Israel’s neighborhood and why Netanyahu was right on the ceasefire

Michael Oren, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States, commented the other day:

“There’s a longstanding conventional wisdom that Israel doesn’t do well in wars of attrition,” said Michael B. Oren, an Israeli historian and a former ambassador to the United States. “That overlooks a broader historical view that Israel’s entire existence has been a war of attrition, and we’ve won that war.”

In the neighborhood in which Israel lives, Hamas is not even the worst actor, although it is pretty bad.

Israel could not afford to have that never-ending war of attrition wear itself out in Gaza.

What could be achieved against Hamas in Gaza without being bogged down in a multi-year reoccupation, and without unacceptable outcomes such as bombing Hamas’ headquarters underneath Shifa Hospital, was achieved.

All the critics from left and right should understand that there are other threats on the horizon.

The war of attrition continues, and has to be managed wisely.

[Featured Image: Times of Israel homepage, 8-28-2014 6:25 p.m. Eastern]

Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza, Hamas, ISIS, Syria

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