Israel should offer terms for ending the war now

Most of the world would get behind a reasonable proposal

The pressure of the world right now should be on Hamas, which launched a devastating war, but instead it is on Israel as the sides try to indirectly negotiate an excruciating partial hostage release. The entire dynamic is bad for everyone except Hamas and its patrons in Iran – but it is also at least in part Israel’s own fault.

If Israel were run by a competent government, it would be declaring day and night that the Gaza War can end immediately, and with it the fears of disease and famine and the civilian casualties and the many calamities the war has produced, from Yemen to Iraq. It doesn’t matter that Israel has already stated its goals; that is not how you message, drive momentum and build pressure.

An intelligent variant of Israel would be proclaiming incessantly that all fighting can cease if Hamas coughs up the 130-odd remaining hostages (which pretty much all the world wants) and hands the strip back to the Palestinian Authority, from which it was taken by force in 2007 (which should bring cheers of joy from across the planet, beginning with Gaza itself).

Yes, the PA. It is PA is not perfect, but it is way better than Hamas: It is comprised of nationalists and sometimes corrupt mediocrities, but it has tried to keep the peace in the West Bank and it is not an assemblage of bloodthirsty jihadi maniacs. It can be reformed, assisted, rejuvenated and improved. It may require Israel’s military to stay in parts of Gaza for a while, or maybe an international force, but it would be a way to start, perhaps enroute to an independent state.

To close the deal that much faster, Israel might also offer the vile Hamas leadership amnesty and a one-way ticket to Qatar or Turkey. It would then be in a good position to demand a fast-tracking of peace with Saudi Arabia – which the Saudis seem to also want (in exchange for a military alliance with the US).

What’s the harm? If Hamas says no, the pressure would flip. And it would be coming from the Arab countries as well. And it would be coming from the braver — or more desperate — Gazans as well. Such pressure can work better than bombardments.

Israel is not doing this not just due to poor messaging abilities – indeed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu counts that as one of his skills. The real reason is because any effort to articulate a day-after plan that is not Israeli occupation of Gaza will court trouble with the extreme right parties on which Netanyahu’s coalition rests. That’s basically the story. So the war drags on and on.

And as but one result, the pressure is on the wrong party.