Not the Moment for “Restraint” Against Hamas

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hamas-palestiniansBy Jonathan Tobin

In a sentiment that was echoed across the Israeli political spectrum, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu vowed that “Hamas will pay” for the murders of three Israeli teenagers kidnapped two weeks ago. What exactly Netanyahu meant by this phrase isn’t yet known. But given the track record of both Israel and the Palestinians and the efforts by President Obama to head off any tough action by Netanyahu, the leaders of the terror group may not exactly be shaking in their boots.

In the wake of the discovery of the victims’ bodies, anger against the Islamist terror group is widely felt and it is likely that Netanyahu’s government will have wide political leeway to hit Hamas hard, both in the West Bank and Gaza. But the question facing Israel is not so much whether to launch air strikes at Hamas headquarters or to round up even more of their supporters. Rather, it is whether if, after an interval of a week or two, Hamas is still functioning and is still part of the ruling coalition of the Palestinian Authority. If, after absorbing a pounding from the Israeli army, the Islamist movement’s leadership can claim that it not only shed more Jewish blood but also survived another Israeli counterattack, then despite all of the fearsome rhetoric coming out of Jerusalem, Hamas will have won.

President Obama’s condemnation of the deaths of the three Israeli teens was appropriate but it was accompanied by the standard call for “all sides to exercise restraint.” Which is to say that the U.S. is making it clear to the Israelis that anything beyond a minimal retaliation that will not make a difference will be condemned as worsening the situation. But, like all past efforts to enforce restraint on Israel, such counsel merely ensures that this tragedy will be played out again and again.

It must be understood that while the gruesome crime committed against three teenagers may damage Hamas’s already shaky reputation in the West, the willingness of the group to commit this atrocity may increase its popularity among Palestinians. In the last year, Hamas’s political stock has fallen as the cash shortfall caused by its rift with Iran and the closing of smuggling tunnels to Egypt undermined its ability to maintain local support. Where once it was seen as a viable alternative to the Fatah kleptocracy that rules over the West Bank, it is now seen as merely an Islamist version of the same corrupt model. Its willingness to maintain a rough cease-fire with Israel along the border with Gaza also robbed it of its mantle as the standard-bearer of the struggle against the Jewish state. It was for these reasons that it was forced to sign a unity agreement with Abbas’s Fatah.

Should a determined Israeli offensive take out some of its leadership and undermine its capacity to function, perhaps that decline will continue. But Hamas and its backers also know that violence has always been the main factor legitimizing Palestinian political parties. Should the kidnapping lead to another round of violence in which Hamas could portray itself as the true defender of Palestinian honor, then the incident could give it a new lease on life even as its members duck for cover.

That may incline some to counsel Israelis to avoid what in the past has been considered a “disproportionate” response to Palestinian provocations. Since Israeli attacks may actually undermine Abbas and boost Hamas, some (especially in the United States) may advise Netanyahu to make some noise but then get back to business as usual as quickly as possible lest a new counter-terror campaign serve to create a new generation of terrorists.

While that line of reasoning may sound logical, it would be a mistake. Israel needs to do more than launch some symbolic strikes that will do nothing to assuage Israeli anger while doing nothing to deter Palestinians from emulating this horrific deed. Nothing short of a stroke that will decapitate the leadership of this group will convince the Palestinians that Hamas has made a mistake.

As a poll I discussed last week showed, the vast majority of Palestinians want the struggle against Israel to continue but they don’t want to personally pay the price of that conflict. Making the vast majority of Palestinians pay for Hamas’s outrages would deepen their bitterness against Israel and lead to charges of collective punishment. But if, instead, Israel makes Hamas’s leaders pay in such a measure as to make it difficult if not impossible to carry on then perhaps Netanyahu can thread the needle in between an escalation and a weak non-response.

It may be that Israel’s options are limited by political realities and Hamas’s ability to withstand attacks. But no matter what choices Netanyahu makes, “restraint” will be merely an invitation for Hamas to repeat this crime again in the future.

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8 COMMENTS

  1. I wonder why their opinion should have any currency among those developing a “frumm” perspective. There happens to be a very kosher perspective about how to handle people and communities who gloat about murder.

  2. Mr. Nethanyahu…..YOU are responsible for their deaths! yES YOU ARE! Because you so stupidly showed the Arab Terrorists by exchanging 1000+ prisoners for Gilad Shalit that it’s well worth them kidnapping again and again.I and thousands of others said this at the time already that this outrageous exchange will only encourage Hamas to try again and again,now look whats happened,three lovely innocent boys lose their lives while the “blood on his hands” Prime Minister vows revenge against Hamas.Look at your face in the mirror,Mr. Nethanyahu and say to that stupid creature that stares back at you “You are responsible for their murder,yes,you and you alone!”…Go on,say it! You wouldn’t would you!….Thought so!

  3. NOW, all you lib NY/East Coast Jewish brothers are realizing the truth about our Muslim POTUS? You guys should be pointing fingers at yourselves. You are supposed to be of above-average intelligence and have generations of logical deduction and analytical skills embedded in your skulls.
    I hope you see how clouded your thinking has become since WWII. You have forgotten who we really are and as such became part and parcel of our own undoing.
    Liberalism goes with Judaism as much as Reform. Never made sense. WAKE UP LIBERAL NEW YORK JEWS!
    Sorry, had to be said. I love you all.

  4. destroy the terrorists already!!! enough, who cares what obummer thinks and the un the antisemetic sewer thinks. kill this cancer thats spreading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  5. unless moshiach comes soon, what choice is there, thye will keep killing precious israelis if we dont annihilate this evil

  6. Notice that when Third-Worlders like Obama and Ban Ki-Moon talk about both sides needing to show “restraint”, it is a buzz word and sickening moral equivalency for Israel to show restraint.

    Could it be that Hamas is showing “restraint” in firing dozens of missiles and rockets in the direction on civilians?

    So what do Third-Worlders Obama and Ban Ki-Moon expect from Israel? Of course, its got to be “restraint”.

    What will it take for these leftists to realize that acceptance of deranged behavior from Moslem extremists is a green light to them for more and more heinous acts against innocents?

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