Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.
How many times have you heard someone say it—perhaps even
said it to yourself, “The war would be over if Hamas released the hostages.”
The fact is, however, that from the very beginning, Israel had two
objectives to the war. Certainly getting back our hostages is one of those
objectives. The other is to end Hamas. Permanently. And all others who threaten
Israel, as well.
This has been stated repeatedly, and from the very beginning
of the war, by Israel’s embattled (yes, I use that word advisedly—the war has taken
an obvious toll on Bibi, he’s gray, he’s shrunk, and the skin hangs loose from his neck) prime minister [emphasis added]:
Prime Minister’s office, statement by PM:
"Citizens of Israel,
We are in the midst of a campaign for our existence. We have set two goals for this war: To eliminate Hamas by destroying its military and governing abilities, and to do everything possible to bring our captives home. All Hamas terrorists are dead men walking – above ground, below ground, outside Gaza.
As the voices grew louder against Israel and the Jews, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an explainer. Not that these ever do any good or change minds. People who hate Jews especially hate it when Israel tries to explain itself. Nonetheless, the explainer tells the reader that Israel has TWO goals. 1) Freeing our captives from a hell they cannot survive, and 2) ENDING Hamas [emphasis added]:
The War Against Hamas: Answering Your Most Pressing Questions
In light of Hamas’s heinous attacks on October 7, its incessant attacks on Israel since then, and its stated aim to pursue the destruction of Israel and death of its citizens (see, for example, here), Israel has been compelled to set as its goals both the release of hostages and the dismantling of Hamas’s military capabilities. . .
The explainer goes on in question and answer form, with the response to the
seventh question, a repetition of the same two war objectives. In other words,
no. The war would not end if the hostages were released. It would continue until
Hamas is writhing in the flames of a hell-hot eternity. So, yeah. Two
objectives [emphasis added]:
7. What is Israel’s response to the charge its actions against Hamas amount to collective punishment of the civilian population?
Israel’s operations are aimed against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and are undertaken in order to neutralize the threat posed by them and secure the release of the hostages.
Now the explainer goes into greater detail here, as to the whys and wherefores, as
it does throughout, but here, too, is that same double objective. Notice that
the two objectives are never referenced in a particular order. From official
statement to official statement, the order changes. I am certain that this is no
accident, but done by way of asserting that both objectives are equally important, both
releasing the hostages, and incinerating Hamas [emphasis added]:
The threat posed by Hamas is grave and imminent, as Hamas operates from territory that borders with Israel, seeks to conduct serious attacks inside Israel (as it did on October 7), continues to attack Israel daily (including by rocket fire that covers most of Israel’s territory), holds infants, children, women and men as hostages (without any outside communication and under the threat of execution, which has been materialized), and explicitly states its intention to keep attacking Israel until it is destroyed. As such, Israel’s goal of removing Hamas’s military capabilities and securing the release of the hostages is proportionate to the threat, and the force that Israel is using is the only feasible means available to neutralize the ongoing attacks and imminent threat of additional attacks.
Further down, the message is repeated, and it is a dual message. We will settle for no less than BOTH our objectives. [emphasis added]:
The military advantages that the IDF is seeking include destroying enemy military assets, targeting militants, degrading and denying enemy ability to command and control operations, neutralizing underground tunnels and infrastructure used for military purposes, and denying positions which endanger IDF ground forces (such as sniper, anti-tank and surveillance posts), all of which contribute to the overall objective of securing the release of the hostages and removing Hamas’s capability to further attack Israel and its citizens.
Less than a week after the explainer came out, a rather mild-in-tone CNN piece dutifully trotted out Israel’s two
war objectives, even lauding Israel as “beyond reproach.” But of course, that was early
on, when no one thought the war would last so long. Before the horrible
Biden-Harris administration slow-walked arms to Israel, at the same time showering Iran
with cash. And before the Biden-Harris-Obama-Clinton-Soros-What Have You administration forced Israel to give massive amounts of aid to the people of
Gaza—aid that is invariably stolen by Hamas and sold at exorbitant prices to the
people of Gaza, who voted for Hamas, and cheered and spat and mauled the
hostages, who came en masse to abuse and rape and kill Israelis, a veritable house
that Jack built [emphasis added]:
From the United Nations to NGOs and even influencers, critics of the way Israel is waging war against Hamas in Gaza are not in short supply; even US President Joe Biden has decried its “indiscriminate bombing.” But if there’s one area where Israel is arguably beyond reproach, it’s in the consistency of its stated war aims:
• Destroy Hamas so it can’t fulfil its goal of repeating the October 7 massacre.
• Bring back the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
Here in Israel, meanwhile, even the left agrees that there are two goals in
this war that began when Hamas broke its ceasefire with Israel and brutally slaughtered,
raped, and kidnapped more than a thousand Jews. (The things they did. No one
had ever seen these things before. They are not human. Some kind of beastly
creature from hell, set loose on earth.) Therefore, Hamas must be eliminated
from this earth. Israel will not stop until this happens and until all the
hostages are free. Both objectives. BOTH objectives.
The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) is peopled with leftists
like former justice Dorit Beinish, failed politicians like Tzipi Livni, and leftist
Tel Aviv University academics. This think tank collected its own data on
Israeli public support for the goals of the war, identifying them as dual in
nature. They found a consistent pattern of solidarity among the people of
Israel, behind the two objectives of the war. That said, there is way too much
stress here on eradicating Hamas, in favor of releasing the hostages, which
gets barely a mention—only twice on a nice-sized page: [emphasis added]:
January 10,
2024,
The goals of Israel’s war against Hamas, as presented by the government to the public in multiple formats, are toppling the terrorist organization’s rule in the Gaza Strip, destroying its military and governmental capabilities, lifting the threat of terror that Gaza has posed to Israel for years, and releasing the hostages. The level of public support for these goals could be an important indication of the level of solidarity among the Israeli public. This issue has been examined through weekly surveys conducted since the start of the war by the Data Analytics Desk at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), in conjunction with the Rafi Smith Institute.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has on many occasions stated the
twin objectives of this war. And when it comes from him, it’s official [emphasis
added]:
Israel under my leadership will not compromise on less than total victory over Hamas, and we will win. I say this again, so that no one will be in doubt: We are striving for total victory, not just 'to strike Hamas' or 'to hurt Hamas', not 'another round with Hamas' but total victory over Hamas.
We will continue to fight will [sic] full force until we achieve all of our goals: Returning our hostages, and I say – only continued military pressure will lead to their release, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel, that there will be no element in it that educates for terrorism, finances terrorism and sends terrorists against us.
In March, too, that double war objective was on full display
when the AFP described a by now, par for the course conversation between Netanyahu
and Joe Biden, with the latter yelling at Bibi in his old man’s yell, to not just cease fire
immediately, but give more aid to Gaza, MORE aid, and by the way, release thousands of bloody-handed
terrorists from Israeli jails (while slow-walking arms to Israel, and giving
money to Iran).
Here, the same two goals are mentioned, but notably, Bibi is
threatening still a third objective, thus increasing the pressure. Making Hamas
SWEAT. (Feh.) Letting Hamas know that what is coming to them is far more
comprehensive, the coup de grâce to a dying, monstrous beast that preys on Jews for sport.
For all that the AFP is notorious for getting
in the way of the truth, for once they manage to accurately quote
Netanyahu in regard to Israel’s objectives in the war taking place in the Gazasphere™.
Note the addition of the third objective which is only the first in veiled
disguise, for all of Gaza is Hamas, and much of the world is, as well [emphasis
added]:
Israel is committed to achieving all its war aims against Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden in a Monday call as Israel faces international pressure to ease its operations in Gaza.
In their first call in more than a month, with Biden increasingly vocal about the war's impact on civilians, Netanyahu reiterated "Israel's commitment to achieving all of the war's objectives," the Israeli leader said in a statement.
Netanyahu cited the objectives as eliminating Hamas, release of all the hostages and "ensuring that Gaza will never present a threat to Israel."
The war dragged on, Netanyahu not budging from his stated desire of achieving not one but two objectives in the endless battles forced upon
it by Hamas et al. It’s like being raped by war, a country invaded by this unwanted
thing. But Israel will not give up and go away without achieving its twin
objectives: getting the hostages out, ending Hamas [emphasis added]:
May 7, 2024
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Statement by the PM Netanyahu
"Last night, with the consent of the War Cabinet, I directed [that the IDF] act in Rafah. They raised Israeli flags at the Rafah Crossing and took down the Hamas flags.
The entry into Rafah serves two of the main objectives of the war: Returning our hostages and eliminating Hamas.
The same two objectives were mentioned in a Time Magazine interview of Netanyahu ten months into the war. Time
was notably critical in its portrayal of Israel’s conduct in the wake of
October 7. There seems to be stress on one of the two official objectives here: destroying Hamas. But that is only because Netanyahu is responding to Joe Biden.
Simply put, Bibi is making sure Biden doesn’t put words in
Israel’s mouth. So here it is, a clarification. No, Joe. That’s not what we
want. We don’t only want to hobble Hamas. We want Hamas dead and buried [emphasis added]:
Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to Tel Aviv to meet Israeli officials in the Kirya, the towering office complex from which the Prime Minister and his Cabinet were conducting the war. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza had already caused an estimated 30,000 deaths, a count by the Hamas-led Health Ministry that doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians, but is accepted by the U.N. and the White House. Nearly 2 million Palestinians had been displaced. It was a humanitarian catastrophe inflaming the world, and Blinken’s message to Netanyahu was simple: Wind down the war, you have achieved your objective, Hamas can no longer carry out another Oct. 7.
“That’s not our objective,” Netanyahu replied, according to a source familiar with the exchange. “Our objective is to completely destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.”
Israel reached the one year mark, yet the war continued. A year had now passed since that black, black, black Sabbath. Time had stretched too far, the theater and purpose of war widening as it had always been destined to do. Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to the people of Israel, attempting to coax them to hold out hope for complete victory [emphasis added]:
Citizens of Israel,
I promised you victory, and we will achieve victory.
We will complete the task of obliterating Hamas, we will bring home all of our hostages, we will ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel and we will return the residents of the north back home safely.
The war will not end until we realize all its goals, including the return of the residents of the north safely home.
The truth is, it had never been true that Israel had only one objective to
this war. Which is why I protested after a generally intelligent friend repeated on social media the fallacy of a single goal, the release of the hostages. My friend
texted me in private. “You’re right. But they don’t need to know that.”
“Ah,” I said. “I see,” and I did.
I think it’s a mistake. I believe that Israel must assert its voice loud and clear. This is
what we want, and we will stop at nothing less.
And yet, as I write this, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has announced this evening that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a three-stage deal to release the 98 remaining hostages held in Gaza.
Is it true? As of 10:31 PM Israel time, there's no statement from Bibi. But if it is real, will the other objective of ridding the world of Hamas fall by the wayside? It sounds as though we are on the brink of doing something very wrong.
It would be better to stall a bit longer, at least until January 20th, which
until now, all of us had made reference to, repeatedly, as in “January 20th
can’t come soon enough.”
And indeed, it may not. But as we all know, it ain't over till the fat lady sings.
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