Gaza Strip hell
Arabs are murdering other Arabs, but Israel will end up paying the price
The natural and oh-so-Israeli tendency in the face of the difficult images from Gaza is to say: Arabs are butchering other Arabs? Who cares? Let them murder, slaughter and kill, and the more the better. Let them go to Gaza-hell.
Yet this is not the case. Government officials in Jerusalem and military officials in the IDF General Staff are monitoring developments with concern: A Hamas takeover in the Gaza Strip brings Iran and Lebanon as well as al-Qaeda and Hizbullah to our doorstep, to Kibbutz Nahal Oz and to the town of Sderot's southern neighborhoods. It brings them to our home.
Hamas' Gaza takeover created shockwaves that are apparently going to reach Judea and Samaria as well. If this happens, God forbid, this will be a war within our home, in Jerusalem's alleyways, on the roads leading to the capital, and in dozens of communities all over the place.
The collapse of the flaccid Mahmoud Abbas' regime could bring the State of Israel face to face with a difficult reality: A Hamas government that may agree to a ceasefire at some point but would forever strive to eliminate Israel. If there were ever moderates on the Palestinian side, they are folding their flags these days.
Many of those moderates are already lying dead in Gaza hospital mortuaries – a sign of warning for their West Bank brothers.
Past proposals suddenly look good
One way or another, the dream of wide circles in Israel is about to be realized: From now on, there will really be nobody for them to talk to. At the same time, the United States and apparently also the European Union and possibly Russia will be talking to us soon: They will be asking us to pay the price.
Bush, Blair, Putin and others will explain to us how strong we are, how we are "not like them," and how generous we must be: Accommodate the Palestinians more, release more of their prisoners, and introduce more generous plans for giving up territories. Save us, and at the same time save yourselves too. Indeed, we will be asked to pay the price.
Yet there is another lesson to be drawn from the difficult images in Gaza: About 10, 20, and 30 years ago both us and the Palestinians were offered 1,001 peace proposals, separations, and ceasefires. Yet we, the arrogant bullies of the Middle Eastern neighborhood, rejected them one by one. Today, we would accept them wholeheartedly, embrace them, kiss them. Just let those same proposals come again.
