Israel's mission to destroy Hamas is destroying its own reputation

Any discussion about ending the conflict in Gaza must acknowledge that Israel launched the war to safeguard the lives of its people. The events of Oct. 7 showed what Hamas is capable of, and the world should understand Israel’s need to ensure an event like that never happens again.  

Israeli actions have been effective, and the country has achieved the short-term objective of denying Hamas the ability to threaten its citizens. Beyond that short-term goal, Israel is seeking to eliminate Hamas completely and remove the threat from Gaza forever. 

But there’s no such thing as forever in geopolitics. Often, the best a state can do is manage situations with skill and tenacity until the underlying circumstances change. This was true for the U.S. during the Cold War, and it’s true for a state like South Korea today.

By seeking a permanent solution rather than accepting a limited victory, Israel is now doing more harm than good. Global sympathy continues to shift toward the Palestinians, and this is having an effect on the actions of governments, as more countries take the consequential step of recognizing a Palestinian State.  

Images of emaciated children in Gaza are searing into people’s minds, even if not all of those images are presented accurately. These are the types of images that aren’t easily forgotten — the type that endure for generations.

Israel’s decision to pause daytime military operations and allow more aid to reach Gaza was a necessary step in the right direction. It acknowledged that world opinion is turning decisively against Israel, even if the Israeli government continues to deny the existence of a humanitarian crisis.

Israel is right that Hamas could end the fighting if it surrendered and left Gaza. 

Hamas’s refusal is completely in keeping with its brutalist worldview, articulated by former leader Yahya Sinwar when he explained that Palestinian suffering was necessary to advance Hamas’s political objectives. He then did everything he could to bring that suffering about. An organization like that won’t ever make decisions in the best interests of its people. 

Hamas is disinclined to accept Israel’s cease-fire conditions because it is a mafia-like organization more than a government with an army. Its primary interest is always the maintenance of power and privilege, and it’s difficult to imagine it leaving Gaza voluntarily.  

If Hamas will not do what’s right for the Palestinian people, that leaves only one actor capable of stopping the bloodshed.

Halting military operations will be a gut-wrenching decision for Israel. The Israeli people would struggle to accept the continued existence of a terrorist organization guilty of rape and murder. As unsatisfying as the survival of Hamas will be, there isn’t a good alternative.

At some point, every successful country needs to substitute the rational for the emotional and recognize the limits of its power. Israel cannot continue to prosecute this war without irreparably damaging its international reputation. It must accept that fact, and it must halt the fighting.

Already Israel’s relationship with much of the European and American electorate is damaged and getting worse. 

The country is becoming a partisan issue in the U.S., where it once enjoyed near total bipartisan support. Even Republicans who have been steadfast in their support are beginning to waver. In early August, 24 Democratic senators voted to withhold military aid from Israel.

Americans who unconditionally support Israel can accuse those who don’t of being naïve or antisemitic. Maybe some of them are. 

In the end, what should matter to Israel is the reality that many Americans are changing their view of the country, risking the special relationship that’s done so much to sustain Israel since its founding.

Hamas is severely degraded even if it isn’t destroyed. Its ability to threaten Israeli civilians is limited. Israel should accept the reality that it can’t eliminate Hamas before global support for its actions collapse and shift its strategy accordingly. It should withdraw from most of Gaza and then robustly control the Israel-Gaza border. 

Oct. 7 was only effective, after all, because of the brittleness of Israeli defenses. Israel’s intelligence and surveillance capabilities are formidable, even if that day showed they aren’t invincible, and it’s unlikely the country will be caught off guard again.

Israeli military action in Gaza has been successful, if success is defined as making Israel safe in the near term. Trying to make Israel safe forever is a luxury it can’t afford because of the constraints imposed by world opinion.

Israel seemed to acknowledge this constraint with its decision to airdrop supplies and establish new aid corridors, but it’s wrong to think these measures will turn the tide of global views.

The U.S. should help Israel realize that continuing the war in Gaza is no longer in its best interest. The Israeli military has already returned the country to safety and continuing the conflict will lead to negative and far-reaching changes to Israel’s relationship with the world.  

Israeli leaders need to weigh that outcome against the risk posed by Hamas’s continued presence in Gaza. They’re miscalculating if they conclude that global public sentiment matters less than the residual military threat from Hamas.

By pursuing its maximalist aim, Israel is risking its standing in the world and its reputation as a moral actor. Because the nation self-identifies as the world’s only Jewish state, perception of its actions plays a role in how Jewish people are seen around the world. Already, animosity toward Jews is rising.

Sinwar knew that the way to hurt Israel was to create a situation where Palestinian children suffered and starved. By perpetuating the war in Gaza, the Israeli government is following Sinwar’s script.

This can’t be in the best long-term interests of the country.

Colin Pascal is a retired Army lieutenant colonel who spent most of his career as a military intelligence officer.