While Hamas’s interests may be served by dragging out the war, Israel’s would be served by hastening its end—not through a ceasefire, but through victory. That, argues Seth Mandel, is the lesson Benny Gantz, the leader of Israel’s National Unity party and a member of the post-October 7 unity government, should take away from his recent visit to London and Washington. The favored candidate to replace Prime Minister Netanyahu in the event of an election, Gantz seems to have believed he could garner more sympathy for Israel than Netanyahu. Instead, he got lectures from Kamala Harris as well as from the British foreign minister David Cameron and prime minister Rishi Sunak. Mandel writes:

How should Gantz interpret this? As a reminder that, as far as the West is concerned, Israel does not have all the time in the world to finish off Hamas. Neither Sunak nor Cameron particularly cares how this war ends. Gantz and Netanyahu don’t have that luxury. The reason Hamas is disingenuously manipulating the U.S., Israel, and Qatar on the hostage negotiations is because their only goal is to run out the clock.

The same message, Mandel adds, should be taken from President Biden’s scheme, announced last week, to build a floating dock off the coast of Gaza for the delivery of humanitarian aid. An American ship has already been dispatched with equipment for the project, which is expected to involve as many as 1,000 U.S. military personnel:

Nobody cheering “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is going to change their mind thanks to a hastily constructed port that will simply serve as a more dangerous way of getting aid to Palestinian civilians. Which means when it fails to move the needle of progressive opinion, Biden will try something else to make them happy. Israel needs to accept that this ball is now rolling downhill, and it’s standing at the bottom.

Kamala Harris and the other Americans threw a lot of words at Benny Gantz. So did Rishi Sunak and David Cameron. But they all amount to the same thing: Get moving.

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.