Israeli Opinion| Why do we continue?

Rafif Drucker

A senior Israeli official with deep knowledge of the conduct of the war told me: We have achieved the real goal. There are no threats to Israel from the south. True, in order to maintain the achievement, we have to stay there, but there is no real reason for the military operation to continue, and now, it is time to move north. I asked him, what about the promises to strip Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities? He sighed and said, "Whoever knows the truth, shut up now."

At the beginning of the war, I believed that dismantling Hamas in the Gaza Strip was a more important goal than returning the hostages. At the time, the question was whether this goal was realistic. I did not have the tools to be decisive at that time. Now, this goal appears unattainable for the foreseeable future. In these circumstances, it is better to go in the opposite direction: return all the hostages now, and stop the war. This will be difficult because Hamas will declare victory, and because the Egyptians, Saudis and Jordanians - who are disappointed with the army's performance and the fact that we did not dismantle Hamas - will take a step back.

On the other hand, the end of the war does not mean the end of the conflict. There is nothing preventing Israel from obtaining the hostages (the price is very difficult, which is the release of prisoners whose hands are stained with blood), stopping the fighting, and renewing it after two or three months. It can be estimated, with caution, that there are those who support this trend in the “war cabinet,” including Gadi Eisenkot and Benny Gantz, and possibly Aryeh Deri as well. In the army leadership, there are surprising voices on the matter as well.

I asked the senior official, why is this not happening? He replied: It is politics. Saying that Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant will lose their raison d'être, in addition to the Chief of Staff who does not want to be dealt with as someone who admits that he was unable to carry out the task of dismantling Hamas.

True, this is not easy; First, Hamas demands an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and Israel cannot grant it this. Maintaining a security buffer zone has become the cornerstone for the return of the residents of the south to their homes. Netanyahu added to this the “southern gate” - Hamas’ armament route. Hamas cannot accept a constant, heavy army presence as the "end of the fighting." It is enough for us to conduct negotiations with it on this basis. Then, it will cause serious political damage to this already unpopular government.

The basic assumptions of war have changed, more or less completely. The hostages are no longer a burden on the government that wants to restore deterrence (and respect), but rather a tool of pressure. By returning the hostages, Netanyahu can justify not achieving the goal of dismantling Hamas, especially after adding the promise that “we are not finished yet.”

The second assumption is that it is not possible to go to elections during a war. Now, it seems that the war has turned into a war of attrition, and elections are necessary. The Prime Minister cannot say a good word about the Chief of Staff. He has disagreements with the Defense Minister, manages a political budget, and he also invites David Amsalem to the cabinet and allows him to attack the Chief of Staff. You cannot fight with a prime minister like this.

Only the new leadership can make decisions without the terrible failure that occurred on October 7, and resume the war against Hamas, after calm prevails. Now, the political track will give us justification to stop the fighting under the slogan: “They failed, someone will come after them to correct the situation.”

Elections can only be imposed through mass protests, larger than those that took place against the constitutional coup. Hundreds of thousands will return to the streets in front of the prime minister's house, and will refuse to leave the streets until Netanyahu goes. 

Many are crazy now and want to take to the streets. But as hard as it is to say, the time has not yet come. As long as the army continues to create a feeling that Hamas will collapse soon, people will not take to the streets, and Gantz and Eizenkot will not leave the government. And they are both right to do so.