Israel can choose peace if it wants

After the brutality and the seemingly senseless Hamas attack on Israel Oct. 7, one might forgive Israel’s rush to avenge its losses. Israelis have called this their 9/11.

If any reaction screamed for a well-thoughtout response, it is this one.

Let’s leave the analysis of Israel’s egregious intelligence failure for another time. That analysis, when it does come, will almost certainly include Israelis’ fears of a slide toward authoritarianism, considering the prime minister’s personal charges of corruption and his attempts at marginalizing Israel’s Supreme Court just as it is trying to bring those charges to account. Those two situations have served as the perfect diversion to lose focus on what Israeli’s enemies might be planning.

As to a well-thought-out response … Israel is at an inflection point. It can either launch a “scorched earth” policy as it seems intent on doing, or it can include Palestinian leaders (not necessarily the PLO) in its rightful attempt to rid the country of Hamas. So, what if the Israeli government invited Palestinian leaders (within Gaza) to sit down with them to lay out a scenario to rid Gaza of an organization that does not care about Israeli or Palestinian lives but operates more like ISIS? Such a scenario would include:

• Being clear that Israel, for the good of Palestinians as well as Israelis, is intent on eliminating Hamas altogether.

• That, with the help of local Palestinian leaders, Israel can more quickly eliminate this evil while minimizing the loss of innocent Palestinians.

• The promise that, as the Israel Defense Force goes through Gaza on this coordinated military operation, the Israeli government will set up safe areas in its wake for displaced Palestinians with guaranteed shelter, food, water and electricity.

• As military operations wind down and there is a semblance of peace and security in the region, Israel, with the help of the United Nations and other countries willing to help (including Saudi Arabia), will undertake to rebuild Gaza for Palestinians.

• After the previous steps have been taken, an offer to sit down with Palestinian leadership to discuss (and this will be a hard one for Israel to accept) a Palestinian state.

This is a golden opportunity for Israel. The alternative to not thinking this through will be a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions and serve only to guarantee new generations of young Palestinians with hatred in their hearts for Israel.