Hamas and Israel agree to an Egyptian-arranged cease fire.
Cease fire.
That is NOT a peace deal.
There are no promises that the conflict - Netanyahu won't call Operation Protective Edge a "war" since Israel would have to pay more for damages to people and property caused by Hamas attacks - won't soon resume.
A "cease fire" is a temporary cessation of combat.
According to an Israel HaYom article headed Gaza cease-fire: 'Israel's goals met, Hamas achieved nothing', "The operation's objectives -- a long-term calm and inflicting substantial damage to terrorist infrastructure -- have been met," an Israeli government official said on Tuesday. "The cease-fire is open-ended, and Hamas' tunnel network and rocket-launching capabilities have been damaged," the official added.
"Damaged" not "destroyed." Think about the meaaning of those two words.
If "inflicting substantial damage to terrorist infrastructure " is the military goal, then the military should stay home. That should not even be a political goal.
What a cease fire does, in this case, is to allow Hamas to rearm and to check the tunnels Israel failed to find to assure future incursions into Israel to murder civilians.
Admittedly, Gaza - not Hamas, but Gaza - suffered heavy damage. According to Palestinian Health spokesman Dr Ashraf Alqedra, as reported by Amira Al Hussaini on Global Voices Online on July 31, "the overall number of Palestinians killed to date is 1,437 and those injured exceed 8,300 in this round of the conflict, dubbed by Israel as Operation Protective Edge."
It is true that some of Hamas' tunnels were discovered - at the cost of too many Israeli lives - but the question remains: Were the tunnels DESTROYED or simply temporarily put out of commission?. (Never mind considering how many homes could have been built with the materials detoured in Hamas' war effort.)
Israel did NOT win. Hamas won.
Hamas won because it still controls Gaza.
Hamas won because it now will - not can, but will - rearm and once again rain down rockets and mortars on Israel's civilian population.
Hamas won because Israel's politicians lacked the "intestinal fortitude" to allow the military to do its job, following in the path of Bush I who ordered a cessation of conflict in Iraq before the enemy was destroyed.
Israel lost because the world of Muslim terrorists - Hamas, Hezbollah, IS(IS), al Qaida, et al - now know of a certainty that Israeli politicians will tie the hands of the IDF to guarantee that no matter how much damage they inflict on Israeli civilians and no matter how much damage the IDF will inflict on them in return, they will be allowed to regroup and resume their attacks after a convenient cease fire.
Israel needs a (Harry S) Truman as prime minister; an honest man who did what was necessary to end the WW 2 in the Pacific, a war that commenced with an attack on Hawaii on December 7, 1941, the now almost forgotten "day that will live in infamy." (It's worth remembering that Truman also fired a general who was insubordinate; again, he did what was necessary.)
Americans should know that a foreign power (e.g., the U.S.) cannot impose its form of government on other countries that don't want it. The U.S. has tried - and failed - numerous times in Latin America. Likewise, Israel cannot impose its political will on Gaza and the so-called PA. But it should be able to lend support to governments - such as Egypt and Jordan - that forego belligerency toward Israel.
If Gaza was controlled by a progressive government, one that wanted to enhance the lives of its citizens, it could once again (albeit after a trust period) have open borders with Egypt and Israel, it could repair its airport, it could develop a seaport, and it could become a nation in which its citizens no longer need to fear the government or the results of its government's actions.
Of course, all the above is easy for me to write; I sit in the safety of the U.S. - but my daughter and grand-daughter (and her husband, of course) and many members of my family are in Israel.
