PNN – The New York Times has warned US and Israeli politicians in a note written by Thomas Friedman, the old columnist of this newspaper, that the attack on Gaza will be a big mistake. In this memo, Friedman discusses why he thinks the Gaza attack and the “once and for all” thinking is wrong and will cost Israel dearly.
Thomas Friedman wrote: When Isabel Kirchner, an expert on Israeli issues in the New York Times, in a conversation with 37-year-old Shani Levy – who serves as a tank driver in the Israeli army – asked him to talk about the imminent Israeli attack on Gaza and the purpose of this attack; He said something that caught my attention and made my ears ring.
In response to Isabel Kirchner, he said that “the aim of the attack on Gaza is to restore dignity and honor to Israel”.
According to this tank driver; “The Israelis have relied on us to defeat Hamas and eliminate the threat posed by Gaza against Israel once and for all.”
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This soldier’s words caught my attention because I’ve learned over the years that the four-word phrase “once and for all” is one of the most dangerous words a person in the Middle East can utter.
All these fundamentalist movements – from the Taliban to ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and of course even groups such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas – all have deep cultural, social, religious and political roots in their societies. This links these movements to an endless supply of young men who are easily mobilized by these groups because most of them lack jobs, power, and worldly attachments.
This is the reason why none of these movements and groups has been clarified “once and for all” and has not been simply eliminated. Yes; these movements can be isolated, weakened and marginalized. This is what happened with ISIS, but it does not mean that they will be defeated in the blink of an eye – and it also requires patience and the passage of time.
So, as I have said in my recent notes, I repeat once again loud and clear that Israel’s immediate and hasty attack on Gaza and the subsequent re-occupation of Gaza would be a huge mistake that could lead to a humiliating tactical defeat for Israel- vs Hamas- to lead. This action will put Israel in a long-term continuous moral and military strategic crisis. This action will not only trap Israel in Gaza; It also has the potential to drag the United States into another war in the Middle East and undermine some of the most important current US foreign policy priorities.
In other words; the imminent strategic defeat of Israel in Gaza and the possible entry of the US into another destructive and deadly war in the Middle East will overshadow US aid to Ukraine in the face of Russia. This action has disrupted the actions of the United States in order to contain China and also in the path of forming a bloc of pro-American Arab countries (such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Arab countries) and has also caused problems in the process of normalizing relations between these countries and Israel.
Also, if Israel enters Gaza in the coming days; The Ibrahim agreement will fall apart – which means the instability of Jordan and Egypt as the two regional allies of the US, and as a result, it will be impossible to normalize Saudi Arabia’s relationship with Israel. All this means that in case of Israel’s ground attack on Gaza, great strategic failures are coming. Let’s not forget that this situation may set the West Bank on fire and start a war between the Palestinians and the Jewish settlers in that area.