Just imagine if an ally such as Israel had hectored President George W. Bush regarding his response to Al-Qaeda following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. What if Prime Minister Ariel Sharon or Israeli Knesset members had urged America to arbitrarily hold an election due to security lapses prior to Sept. 11, or the war in Afghanistan? There would be an uproar. Shouldn’t American politicans be lecturing Hamas and other Palestinian leaders to move beyond denial and accept the globally recognized state of Israel?
Even better, instead of funding Iran, the United States could impose additional sanctions against the mullahs who rule with an iron fist as they finance and train Hamas and other terror proxies. Hamas uses Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure to carry out its terror assaults on Israel and is seemingly indifferent to the deaths and suffering of the Palestinians. Gaza’s Ministry of Health has been accused of wildly inflating Palestinian casualties while Hamas was said to have taken a large portion of the humanitarian aid meant for Gazan civilians.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) say they bend over backwards to prevent civilian casualties on both sides during a highly challenging kinetic environment. The IDF has to locate Hamas terrorists, eliminate them, and continue the hostage rescue search. In the fog of war, there will be mistakes by the IDF, but the onus for most Palestinian deaths arguably lies squarely on the shoulders of Hamas and Iran who treat civilians as cannon fodder.
Politicians have promoted the concept of a two-state solution for decades, but it has always led to a dead end. Which parties in the Middle East are jeopardizing the concept of a two-state solution comprising Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank? The idea of a two-state solution has been around since the 1948 founding of the state of Israel. Indeed, Israeli leaders have often visualized two states adjacent to one another living in peace and prosperity.
Several times, Palestinians have been offered their own state with borders and self-governance. In each instance, following excruciating negotiations, Palestinian leaders such as Yasser Arafat and current leader Mahmoud Abbas have rejected generous offers. Israeli diplomat Abba Eban once noted that the Palestinians never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Even after Israel withdrew from Gaza and parts of the West Bank years ago, peace deals have been torpedoed by Iran’s proxies surrounding Israel. Instead of forging peace and prosperity, Palestinian leaders have utilized foreign aid to unleash terror strikes against Israel over and over again. This pattern begs the question: Do the Palestinians genuinely want a state?
It’s likely that some Palestinians hope for peace and stability, but Tehran’s proxies hijack their dreams by striking Israel. At this juncture, it is highly likely that the primary goal of Iran’s clerical leaders is to annihilate the state of Israel through longterm warfare. This could be a risky venture, especially if Iran crosses a red line and signs off on a large-scale assault on Israel.
Instead of handcuffing Israel in its mission, U.S. politicians ought to highlight the vast difference between the only beacon of freedom, Israel, in the Middle East and the Islamist aggressors arrayed against this democracy, most of which are green-lighted by puppet-masters in Tehran. In a twist of irony, most Arab states have already expelled all Jewish people, yet Israel has assimilated more than two million ethnic Arabs who enjoy far more rights than those who live in neighboring dysfunctional regimes.
It isn’t farfetched to consider that both China and Russia have influenced Iran in attempting to destabilize Israel because it embraces democracy, free markets, and the rule of law. Autocratic leaders detest nations wherein people have free choices and human rights, because they believe that democracy could spread to their nations and erode their power.
Finally, Israeli leaders have stated the obvious for years. If Iran’s proxies lay down their arms in good faith, greater peace and prosperity could transpire. However, if Israel puts its weapons away, it would be demolished. Currently, Iran and its surrogates aren’t terrorizing Israel due to religion, but rather from the vantage point of a power grab. Iran’s ambition is to conquer Israel and turn it into an Islamist state. The free world cannot allow this brazen aggression to succeed.
