestinians and other Arabs, are evidently dismayed that they have not been voted back into power. These Israeli "elites" are now blocking Israel's streets to try to bring down Israel's duly elected government. They seem to have forgotten their past mistakes and are still pushing for the same failed policies that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of Israelis.

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