The news story of the day, of course, is the six young Israelis killed by Hamas. James Joyner has a post on the subject at Outside the Beltway:
Hamas terrorists murdered these hostages. Quite obviously, it is they who bear full responsibility.
Could Netanyahu have secured their return in exchange for ending the war effort? Maybe. But his negotiating partners committed the largest terrorist attack in Israeli history and the largest on a per capita basis in the modern era. On what basis can one negotiate in good faith with them? There is no politically saleable outcome in which Yahya Sinwar and architects of the October 7 massacre remain at large.
My heart goes out to the families of these young people.
If you have a solution for the situation in Gaza, please produce it. I’m at a loss. I think that practically everyone here in the United States is imagining a different Israel and a different Gaza than the ones that actually exist.
Dont see any long term solution. In the short term Israel is going to end the war sometime. At some point they realize they cant find and kill every Hamas member besides which more are probably being created. They have already killed about 30-40:1 Palestinian for every Israeli killed which is well above their historical average of about 15-20. If they are getting close to the point where the rate fo return on maintaining the war is low it might make sense to prioritize getting hostages back.
That does lead to internal political issues as Netanyahu may have to finally face pushback from his incompetence which allowed the 10/7 attack to begin with. It may be in his best interest to try to maintain the active war as long as possible.
Steve
which leads to the issue I’m pointing out. If Netanyahu is replaced, will he be replaced with someone much more moderate than he? It’s extremely unlikely. IMO the opposite.
The effect of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks has been to radicalize the Israeli population.
I understand the Israeli goal, but I agree with @steve that it is not fully achievable. Even if it were achieved, a blood feud requires extermination of all offspring to completely eradicate the problem, and that assumes all principles are in adjacent areas.
I do not understand the Hamas goal, and I have not seen it stated anywhere. What is the endstate they hope to achieve?
What is the endstate they hope to achieve?
Obvious, fat bank accounts and a secure retirement.
What? You thought that they care about their own children?
Is this broken? I have a comment that will not “take”. It has a comment number, but it never shows up. To my knowledge, it does not have anything inappropriate.