Haaretz: We must acknowledge defeat in Gaza… We won’t win

Israeli leftist Haaretz newspaper published an article by Hillel Schocken, the son of Zalman Schocken, the founder of Haaretz newspaper, in which he wrote about Israel’s failure in the current war in Gaza, stressing that Israel must acknowledge its defeat.

“We won’t win… Not even together… This current war in Gaza has been lost since October 7th… Every additional day in the ground maneuver deepens the failure further; When this terrible battle ends, as expected, within a few weeks as a result of international pressure, Israel will be in a more difficult situation than the one it entered in as a result of the attack carried out by Hamas… Is it possible that something good can grow out of failure? The end of the conflict, perhaps?” Hillel Schocken wrote.

On October 16, the Israeli War Cabinet announced the war’s goals: eliminating Hamas’ authority and destroying its military capabilities, removing the Hamas threat from the Gaza Strip to Israel, and making maximum efforts to resolve the prisoners’ issue and protect the borders and citizens.

At the end of the battle, we won’t achieve any of these goals.

He added, “Currently, opinion polls indicate that our performance in Gaza strengthens Hamas’ position among the Palestinians, not only in Gaza but in the West Bank as well”. Whoever didn’t accept Hamas in Gaza will receive it in the Palestinian Authority as well.

What seemed to many to be the most diligent efforts to free the prisoners, only partially succeeded in freeing less than half of them, and every additional day that this battle continues poses a threat to the lives of the majority of them, who remained in captivity.

If a deal to liberate them takes shape at all, in addition to the fact that we will be required to release all of our imprisoned Palestinian prisoners, with or without “blood on our hands,” we will also be forced to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and pledge to end the war.

“Hamas leaders aren’t stupid… They won’t accept anything less… Our friendly countries, which will sponsor the deal, will be required to provide guarantees so that Israel doesn’t return to launching an attack later,” Schocken added.

He continued, “Israel’s international standing has deteriorated and reached an unprecedented low, which poses a threat not only to its relations with its friendly countries, primarily the United States, but also to Jewish communities in various parts of the world as well, and makes Israelis outside the country like leprosy patients”.

“Our standing has also declined dramatically vis-à-vis the countries of the region… Contrary to the concept that Hezbollah is deterred from attacking Israel, Israel is the deterred party… Our weakness vis-à-vis Hezbollah received a shocking confirmation when US President Joe Biden realized the reality of the situation and quickly sent a large military force to the Mediterranean”.

Despite the deterrent US forces, Hezbollah has turned tens of thousands of residents of the north into refugees in their country, and the Yemenis are succeeding in cutting off Israeli maritime communication with the south.

Thus, Israel is forced to accept what was considered in its view in 1956 and 1967 to be a reason for declaring war.

He added, “Without justifying the attack carried out by the Palestinians on the towns of the western Negev, we must consider it the current climax of the violent Palestinian national struggle against the mere existence of Israel as a national homeland for the Jewish people”.

He stressed, “The long years that have passed have not discouraged the Palestinians or weakened their morale… The strength of their opposition to the mere existence of Israel exacts from both sides a bloody price and an economic price that is constantly increasing… So that the current battle doesn’t serve as a prelude to much larger violent outbursts and to ensure the survival of the national homeland of the Jewish people in Israel, Israel should define the abolition of the Palestinian opposition simply for its existence as the highest strategic goal of its policy”.

He continued, “The Messianic movement in Israel hopes to achieve the goal by expelling all Palestinians from the areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip… From its point of view, the intense killing in Gaza and settler attacks in the West Bank, which are carried out under the auspices of the Israeli police and army, are aimed at encouraging Palestinians to leave outside the borders of the area under Israeli control, a step that means the ethnic cleansing of about 5 Millions of Palestinians… It’s difficult to imagine that the world – which will soon force Israel to stop the war in Gaza in the face of tens of thousands of deaths, injuries, and material and humanitarian destruction on a brutal scale – will allow this solution”.

Schocken recalled the failure of Yom Kippur 1973 War and the achievements of the Egyptians in crossing the Suez Canal restored Egypt’s dignity and led to the signing of the ‘peace agreements.

Israel’s recognition of its loss in the current battle, as we explained above, would help restore the Palestinians’ national dignity, which has been trampled for 56 years.

This appears to be a mandatory stage in a process that leads to a cessation of fighting in Gaza and an exchange deal through which all Palestinian prisoners are released in exchange for all prisoners whose fate remains dependent on the period of time that will pass until Israel recognizes this reality.

Israel will be forced to recognize the Palestinians’ right to an independent and sovereign state and conduct negotiations with any leadership they elect about ending the conflict on the basis of UN resolutions and the Saudi initiative.

In his article Schocken concluded by asking, “Will the disaster of October 7 herald a new horizon in the Middle East?”