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Ellie Dankner's avatar

I plan to vote for Biden no matter what the Donald says about my commitment to Israel. I was an ARZA board member and officer. I think President Biden has been in an impossible position.

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Ellie Dankner's avatar

What happens if Israel is forced into a long cease fire and Hamas does not honor it as I believe that’s their position that I saw in TOI? Will the world accept Israel’s response? Probably not.

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Elissa Wald's avatar

I don't have a crystal ball but I don’t think Israel can or will be forced into an unconditional long ceasefire. I just don't see that happening and it shouldn't.

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David Milofsky's avatar

While I agree with you about the bombing of Iran's consulate and Biden's remaining a friend of Israel, I don't believe Hamas will be finally wiped out no matter what steps the IDF takes. Terribly weakened, yes, but not destroyed. They will be back and they've won the propaganda battle, at least in

America.

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Elissa Wald's avatar

Of course the ideology and a number of its representatives won't be entirely wiped out. There are still Nazis in Germany, after all -- and everywhere else for that matter. But their military capability can (and must) be destroyed and they can (and must) be removed as the rulers of Gaza.

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ATW4's avatar

Agreed on all fronts. Part of "destroyed" is having them recognize just how massive any future Israeli responses would be to attacks. My understanding is that that is what has held Hezbollah back since the last war in Lebanon.

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David Milofsky's avatar

This seems unrealistic to me. Not the same as the Nazis at all. As long as Hamas is being funded by Iran and other enemies of Israel they'll be able to re-supply and the number of young fighters willing to take the place of those who have been killed is likely to increase rather than decrease. I wish this weren't the case, but I fear that it is. A negotiated treaty is the only way to insure peace in the area and Netanyahu seems to to have no interest in that.

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Elissa Wald's avatar

What negotiated treaty with Hamas could possibly, possibly mean anything at all? Come on.

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Arrr Bee's avatar

Ridiculous to expect a negotiated treaty with Hamas, as they have stated openly that they'll never do more than accept a ceasefire ("Hudna"). Why do you think anyone can force Hamas to accept an agreement they're not interested in? Netanyahu is actually the Israeli leader who has done the most to appease Hamas with allowing a flow of Qatari money and more and more work permits for Gazans. And we got October 7 for it. There is no negotiating with Islamist terrorists, and to think otherwise is delusional.

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David Milofsky's avatar

Of course the negotiation would not be with Hamas alone but with other Arab nations that would have an interest in drawing this to a close and have influence over Hamas. This isn't my idea alone but a generally held idea among many people.

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Arrr Bee's avatar

So who are those Arab nations that control Islamist terrorism? Iran does, and they're not going to push Hamas to stop attacking Israel, quite the opposite. Beyond that, who? Qatar hasn't been able to get them to release abducted Israeli civilians, which is a war crime. Other Arab nations hate Islamist terrorists, and Hamas. So I'm not sure who exactly that would be. This is wishful thinking. You can't imagine Hamas out of existence, or imagine that someone has a leash on them. They need to have their military capabilities destroyed. Hamas soldiers can surrender to war crimes trials or die fighting.

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Elissa Wald's avatar

Qatar finances Hamas! And if it wanted to help Israel, it could extradite the billionaire Hamas leaders luxuriating in their Doha mansions. Obviously its interest in that is less than zero. No Arab nation will help the Jews subdue their Arab brothers -- they might secretly want that but none of them are going to stand and be counted.

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David Milofsky's avatar

Well, I'm no longer a diplomat, but this is how deals get done. Surely you're aware that Qatar & Egypt have been involved negotiations thus far, but other Arab nations have shown an interest in improving relations with Israel (e.h. Saudi Arabia, Morocco. Jordan, the Emirates, etc) and likely have influence with Hamas.

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Arrr Bee's avatar

Nazism wasn't wiped out in WW2, but it was terribly weakened, and that is good enough. Let's not expect magic from the IDF and assert unrealistic expectations on Israel every time. Al Qaeda is still a thing, as is ISIS. The goal of Israel is to severely degrade the military capability of Hamas, and it's already done that. There is no comparison between October 6 and now.

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