A decent proposal

Biden proposes a way out of the Gaza disaster - and claims it's Israel's idea

President Biden’s framework for ending the catastrophic Gaza war appears to allow for leaving a much-degraded Hamas in place in Gaza, while all the hostages would be returned in exchange for an Israeli pullout. If Israel agrees, which is a big if, it would be a massive comedown from its original goal of crushing the terrorist group that carried out the Oct. 7 massacre.

At the same time, it would be predicated on a bedrock principle of zero tolerance going forward: Israel would expect to renew the war if Hamas violates the cease-fire, this time without the complication of the hostages, and also expecting the world community to grant it a legitimacy that in the present round has plainly been exhausted.

Biden’s brief speech — whose timing certainly suggested the tipping point discussed here last week — was remarkable in a variety of ways, and not only because he again described Israel’s war aims as “righteous.”

First, the plan was presented as an offer Israel made to Hamas on Thursday. If that is true, and Israel has not denied it, this is an odd way for an Israeli proposal to be announced, and it is not clear whether it was coordinated.