Writing in the Jerusalem Post, Larry Derfner makes the case for an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire:
There are reasons for Israel not to want a cease-fire with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. For one, the terrorist groups will take it as a victory; it will be a great morale booster for them. For another, it will undercut Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian moderates; the message they’ll take from it is that their way, the way of negotiation, didn’t work, while the Hamas/Islamic Jihad way, the way of terror, worked. And this conclusion will be drawn not only by Palestinians, but by much of the Muslim world, including Iran.
Not good.
Nevertheless, I am in favor of Israel accepting a cease-fire with Hamas. How the Palestinians and other Muslims interpret such a cease-fire would be one thing; the true import of it would be something very different – which the Palestinians and other Muslims would see soon enough.
If a cease-fire worked, it would bring peace and quiet on both sides of the Israel-Gaza border, while the downside for Israel wouldn’t be any steeper than it’s already been for several years. By agreeing to a cease-fire we don’t have anything to lose, and a lot to gain. If Hamas offers, we should accept.
I KNOW some of you have questions. Such as: What if it doesn’t work? What if Hamas keeps firing Kassams? Or what if Hamas upholds the cease-fire but Islamic Jihad doesn’t?
The answer is: Then the cease-fire is over and Israel goes back to war in Gaza like we’ve been doing for the last seven years. Nothing gained, but nothing lost, either. …
