The Santos Republic

This is the name given to the first few months of the Second World War in the Western Front, when France and Britain, which had reluctantly declared war on Germany, failed to attack while the Wehrmacht was busy in Poland. The Royal Navy, under the able leadership of Winston Churchill, was of course an exception and understood from day one that, in General MacArthur´s words, in war there is no substitute for victory. Although the circumstances might be almost completely different, such a period of time comes to mind when looking in retrospect at the last few weeks in Gaza, where the Israeli Defense Forces undertook an operation whose objectives do not seem to have been clearly set out.

Briefly, the situation in Gaza prior to Operation Cast Lead was: 

– An economy completely dominated by foreign aid, unconditionally provided by democratic countries, for the most part.

–A not-too-high standard of living, high enough however to sustain a very high birth rate and to prevent the population from having to concentrate on productive work in order to feed themselves.

–A ruling regime bent on destroying Israel, as made clear on multiple occasions.

–An asymmetrical conflict in which rockets were constantly being launched at Israel without this prompting a military response from the IDF.

–A permeable border with Egypt, traversed by multiple tunnels, employed to supply Hamas with weapons and munitions.

But above all, the situation was marked by an obsession with “negotiating” with “Palestinians”, both Hamas and Fatah, in the vain hope that a deal might be achieved and peace finally secured.  

Is peace possible in the Middle East? Of course it is, however the road leading to it does not go through endless negotiations and does not depend on Israel being more generous here or there. Peace in the Middle East will only come when the Palestinians have been defeated. 

One might be tempted to believe they have, and of course they have gone from defeat to defeat in the battlefield, but it is not such battles that define who wins and who loses a war. After all the Viet Cong suffered horrendous losses in their ill-fated Tet offensive … and went on to win the war.  

Defeat is the loss of the will to fight on, once it has been made clear that further belligerence will only result in meaningless loss of life and bring one not an inch nearer one’s objectives. According to this definition, the Palestinians have not been defeated. 

They have not been defeated because they still believe that by prolonging their half-a-century campaign against Israel, a democratic state which has never allowed its military a free hand in dealing with its enemies, they will destroy its will to resist and end up succumbing to a second Holocaust. They have not been defeated because they still think that Israel’s friends, the community of democratic nations, will desert it in order to appease Jihadists and hope to be eaten last by the crocodile.  And they have not been defeated because they are being fed by a wide assortment of NGOs, international agencies, and governments, who have turned Gaza into a large-scale welfare state experiment.  

Welfare destroys the human soul and the work ethic, which set apart free men from slaves. Welfare allows families to send their sons into battle, knowing that they won’t miss the fruit of their labor. Welfare lets young men spend all their days plotting the destruction of their democratic neighbor. 

Has Israel’s foray into Gaza changed any of this? Unfortunately not. Of course, some hundreds of terrorists have been killed, which is a cause for celebration, but governments, international organizations, and NGOs are already queuing up to “reconstruct” Gaza. There is nothing which leads us to believe that Hamas will suddenly decide to recognize Israel’s right to exist. 

When a country decides to go to war, the gloves must be taken off. Otherwise the ensuing stalemate will only result in prolonged indecision and the need to, after a short period of time, take once again the same steps.  It is precisely this which has taken place in Gaza, where Israelis have not played to win. 

It is therefore time to start looking at other options.

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Alex Calvo is TSR´s International Security and Defense Editor.

A law graduate of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, Alex spent some time travelling in Asia before embarking on a career in banking. His duties gradually shifted to international law, while his strong interest in international relations made him spend an increasing amount of time studying the subject and following current events. Three years ago, he finally decided to start working for himself as legal consultant an embark on a PhD in strategic studies. A professor at European University’s Barcelona campus, he is spending a semester at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Academy in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), and holds a commission as reserve officer.

Alex’s main area of interest is Asia, including Central, South, and East-Asia. He is also a keen student of military history and doctrine, with an emphasis on counter-insurgency operations.

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