The general manager of the Israeli branch of the American Jewish left movement "J Street", Nadav Tamir, attacked the policy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, accusing it of sabotaging efforts to calm the situation in the region. He considered its war goals to be illusory, its political claims to be false, and that what it wants today is to abort the political settlement.

“Since October 7, the Netanyahu government has been selling us the illusion of ‘absolute victory.’ In practice, there is no real plan to defeat Hamas, because the idea of a Gaza without Hamas, under the rule of a renewed Palestinian Authority and with regional support, threatens Netanyahu more than anything else,” Tamir said.

"Hamas also knows that the moment another Arab-Palestinian force enters Gaza, it will lose its grip, not only on the government, but also on the Palestinian public in Gaza, which is waiting for the moment when it can be freed from Hamas's destructive strangulation. Thus a desperate alliance was created, the price of which is paid by the kidnapped soldiers, the civilians and the soldiers," he added.

Tamir told the Israeli newspaper Maariv that “the detainees in Gaza are not at the top of Netanyahu’s concerns, but rather his fear of any political change that would lead to the dismantling of his government.”

He noted that Netanyahu has been following the same approach over the years: when there is a ceasefire, he does everything in his power to prevent a transition to a political process. When there is a war, he talks about a “decisive” outcome that cannot be achieved.

“Israel could have chosen something else,” he continued. “It could have introduced a Palestinian entity in coordination with moderate Arab states, and created a new governing mechanism in Gaza. But for that to happen, the government would have had to conduct a real political process, one that Netanyahu would never allow, because it would destroy the ideological basis of his rule in recent decades: weakening the Palestinian Authority, erasing the Green Line, and de facto annexation of the West Bank.”

"Creating a new reality"

Tamir refuted Netanyahu’s claims about Hamas, saying that the movement “will survive as long as there is no other force capable of ruling Gaza. For such a force to exist, Israel must stop acting with military impulse, begin formulating a political vision, and cooperate with the Palestinian Authority and moderate Arab states, which will lead to the establishment of a civil-security governing mechanism that can govern Gaza on the ‘day after.’ This is the only solution that will not lead to another round of bloodshed in a few years.”

“Israel must return to the negotiating table with moderate Arab states, just as it did during the Abraham Accords,” he continued. “This time, however, such a move must include the Palestinian Authority, with mechanisms to ensure that it becomes a more effective body. As long as Gaza lives under Hamas, it will send one message to the world: We are the fighters against the Zionist occupation.”

"The way to change this is not through more bombing, but by creating a new reality on the ground: infrastructure, an economy, and a different future for the people of Gaza," he added.

The American Jewish leftist official concluded by saying: “Whoever talks today about ‘eliminating Hamas’ while conspiring all the time to create an alternative government in Gaza, is lying brazenly. Israel under Netanyahu will not defeat Hamas, but rather he is using it.”

He stressed: "The only way to break free from the cycle of blood is to stop managing the conflict and work in a way that creates a reality in which Hamas is no longer a relevant party. It is not certain that this can happen under Netanyahu's leadership."