There is a strange tendency when viewing the Israeli-Palestinian dispute to imagine that because might does not make right it must make wrong. By this logic, the fact that Israel can inflict greater damage on Hamas than Hamas can on Israel makes Israel the aggressor. But in reality, it is Hamas who is responsible for this latest round of violence. It is Hamas who never fully implemented the six month ceasefire and then broke it off completely.
Israel has a right to pursue the action it is taking but the strategic question is what purpose will the action serve. Unlike with the war in the Lebanon in 2006, Israel has set itself the narrowest of war aims: the ending of all rocket attacks from Gaza. It is difficult, however, to see how this can be achieved while Hamas remains in control of Gaza.
Those who are calling for a diplomatic offensive should reflect on whether Hamas—whose charter commits it to the destruction of the State of Israel—can ever be a genuine partner for a ceasefire let alone peace. Certainly, President-elect Obama would be foolish to expend his initial diplomatic capital on direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians as long as the rejectionists of Hamas remains in charge of Gaza. For there can be no peace as long as that is the case.
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