And the Winners are: Hamas and Netanjahu

Seit vergangener Nacht herrscht zwischen israelischer Regierung und Hamas ein brüchiger Waffenstillstand. Wie immer lesenswert wagt Avi Issarachoff eine erste Einschätzung und kommt zu dem Ergebnis, das schon jetzt zwei große Gewinner feststehen: Die Hamas und Binyamin Netanjahu. Weitere Gewinner seien die Hizbollah und der Iran, der größte Verlieren Fatah und Palestinian National Authority und natürlich die Bevölkerung Israels und des Gaza-Streifens. Scharf kritisiert der Autor auch die Politik der israelischen Regierung 

While both sides can claim certain achievements and certain failures, the big winners are Hamas, in the medium term, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the short term.

Netanyahu for the simple reason that this round of conflict leaves him safely ensconced in the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street.

And Hamas because it is perceived in the Arab world and in the Palestinian sphere, though rather less when it comes to Gaza itself, as the regional victor. (...)

But when Palestinians or Muslims attack Jews in New York and Los Angeles, and when mixed Jewish-Arab cities in Israel go up in flames, the heads of Hamas can certainly celebrate. As for the destroyed houses, the piles of rubble in the center of Gaza City, they know that Qatari money will help finance reconstruction, and that the Netanyahu government will allow that money to continue to flow.

This brings us to the failure exemplified by this round of conflict — an ongoing failure whose consequences continue to grow.

The misguided strategy of the Netanyahu government, followed for a decade, has turned a terrorist group into a military monster which now aspires to compete with Hezbollah and is managing to embarrass Israel time after time. This counterproductive, illogical policy works to weaken Fatah and the Palestinian Authority and keep Hamas intact, for political reasons — so that it can be claimed there is no viable partner for negotiations.