Good news from the Washington Post

I don’t read the Washington Post to find good news. I read it to find stuff to write about.

But there is good news in this Post article called “Netanyahu’s U.S. visit revealed ‘no workable plan’ for peace, critics say.” It means that Netanyahu again refused to bend to the wishes of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. It means that his post-war vision does not include farming out Israel’s security protection to a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority. And it means that a “two-state solution” — an arrangement that would leave Israel surrounded by hostile states determined to destroy it — is not on the table, as far as Netanyahu is concerned.

The Post informs us:

Netanyahu made no gestures toward compromise. There was no talk of Palestinian autonomy. No discussion of Palestinian rights to life and freedom. No attempt to address the grievances that have fueled Palestinians’ decades-old anger toward Israel.

Instead, he spoke of a “demilitarized and deradicalized” Gaza; a Gaza under Israeli control “for the foreseeable future.”

Like I said, good news.

Democrats don’t think so:

“In fact, Netanyahu doubled down,” said Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), who watched Wednesday’s address from the back of the House chamber. It’s “absurd … to think that doing more of the same is going to deliver a different result,” he said.

But Netanyahu isn’t talking about doing more of the same. Israel hasn’t exerted control over Gaza for nearly 20 years. And in recent years, it hasn’t even been vigilant in policing its border with this terrorist hotbed. Instead, it relied on technology and on Netanyahu’s foolish view that he could play Hamas against the PA with no risk to Israel.

This was the plan, if you can call it one, that failed.

Killing as many Hamas fighters as possible, destroying their tunnels, maintaining a presence in Gaza, and properly policing the border is a new approach to ensuring Israel’s security. Netanyahu’s critics haven’t explained why this approach is inadequate from an Israeli perspective.

It’s true that Netanyahu’s approach is inadequate from a Palestinian perspective. But his job is not to advance the interests of a population that would like to destroy Israel. It should not be America’s job, either.

Unfortunately, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have taken on that task. As the Post says, they want “a short-term cease-fire and initial hostage release,” followed by “full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, along with the release of all remaining hostages,” and then “new Palestinian governance, security, rebuilding and a path to statehood.”

This approach is closer to “doing more of the same” than what Netanyahu has in mind. Israel fully withdrew from Gaza years ago. The international community poured in vast amounts of money and material in the hope of building up Gaza. And Gaza governed itself, thereby resembling a Palestinian state.

It was this state of affairs, coupled with a lack of proper vigilance by Israel, that produced the massacre of October 7.

Back to the good news:

Satellite imagery, witness testimony and the comments of military commanders have shown for months that preparations are underway for a long-term Israeli presence in Gaza. In recent months, Israel fortified a strategic route, known as the Netzarim Corridor, that carves Gaza into two and allows for the quick deployment of Israeli troops throughout the territory.

Israeli forces have razed homes and bulldozed acres of farmland to create and expand buffer zones along their strategic corridor, and along Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt. Israeli commanders have talked about a plan for “full freedom of operation” for their forces. They have churned earth and rubble into defensive berms. And they have begun building military bases and transforming seized buildings for other military purposes.

This is how a serious state protects itself from an enemy that has invaded it and is determined to do so again.

A serious state also brushes aside hectoring from the likes of Kamala Harris. During her meeting with Netanyahu, Harris informed the prime minister that “it is time for this war to end.”

Wars end when one side achieves its objectives or when both sides realize they cannot achieve them. Israel hasn’t yet achieved its objectives of killing the overwhelming majority of Hamas fighters and destroying Hamas’ military infrastructure, but both goals are within sight. I should add that nine months is not a lengthy war.

The irony of Harris’ statement resides in the possibility (I would say likelihood) that the war in Gaza would be closer to completion if Joe Biden hadn’t pressured Israel into a more restrained operation than Netanyahu wanted. Israel’s operation has been robust, but there have been times when, at the urging of Team Biden, Israel was less aggressive than it could have been.

This restraint has only dragged the war out, to the detriment of both Israel and Gaza. The sooner Israel completes its mission, the sooner Gazans will have peace and the possibility of a rebuilding.

In addition, the sooner the war ends, the sooner Israel can tend to its business in the north. It’s possible that, with the end of the war, Hezbollah will no longer feel the need to show solidarity with Hamas by launching attacks on Israeli civilians in the north. Displaced civilians — some 60,000 of them — would then be able to return to their homes.

Alternatively, if Hezbollah wants to keep fighting, Israel can turn its full attention to dealing with this Iranian proxy. Success in that enterprise would also enable displaced Israeli civilians to return home.

Either way, Kamala Harris is wrong in saying that the war in Gaza has gone on long enough, but Donald Trump is right in saying that Israel needs to finish that war.