It should be perfectly clear that Israel’s war on terrorism is both a war against state and non-state terrorists. The state actors are Hamas and Iran (Turkey under Erdogan), while the non-state actors are Hezbollah, Houtis, and the Islamic Republic. Destruction of both is essential for a lasting peace.
However, we are now told that a cease-fire and hostage exchange is scheduled for Sunday, January 19, 2025, the day before Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States of America. The first phase is the release of civilian women, children, and those over 50 held hostage by Hamas (approximately 33 of the 100 people held by Hamas, yet most experts believe that half of the remaining hostages are dead). In exchange, Israel will release Hamas terrorists aka prisoners (approximately 12 for 1 or 396), and a withdrawal from populated parts of Gaza. Phase two includes the release of all other hostages by Hamas and a full pullout of Israeli troops. The final phase would include a return of the bodies of the hostages who died in captivity and the start of Gaza’s reconstruction. During the phases, the United Nations would assume a leading role in governing Gaza.
This settlement for Israel borders on the psychotic!
The lessons of history clearly predict that this settlement will result in further bloodshed and negate the sacrifices already made by Israel’s soldiers and civilian population.
The very best understanding of this is the brilliant work of John David Lewis’s scholarly book, Nothing Less Than Victory: Decisive Wars And The Lessons of History (Princeton University Press, 2010). Professor Lewis proffers that “conflicts began (sic) with an act of military aggression (in this case against an unarmed civilian population) ... The goal of war is the subjugation of the hostile will ... the object of war is now and has always been, the overcoming of the hostile will to resist ... When that will is broken, then capitulation follows.”
Now think about this “peace deal”. Hamas’s will has not been broken. The terrorist state continues its fight. The Palestinian population’s attitudes and ideology towards Israel have not been broken. In fact, they were dancing in their streets of rubble when news of a peace deal was announced. They do not believe they were defeated -- just another ceasefire in their war to destroy the Israeli State. There has been no surrender!
I would proffer that the lesson of Japan’s unconditional surrender in 1945 is the template for ending the war in Gaza and lasting peace. War was a national policy for Japan since 1889. One of the most powerful documents in modern Japanese history was the 1890, “Imperial Rescript on Education,” which obligated every child to a system of education that focused on “worshipful obedience to the emperor, sacrifice to the nation, and warrior virtues”.
Similarly, the war against Israel has been the policy of the Palestinians since, at least, 1947, in which every child was indoctrinated into the hatred and destruction of the Israeli people and their state, i.e. "from the river to the sea."
Professor Lewis instructs that the educational focal point for the students was the imperial portraits. Similarly, Yasser Arafat’s likeness was the ubiquitous focal point for Palestinians.
According to Professor Lewis and other historians, “To achieve victory, one must first know what victory is ... for the United States, it was the total and permanent destruction of Japan’s will and capacity to fight. That meant: unconditional surrender. Israel’s war with terrorist states and non-terrorist state actors, it means the destruction of an ideology that is based on the hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. And more importantly, every Palestinian must be convinced beyond a doubt of their defeat.
In 1945, the American attitude towards Japan was: “The entire population of Japan is a proper Military Target ... There Are No Civilians in Japan.” The Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945, signed by the United States, Great Britain, and China was an ultimatum. There was no negotiation. It reads in part:
“The time has come for Japan to decide whether she will continue to be controlled by those self-willed militaristic advisers whose unintelligent calculations have brought the Empire of Japan to the threshold of annihilation, or whether she will follow the path of reason.
As an ultimatum, it eliminated any possibility of negotiation between the foes.
Similarly, the time has come for the Palestinians to decide. It should not be a settlement for the end of hostilities and an outrageous exchange of hostages and terrorist prisoners between Israel and the Palestinians that should be adopted, but a Potsdam-like Ultimatum.
Furthermore, there is no place for the United Nations (UN) in post-war Gaza. The UN has failed in every peacekeeping mission and its unambiguous anti-Semitism is well documented. The most important goal of post-war Gaza must be to eliminate the ideology that has prevented peace. Teachers will need to be replaced and textbooks rewritten, to discredit the ideology that gives rise to this hatred. History has repeatedly proffered that defeat must be real, or a lasting peace is illusionary and fleeting.
In conclusion, Professor Lewis imparts to us this important lesson:
“that the fact of defeat ... led to lasting peace only when the fact of defeat was openly recognized and the legitimacy of the victor’s terms was accepted by the vanquished.