A few weeks ago, in these pages, I argued that without achieving an unequivocal victory, one that the enemy cannot deny, there is no real hope that Gaza’s radicalized population will rethink its genocidal ideology.
This is the lesson learned from the allied victories over Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, two genocidal regimes that had captured the minds of their populations. That both nations quickly became peaceful and civilized was a direct result of their undeniable defeat.
With this in mind, Israeli leaders should carefully analyze how our adversaries characterize the nature and objectives of this conflict.
If we define the goals of the war solely through the lens of our own security needs, while disregarding the way Hamas and its followers articulate their objectives, we run the risk that “If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat,” articulated by legendary Chinese general, strategist, and philosopher Sun Tzu (born circa 544 BCE).
We could easily think we have achieved victory, while our enemies beg to differ.
Since the outbreak of this war, Biden administration officials have repeatedly stated that the “day after” plan must include a path to a Palestinian state. Setting aside how unrealistic this is in the current political climate, the call for a two-state solution as the response to this war would be the embodiment of the outcome Sun Tzu warned of.
Block Hamas’s war aims
If the goal of Hamas is to achieve its national aspirations, the advance of these in the wake of this war would mean that October 7 had been a success. This is especially true since the July 23 agreement between Hamas and Fatah “ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity. Per this agreement, according to the factions themselves, there is no longer any distinction between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
For our victory to succeed in changing the mindset of our enemies, we must listen to them. We must know how they define the objectives of this war, and we must make sure that these are denied them, whether they are critical to our own war aims, or not.
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Hamas’s name for the October 7 attacks, initially appears an odd choice. Al-Aqsa, the Muslim name for the Temple Mount, seems disconnected from Gaza. Notably, the Temple Mount remains under Jordanian Wakf control, effectively a Muslim sovereign enclave within Israel. Yet, for Hamas and its supporters, the war with Israel is a war for the Temple Mount. In their own words, the October 7 attacks were a response to “the Israeli Judaization plans for the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque, its temporal and spatial division attempts, and the intensification of the Israeli settlers’ incursions into the holy mosque.”
WITH THIS in mind, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s recent call to build a synagogue on the Temple Mount is worth taking seriously. The ensuing uproar to this pronouncement was predictable. US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller denounced Ben-Gvir, stating, “The United States reaffirms our commitment to the preservation of the historic status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites and will continue to oppose unilateral steps that are counterproductive to achieving peace and stability and undermine Israel’s security.” Miller added that building a synagogue on the Temple Mount “would demonstrate blatant disregard for the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem.”
Miller’s words are reminiscent of warnings about US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. We were told that such a move would undermine regional stability and endanger Israel. The opposite was true. The embassy move was followed by the Abraham Accords, bringing peace between Israel and several Muslim nations. Apparently, asserting Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem leads to peace, not instability.
The status quo of which Miller speaks gives control of the site to the Jordanian Wakf and restricts Jewish prayer at the site of the Jewish Temple.
Supporters of this situation are in favor of restricting the basic human rights of Jews to worship at a Jewish holy site in the name of appeasing the enemies of Israel. And it is exactly this status quo that ought to be changed in response to October 7. Not because of Israel’s primary objectives in this war, but because of Hamas’s.
Israel must send a clear message to Hamas supporters in Gaza and elsewhere that their genocidal attack on the people of Israel was an abject failure. A synagogue on the Temple Mount, or even a change in the status quo, enabling organized public worship by Jews there, would demonstrate to Hamas and its allies that they have been defeated.
To win this war in a manner that will actually lead to a change in how our enemies think and act, we must heed Sun Tzu. We must know our enemies’ war aims, not just our own.
The writer is executive director of Israel365Action.com and host of the Shoulder to Shoulder podcast.
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