How to Deal with Gaza: A Letter to PM Netanyahu

By Moshe Feiglin

To Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,

The failures of Operation Protective Edge were inherent from the outset, because: 

A.  It has no proper and clear goal and;

1. B.  There is no appropriate moral framework to support our soldiers.

What is required now is for Israel to internalize the fact that Oslo is finished: That this is our country – our country exclusively, including Gaza. There are no two states, and there are no two peoples. There is only one state for one people.

After internalizing this, we need a deep and thorough strategic review: Definition of the enemy, definition of the operational tasks, definition of the strategic goals, and of course, of appropriate necessary war ethics.

1. Definition of the enemy: The strategic enemy is extremist Arab Islam in all its metastases – from Iran to Gaza – which seeks to annihilate Israel in its entirety. The immediate enemy is Hamas. (Not the tunnels and not the rockets – Hamas.)

2.  Definition of the tasks: Conquest of the entire Gaza Strip and elimination of all fighting forces and their supporters.

3.  Definition of the strategic goal: To turn Gaza into Jaffa, a flourishing Israeli city with a minimum number of hostile civilians.

4.  Definition of war ethics: “Woe to the evildoer, and woe to his neighbor”

In light of these four points, Israel must take the following action:

A. The IDF will designate certain open areas on the Sinai border, adjacent to the sea, in which the civilian population will be gathered, far from the built-up areas that are used for rocket launches and tunneling. In these areas, tent encampments will be established, until relevant emigration destinations are determined. Electricity and water supply to the formerly populated areas will be disconnected.

B.  The formerly populated areas will be shelled with maximum fire power. The entire civilian and military infrastructure of Hamas, its means of communication and of logistics, will be destroyed entirely – down to their foundations.

C.  The IDF will divide the Gaza Strip laterally and crosswise, significantly widen the roads, take control of commanding positions, and destroy nests of resistance – if any remain.

D.  Israel will start to locate destination countries and immigration quotas for the refugees from Gaza. Those who wish to emigrate will be given a generous economic support package and will arrive at the receiving countries with significant economic capabilities.

E.  Those who insist on staying, contingent on proof that they have no affiliation with Hamas, will be required to publicly sign a declaration of loyalty to Israel. They will then receive a blue ID card similar to that of the Arabs of East Jerusalem.

F.  When the fighting will end, Israeli law will be extended to cover the entire Gaza Strip. The people expelled from Gush Katif will be invited to return to their towns and villages  and the city of Gaza and its suburbs will be rebuilt as Israeli tourist and commercial cities.

Mr. Prime Minister,

This is a fateful hour of decision in the history of the State of Israel.

All metastases of our enemy, from Iran and Hizballah through ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood, are gleefully rubbing their hands and preparing themselves for the next round.

I warn that any outcome that is less than what was defined here means encouraging the continued offensive against Israel. Only if Hezbollah will understand how we have dealt with Hamas in the south, it will refrain from launching its 100,000 missiles from the north.

I call on you to adopt the strategy proposed here.

I have no doubt that, like me, the entire Nation of Israel will stand by you with its overwhelming majority – if only you will adopt it.

With Respect and Appreciation