The Abraham Accords nations influence Gaza in post-Hamas 'Day After' plan - opinion
No plan for a “day after” in Gaza can be properly formulated, planned, and agreed upon without knowing the exact facts on the ground when the battle has ended.
By BOBBY RECHNITZ - MAY 28, 2024
Throughout history, plans for “the day after” have been made only after wars have ended.
The most famous relatively recent example is the Marshall Plan, an American initiative to help Europe recover economically after World War Two. It was formulated in 1948, fully three years after the end of the war, and not much imagination is necessary to understand the implications of the release of a Marshall Plan while the Nazis were still fighting, occupying large parts of Europe, and mass murdering Jews.
That is the reality of war and its consequences.
The reality of war
First you fight until your enemy surrenders, and only afterwards can you talk peace and long-term solutions.
No plan for a “day after” in Gaza can be properly formulated, planned, and agreed upon without knowing the exact facts on the ground when the battle has ended.
Firstly, it gives Hamas hope that the end is near, and all it has to do is survive a few more days or weeks until a political, rather than a military, solution is imposed that will leave it to kill, rape, and kidnap another day.
Secondly, no internal or external actor will agree to be openly and publicly part of Gazan governance, with Hamas mobs still able to dispense their own type of vigilante justice, as they have done throughout the war. Just ask the powerful Doghmush clan in Gaza City, whose leader was reportedly killed because Hamas suspected it of seeking to cooperate with Israel to dispense aid to the civilian population.
The Palestinian Authority cannot be involved for a number of reasons. The last time the Palestinian Authority ruled Gaza was in 2007, just two years after Israel handed Gaza over to the PA, when Hamas overthrew its leaders from tall buildings with stunning ease.
More importantly, the PA has shown that it is not much better than Hamas. Its member organizations, Fatah and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, claim to have been involved in the October 7 massacre. Its leaders praised it, called for its repeat, and are happily paying monthly stipends to those involved in the murder, rape, and kidnap of Israelis.
Swapping Hamas for Fatah changes nothing.
The only possible solution, and one that should only entail preliminary outreach below the radar before the war has ended, is for an Abraham Accords governance of Gaza. The Arab nations that signed peace and normalization deals with Israel, with hopefully more in the pipeline, would be the ideal candidates to help govern Gaza after Hamas has been fully defeated.
These nations made peace with the Jewish state because they understood that it is permanent as well as an asset to regional peace and security. They understand that the real threat in the region is the Iranian-led “Axis of Resistance” and that Israel and pragmatic Arab Sunni states have a vested interest in quelling Iranian malevolent influence.
Just as importantly, they understand the danger of radical Islamism and know how to fight it and instill tolerance and peace.
The leaders of the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco have all faced their own extremists with an iron fist and have zero tolerance for those who seek violence and bloodshed.
They have also developed and progressed their educational systems towards tolerance, acceptance of Jews, and peace.
It should also be noted positively that the Saudi Arabian education system has made impressive strides, and last year, it removed all negative portrayals of Jews from the educational materials and textbooks.
As we know, a whole Palestinian generation needs to be educated differently, away from hate, antisemitism, and Jihad.
The Palestinian Authority, despite some protestations to the contrary, has continued to incite hate against Israel and Jews, and this is part of the problem, not the solution.
OF COURSE, Israel should maintain overall security for the Gaza Strip for the foreseeable future until the seeds of change are well established.
Nevertheless, those most capable of bringing about this necessary change, with the correct experience and the right motivation and understanding of regional implications, are these Abraham Accords nations.
Suffice it to say that any nation that makes peace in the near future can and should take a role in Gazan governance.
However, no nation like Qatar, which remains an ally of Iran, a home to Hamas, and a nest of radicalism, antisemitism, and terrorism, should be involved in any way.
The Abraham Accords came out of an understanding that Israel and the moderate Arab Sunni nations have deep and shared interests, that they are better united than divided, and that Palestinian terrorists should not have a veto over these mutually beneficial relations.
It is in the interest of this new regional constellation to ensure that Gaza is no longer used as another front in the Iranian battle for regional supremacy. This would send a clear message to the Ayatollahs in Tehran and its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen that there is a unity of purpose against them and that a new regional alliance will ensure that the first domino in the radical Shiite push for dominance in the Middle East is falling.
Regardless of public statements, moderate Sunni national leaderships want Israel to be victorious over Hamas. Once Hamas has been defeated, they will be able to say publicly what is now only said behind closed doors.
Then, and only then, can they become part of a robust and enduring governance solution for Gaza, which would provide a better future for the Gazan people and necessary long-term security for Israel.
The writer is a Los Angeles-based philanthropist and real estate developer who serves as chairman of the Abraham Accords Roundtable and the Golda Meir Commemorative Coin Committee in Washington, DC.
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Macron Permits Ukraine to Use French Missiles to Strike Inside Russia.
French leader said Ukrainian forces could only use French Scalp missiles to target military sites within Russia that fire on Ukraine
By Stacy Meichtry - Bertrand Benoit - Updated May 28, 2024
French President Emmanuel Macron said Ukrainian forces are allowed to use powerful cruise missiles supplied by France to strike inside Russia on the condition the weapons are only used to take out military sites that have fired on Ukraine.
The comments, made during a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, came as Ukraine and its European allies have begun to press the Biden administration to ease restrictions on the use of Western weapons to target Russian territory.
The Biden administration has been loath to take any steps that could lead to an escalation in the Ukraine war—an approach that Kyiv and some of its allies have criticized as giving Moscow a crucial edge on the battlefield. Macron and Scholz were meeting in Germany as allies scramble to reinforce Ukraine and slow the advances of Russian forces.
Macron was asked during the Tuesday news conference whether France would allow Kyiv to strike Russian positions inside Russia with French Scalp missiles, which have a range of more than 300 miles.
“We must allow them to neutralize military sites from which missiles are being fired, military sites from which Ukraine is being attacked,” Macron said, adding that the Scalps should not be used to hit other sites in Russian territory, such as civilian areas or military facilities not involved in striking Ukraine.
Macron has morphed into one of the West’s leading hawks on the Ukraine war, refusing to rule out the possibility of sending French troops into the country and describing the conflict as existential for Europe.
Still, Macron’s comments appeared to stop short of acceding to Ukrainian President?Volodymyr Zelenskys broader push for permission to use Western arms to attack Russian troop positions and air bases inside Russia.
“We can see every point where Russian troops are concentrated. We know all areas from which Russian missiles are launched and combat aircraft take off,” Zelensky said in an address on Sunday. Targeting these areas with Western weapons, he said, “is entirely a political decision. The decision that must be made.”
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8 个月We are witnessing human carnage of Palestinians. This Zionist Ethno Cleansing Apartheid State must be held accountable for these war crimes. We need to as responsible humanity UNRAVEL the historical blunders that were done by leaders past and present that dispossed the rights of the Palestinian people. Like the Abraham Accords which was A TOTAL SHAM which coaxed surrounding nations BY WAY OF BRIBES to recognizeTHE ILLEGAL STATE OF ISREAL. 200 plus unarmed Palestinians were shot dead SIMPLY FOR PROTESTING at the boundary fence protesting at the US recognition of Jerusalem as this illegal states capital. To quote TIME “coax signatory Arab states with a host of goodies to persuade them to establish a formal relationship with Israel. These include selling 50 long-desired F-35 fighter jets to the tiny UAE; recognizing Morocco’s illegal annexation of Western Sahara, making the U.S. the first country in the world to do so; and removing Sudan from the list of designated terrorist states and loaning it $1.5 billion. The Accords were focused on each state’s own strategic interests, particularly in building a regional alliance less reliant on Washington.” #FreePalestine https://time.com/6339889/cancel-abraham-accords/
Semi Retired at None
9 个月Rather hypocritically, Vladimir Putin’s Russia criticizes the Ukraine when the latter's forces have the audacity to strike back against Russia’s deliberate targeting and killing of civilians and destruction of infrastructure with barrages of missiles or drones. According to his own words, Putin is astonished and angry, as though the Ukraine really has no right to self-defence.?WTF!? And Russia will absurdly justify its first-strike attacks against Ukrainian civilians as a necessity of ‘de-nazifying’ their democratically elected government.? First ‘de-nazify' Russia's Kremlin and especially its presidency!? It's like the high-school bully with a grand sense of entitlement and whose concept of his fair share was always three-quarters of the pie. ....
The the recent reported escalating use of glide bombs and apparent intent to greatly increase payload would suggest that Ukraine, to defend itself, cannot be constrained from the ability to deny this system access to targets in Ukraine.