There is no avoiding the fact that the terms leading to a cease-fire in the war in Gaza have changed substantially. Not only have the talks in Doha hit a brick wall, but the military pressure has become much less effective.
Hamas has resigned itself to a prolonged guerrilla war and is increasingly desensitized to the suffering of the civilians in the Strip. While the military pressure may yield results in a few months, chances are that in the meantime, hostages will die, and soldiers will be killed. In short, time is not in Israel's favor.
Israel is also running out of time in the international arena. The pressure from the Trump administration and especially from Europe now endangers critical national security and economic interests.
We are becoming pariahs and are losing the legitimacy we need to defend ourselves. Israel has been under similar pressure in the past and its governments have never before hesitated to bend to it and adhere to the demands of the UN and the international community out of an understanding that the alternative would be more costly and would include sanctions and an arms embargo.
There is also a moral consideration. As Jews, we cannot accept a situation where civilians are killed daily, and children are suffering from malnutrition and even hunger. Even if the figures claimed by Hamas are exaggerated, what we know to be true, should be enough to wake up our moral compass.
We've already caused immeasurable destruction and harm to the Palestinians in Gaza and that will be remembered for generations. We cannot accept the Hamas demands but must find a compromise deal that would be acceptable to both Israel and Hamas.
The solution lies in the day after the war and the release of all of the hostages. The gap between Israel's demands and those of the terror group is great, which is why the Arab mediators and the United States must apply their pressure on both parties.
Instead of demanding that Hamas disarm, Israel must agree to the principle of ending the war in exchange for the release of all of the hostages and redeploying troops to the buffer zone, at least temporarily.
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Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) must agree to cooperate with a joint U.S.-European organization, like the one established in Lebanon, that would be responsible for the demolition of all underground tunnels, rockets and long-range missiles and other weapons such as drones and explosives. The light armor would, in any case, be impossible to locate and extract and such an effort would only be a waste of time and resources.
The Joint Commission's main role would be for its engineers to uncover and destroy all of the underground tunnel systems and fortifications of all terror factions in the Strip. Israel would be able to supply intelligence and help oversee the process. The underground networks must also include weapon production facilities.
Ron Ben-Yishai Photo: Yair SagiIsrael no longer needs to demand that Hamas leaders be exiled from Gaza because most of the terror group's leadership has already been killed, along with a considerable number of senior officials in the Hamas government. Hamas has already agreed not to take part in the future governing of the Strip.
But the rightwing coalition in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government will have to agree to a role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza's future. Although the ministers are unified in their claim that the PA supports terror and therefore must not take part in the future governing of Gaza, the reality in the West Bank is that there is cooperation between Israel and the PA and its participation is a demand of the Sunni Arab nations that would take part in the future of the Strip.
Hamas may reject any of these proposed terms, but they do address most of Israel's demands to rid Gaza of Hamas and remove any danger it may pose to Israel. Bringing them to the negotiating table is worth a try.