Israel has much to show
No further proof is needed for Operation Protective Edge to go down as a success story. The wholesale surrender of a group of Hamas fighters in the southern Gaza Strip underscores other, less dramatic, accomplishments for the Israel Defense Forces. Whereas the IDF has managed to bolster its combat worthiness, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have been showing signs of battle fatigue.
Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz must make sure the troops stay vigilant, that they do not skimp on their mission and that they are not overly confident. As long as he does that, the current situation is tenable.
Israelis have been in high spirits as a result of the battlefield gains. The public has accordingly insisted on an unrelenting prosecution of the war to avert another conflagration two or three years from now. Large swaths of the public want there to be no more operations in the Gaza Strip after this one ends.
The circumstances in 2014 are unique, on the battlefield and particularly on the world stage. Europe has been understanding toward Israel; Egypt has not yielded to Hamas and its leaders, which it loathes, along with most of the Arab world. This is a rare situation in which the stars have aligned in our favor.
The anti-Hamas posture also has an emotional component. Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal's recent speech was infuriating. He tried to portray the situation as a victory for Hamas. He hoped this would make the world forget the embarrassing blow Hamas has been dealt on the battlefield. Having said all that, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon have said that they would be willing to accept a seven-day humanitarian cease-fire if Hamas acquiesces, knowing full well that this move would be fiercely opposed by some in the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet and many Israelis.
Netanyahu and Ya'alon know that a cease-fire will cause disappointment among Israelis. All signs show that Gantz knows this too. But we have to keep three points in mind:
• A cease-fire may take effect, but that is not going to stop Israel from destroying the tunnels in the area it has temporarily seized. Israel does not want to control the Gaza Strip and if it tries to extract more military gains this could backfire. Moreover, Israel doesn't want the coalition it has assembled to isolate Hamas -- comprising the U.S., Europe and Middle East -- to unravel.
• There is no guarantee that Hamas would respond favorably to the cease-fire terms set forth by the Egyptian president, the U.S. secretary of state and the emir of Qatar. Even if it does, it is unclear whether it would be able to impose its will on Mashaal. But if Gaza-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh manages to bring Hamas on board as a result of Israel pounding of Gaza, Netanyahu will likely have an easy time passing a cease-fire resolution.
• Yes, this will have been made easy because Netanyahu's poll numbers are better (polls, by their very nature, are very dynamic and only reflect a particular point in time). Also, the public knows that in the 21st century, military strength can only get you so far. But Netanyahu will be able to get the cease-fire he wants primarily because Israelis, even those who would be disappointed by a truce, know full well that Israel has already dealt a crushing blow to Palestinian terrorism.
Perhaps Israel could get a better result, but it has been extremely successful so far.
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