David Ben-Gurion is generally credited with declaring during World War II that the Jews of Palestine would fight along with the British against the Nazis as if there were no White Paper, and that they would fight the White Paper as if there were no war going on.
That ethos was adapted by former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who said during the Oslo years of the 1990s that “We must fight terrorism as if there’s no peace process, and work to achieve peace as if there’s no terror.”
What Israel seems to be doing now, after 19 months of war with Hamas, is a drastically watered-down version of that, neither fighting with full conviction nor negotiating without an eye on the war.
The army unveiled Operation Gideon’s Chariots over the weekend, the name given to a more vigorous effort against Hamas. IDF spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin said on Sunday that five IDF divisions were operating in Gaza, which is the first time since late 2023 to early 2024 that such a large number of soldiers is inside the Strip.
As the Post’s Yonah Jeremy Bob wrote on Sunday, the tone of the IDF update still seemed to leave room for negotiations with Hamas to halt the wider invasion and reach a new ceasefire and hostage exchange deal.
The IDF would take complete control of Gaza
Perhaps that’s why it’s taking its time to rev up as negotiations take place in Doha between Israel and Hamas and their interlocutors.
Those negotiations are precarious at best, with reports of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatening to call back the negotiating team if Hamas doesn’t show any willingness to agree to Israel’s terms. They are occurring amid a decision by the prime minister to resume humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Netanyahu also declared on Monday that the IDF would take complete control of Gaza and prevent Hamas from looting the aid.
All of these moves give the indication that Israel thinks that time is on its side. If the negotiations don’t work, we’ll just pummel Hamas and Gaza some more until they agree.
But, after 19 months of war, time has actually turned into an enemy for Israel. Looking at the situation without delving too far inside, that might not be apparent.
The Israeli economy grew 3.4% in the first quarter of 2025, according to the preliminary estimate of the Central Bureau of Statistics. GDP per capita rose by 2.2%, on an annualized basis, an encouraging figure after the declines in 2024, and one that may be counterintuitive in light of the fact that the country is at war with thousands of citizens called up for reserve duty.
However, unlike other wars, like in 1973, when the economy truly suffered because such a high percentage of the working force was in the army, today, the soldiers who have been called up time and time again represent a relatively small percentage of the workforce.
The sense of urgency that the economy may collapse is not here. The urgency, however, is apparent just about everywhere else. The longer the war goes on and civilian casualties mount, the more it will damage Israel’s international standing and toughen the challenge facing the Jewish state’s defenders around the world in arguing Israel’s legitimacy in its righteous battle against Hamas.
The urgency is glaring when it comes to the reservists, who have borne the brunt of the last 19 months, serving for months in Gaza or the North and sacrificing so much for their country. They are not rubber bands that can be stretched to the brink, then be discharged, and called up again a few weeks or months later. Sooner or later, the rubber band snaps.
If the incursion in Gaza intensifies, the chances of casualties among our forces increase. And how many more days can we wake up to the images of young, able-bodied men losing their lives or getting maimed in the Strip?
But most of all, the urgency is felt every day and every hour by the hostages in Gaza and their families going through their personal hell back home. For them, time is a huge enemy. The longer the war goes on without an agreement, the greater the risk to their survival and return home.
So, Israel must decide. Will it continue to go forward one step and then back another in its two-pronged effort to defeat Hamas and bring the hostages home, or will it negotiate like there’s no war and fight Hamas like there’s no negotiations?
Jesus Christ is King
