Israel Hayom..
21 November '17..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/a-baseless-liberal-myth/
Voices from inside the IDF and out are advising Israel to spearhead a broad international aid plan for the Gaza Strip. According to the plan's initiators, its purpose would be to prevent economic deterioration that could spark unrest and bring to power forces even more radical than Hamas. Improving the economy in Gaza, supporters of the plan hope, would also reduce motivation for terrorism against Israel.
The logic behind this aid plan is flawed for several reasons:
1. The assumption that poverty creates terrorism is a factually baseless liberal myth. There is no correlation between standard of living and political violence and terror. Poor countries do not suffer from terrorism any more than richer countries. Take India, for example. The Palestinians launched their campaign of terror in 2000, when their economy was at its peak.
2. Believing that economic prosperity among Gazans will temper the worldview of Hamas' military wing is unforgivably naive. Radical ideology and religious zealotry will not be affected by the wealth of unarmed Gazans. In dictatorial regimes such as the one in Gaza, whoever controls the weapons makes the decisions. Middle Eastern tyrants do not hesitate to shoot their political rivals.
3. Large-scale economic aid to Gaza means supporting a bitter enemy determined to destroy the Jewish state. Did the West ever consider economic help for the people living under Islamic State's so-called caliphate in an attempt to curb increasing radicalization? Israel does not need to concern itself with the viability of Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Radical Islam can be defeated only when enough Muslims realize the extremist version of their religion is the main source of their suffering, not their well-being.
4. It is an Israeli interest for Hamas to be weak. This is precisely what Egypt wants, as does the Palestinian Authority. A Hamas mired in problems is far less likely to seize control of the PA. A weak Hamas is also more responsive to Egyptian pressure aimed at forcing the group to reduce the help it provides to radical Islamist elements in Sinai fighting the Egyptian army.
5. Any measure to bolster Hamas will come at the PA's expense. Although none of the Palestinian factions are true peace partners, the PA is less militant. Ultimately, it is a more palatable partner for the purpose of managing the conflict.
6. Israel's fight against Iran's hegemonic aspirations in the region – the country's predominant strategic problem – would also be impaired by Israeli efforts to help the Hamas government. Hamas cooperates with Iran. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and its allies in the moderate Sunni camp are fed up with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. These countries are also gravely fearful of Iran's expanding regional influence. Sending Israeli aid to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip is not conducive to improving relations with the moderate Sunni countries in their stance against Iran. Giving Hamas economic aid buttresses the radical Islamic camp, of which Iran is a part.
A Gaza version of the Marshall Plan is a bad and harmful idea. Israel needs to persist with its carrot-and-stick policy, which has been substantially successful over the years, even if finding the perfect balance in this fragile equation is complicated and fraught with uncertainty. Israel has no interest in a humanitarian crisis in Gaza (and concerns about that have been overblown), but the proposal to institute a Marshall Plan for Gazans is certain to disrupt the delicate balance between punishment for bad behavior and incentives for behavior that Israel does not find pernicious.
Professor Efraim Inbar is president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies, professor emeritus at Bar-Ilan University, founding director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and a Shillman-Ginsburg fellow at the Middle East Forum.
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