Report: Israel’s victory over Hamas a ‘dangerous illusion’, reality ‘more complex’

Israel’s victory over the Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas, is “just a dangerous illusion”, an Israeli researcher has said, adding that “the reality is very complex, and in many cases Israel does not have the tools or time to understand the full picture,” Maariv reported yesterday.

In an article published in the paper, senior researcher at the Misgav Institute for National Security, Yoash Ben-Eliezer, said: “the Israeli reality, full of complexities and dynamics, has proven to us time over time that expelling the Palestinians from Lebanon [1982] which was considered an achievement at the time, has led to the rise of Hezbollah and the Shia axis.”

“[Israel’s unilateral] withdrawal from Gaza seemed like a brave and correct step, but [Gaza] has become a fertile ground for arming Hamas and the October 7 epic. Hamas’s attack was a horrific disaster, but [Hamas’s] lack of coordination with the Shia axis in the north may have prevented a greater disaster and eventually led to the axis’s collapse.”

According to the article, the Shia axis’s collapse is now considered a great success, but the question is who will fill the vacuum now that Hezbollah is gone and “will that party be less dangerous?” Ben-Eliezer asked.

“The charges against [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu, which seemed like the beginning of a change, led to the establishment of a government that many view as radical and harmful. The return of Donald Trump to the presidency is a good opportunity for Israel, but who can guarantee that it will not lead to greater problems in the long run?” he added.

Ben-Eliezer claimed that Israel’s need to rule “stems from its desire for a sense of certainty.”

“When we say ‘this is good’ or ‘this is bad,’ we are trying to impose order in a chaotic world and find logic in a changing reality. But life is not static. Reality is dynamic, and what appears today as a success may turn out to be a failure – and vice versa,” he added.

Ex-Pentagon advisor: Hamas cannot be destroyed militarily