In a speech on Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister sparked outrage from all the usual quarters when he declared his intention to “apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley.” As Erielle Davidson points out—and contrary to what most of the media have reported—he nowhere used the word “annexation.” Netanyahu, Davidson adds, was likely responding to the accusation made against him by his main political competitors—the center-left Blue and White party—that he had considered relinquishing control of the Jordan Valley in 2014. And there are grave reasons why this area matters:

In addition to legal arguments buttressing Israeli claims to territorial sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, there are strategic reasons Israel might seek to apply its sovereignty over the region. [The] Jordan Valley, along Israel’s eastern border, is quite literally all that stands between Israel and the remainder of the Middle East. [It] has long been central to those aware of Israeli security issues, for the region is commonly used by jihadists to infiltrate Israel’s borders and to smuggle weaponry. Some have argued that the Jordan Valley could resemble Gaza if proper vigilance isn’t exercised.

Additionally, Israeli control over the region would ensure a buffer between Israel’s enemies and its most populous regions.

[Moreover], the Jordan Valley has almost no Palestinian population, meaning that applying Israeli sovereignty would not result in the “annexation of Palestinians.” [And] while some decry Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, the Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to build illegal settlements in Area C of the West Bank in violation of the Oslo Accords, which stipulate that no construction can take place in Area C without the approval of the Israeli Civil Administration. . . . In some ways, Netanyahu’s Jordan Valley promise represents a necessary pushback against the PA’s activities in Area C.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.