Upon learning that US President Donald Trump's peace plan includes investing $50 billion in Judea and Samaria, the Arabs rejected it and then boycotted the Bahrain economic conference. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has reiterated one key principle we refuse to internalize: "They [the Israelis] don't understand our language." Iran, too, isn't giving an inch despite heavy economic sanctions and continues spending vast sums to fund terror against far-flung Israel.
It is important to internalize this message because it explains why Israel's deterrence strategy against Hamas in Gaza falls apart repeatedly; and why even when Israel permits the transfer of money and goods, there still has been no reprieve from cross-border arson and missile attacks.
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What's new? Tens of billions of dollars have already been dumped into Gaza and nary one cent has gone toward rehabilitating or developing the coastal enclave to improve the lives of its straining residents. When money does arrive, the various terrorist leaders take a large chunk. The rest of the funds are diverted to making weapons, missiles and digging tunnels, all to enhance deterrence against Israel.
The heads of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are extremely wealthy and live in relative luxury. The horrendous humanitarian situation in Gaza is of no interest to them; indeed it is even convenient. Many Israelis argue that Gaza is still Israel's responsibility and that we should build them air and seaports, desalinization and manufacturing plants, and more. If they were interested, the terrorist leaders would have had these things a long time ago. But improving the lives of Gazans would largely eradicate their motivation to serve these terrorist organizations, and this is not in Hamas' interest.
Israel's goal, therefore, should be as follows: Distinguish between the terrorist leaders and the downtrodden people of Gaza. To this end, Israel must eliminate the ability of these terrorists to influence the hearts and minds of Gazans. Why, for example, has Israel not launched any form of efficient public relations, in Arabic, to show the people of Gaza the damage that their corrupt and greedy leaders are foisting upon them? Instead, Gazans only see and hear about Israel's repeated concessions to Hamas.
So what does Hamas want? According to its charter, it wants to destroy the Zionist entity and revoke the State of Israel. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar says his organization "only" wants to remove the blockade of Gaza, which is the same thing, more or less, just more palatable to foreign ears. They don't want to rehabilitate Gaza; they want the 2.5 million people living there to invade Israel; then the rest of their plan will fall into place.
We need to understand that the money Qatar transfers to the Gaza Strip is not being used to help Gazans. Aside from the service fee lining the pockets of terrorist chiefs, the money goes to their loyalist government officials, who simply strengthen Hamas and its satellite groups.
In the words of former Shin Bet security agency chief Avi Dichter: "We don't understand Arabs over here." We must open our eyes and read what they write; we must strain our ears and listen to what they openly say, and realize that we need to start "understanding Arabs."
