Dr. Michael Wiseis a founder and investor in numerous technology companies. He is a graduate of YU and holds a PhD .in Theoretical Physics from Brandeis U., is the author of Israel demography study (BESA).and has published numerous articles about Israel sovereignty and demographics in Judea and Samaria. [email protected]
World leaders are beginning to panic. Hamas and other terrorist organization in Gaza, committed to the destruction of Israel, are about to be destroyed. Gaza was to be a stepping stone to a contiguous two-state solution combining Gaza and the 'West Bank' (Judea & Samaria) in spite of Arab rejection for over 100 years to any Jewish state.
For almost 20 years, billions of dollars have poured into Gaza from Qatar, the EU, the US, the PA, UNRWA and other “humanitarian” organizations. We can now confirm that Hamas redirected these billions of dollars to build military complexes, tunnels, rocket factories, and to enrich their personal bank accounts. And now that investment is about to collapse.
Global antisemites who wish to save Gaza and Hamas to preserve their vision of a Middle East without Israel have for months demanded a CEASEFIRE! If only Gaza could return to those “peaceful” ceasefire days prior to the October massacre. The ceasefire demands made by the US, the UN, Qatar, the EU, the Arab League, and others require that in order for Israel to receive dead or alive hostages, Israel release hundreds of killers in Israeli prisons, withdraw entirely from Gaza and never return. Ceasefires in 4 previous Gaza conflicts allowed Gaza to build and plan for the October 7th massacre.
Sinwar and his successors reject all proposals anyway, including even that of Secretary Blinken and the Egyptian Foreign Minister calling for a 48-hour ceasefire, the release of four Israeli hostages over 10 days, and ~100 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails, leading to further talks. Hamas insists on retaining control of Gaza and rearming thousands of Hamas terrorists. Israel has finally learned bitter lessons and stands firm in its demand that Hamas surrender. No ceasefire.
What else could save Hamas? As in previous conflicts, a vacillating Israel leadership and endless internal political dissension and opposition could inhibit Israel’s victory. One such obstacle to victory has been removed. Israel’s heroic well-meaning Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant was relieved of his post. Galant was the mouthpiece of the US State and Defense Departments. US Secretaries Blinken and Austin, interacted privately with Gallant, and earlier with Generals Gantz and Eizenkot, seeking to undermine Israel’s legitimate strong responses to the October massacre to micromanage the IDF.
Gallant echoed Biden/Harris policy and was prepared to accept one-sided Hamas ceasefires demands. He opposed entry into Rafiah and the Philadelpi Corridor, allegedly sought to alert the US of the beeper operation and the assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. Gallant reportedly told families of hostages held in Gaza that Israel’s military has no reason to remain in the Strip.
But all is not lost for the two-staters.
The “Day After” agenda for Gaza, advocated by Israel’s enemies, requires maintaining a substantial Gazan population.
But - If the Gazans leave, the dreams of Israel’s enemies will end. No more Gaza wars. No more Hamas rockets aimed at Israel civilians. No more surprise massacres. How disappointing.
Even though the overwhelming majority of Gazans are desperate to relocate, the US, UN, EU, Egypt, so-called humanitarian organizations and others are imprisoning them. They are not allowed to leave. The status of the imprisoned Gazans must be preserved. They are kept in place with “humanitarian” aid they have to buy at inflated prices after it is stolen by Hamas rather than seeking a solution facilitating their desire to escape.
The Biden Administration actually issued an ultimatum to Israel that the humanitarian situation in Gaza must improve by November 13th. If not, Israel will suffer the consequences. The Gazan Arabs must be kept in the open-air prison once run by Hamas. If allowed to leave, it would undermine the two-state agenda. The Hamas masters need the “innocent” Gazan Arab prisoner population. They are used as human shields for protection in the face of an Israeli Army seeking to rescue Israeli hostages and eliminate Hamas. The 1.5 million Gazan population is a useful magnet for the Hamas prison wardens to attract billions of dollars. Humanitarian donors around the world send money for these unfortunate open-air prisoners. These funds are used by Hamas to build military complexes, tunnels, rocket factories, and to enrich their personal bank accounts.
Before the October 7 massacre the vast majority of the Gazan residents were anxious to escape. Who can blame them? Gaza is not their ancestral home. Billions of dollars meant for Gazans were stolen by Hamas such that the average Gazan monthly salary was $250. In 2022, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reported 74% unemployment and 80% living below the poverty line. Gazans, no matter how great their hatred of Jews and Israel, did not want to continue to live in an open-air prison where the jailers were Hamas wardens. The “open-air” Gaza prison was open to Hamas gangsters in partnership with corrupt Egyptian “guards” through the vast tunnel complex under Rafiah and the Philadelphia Corridor. Hundreds of Mercedes cars and opulent furniture meant for rich Hamas officeials and 5-star hotels passed from Egypt to Gaza.
Fortunately, there is a solution for those Gazans who have been oppressed by Hamas and other terrorist organizations. In the past 80 years we have seen multiple population exchanges worldwide involving millions of people. There is ample room for all Gazans that prefer to join the hundreds of thousands of Gazans who have already escaped from Hamas since the violent Hamas coup of 2007. People saw dozens of Fatah supporters thrown from the roofs of buildings and understood that living under Hamas rule would be insufferable. Most of the hundreds of thousands who escaped were young people who understood that Egypt would not accept them, but bribes to Egyptian and Hamas border guards, would let them escape to Turkey on the way to other homes.
The Biden/ Harris US administration, with encouragement from the UN and the European community will not allow Gazan Arabs to escape. Passage through Egypt to either Muslim republics or elsewhere could be efficiently facilitated. If not by land or sea, the Gaza airport could be reopened. For less than $500 per person a million Gazans could be transported out of Gaza. $500 million. Additional funding should be provided to facilitate relocation. Far less than the funds being spent to fighting a war and imprisoning the Gazan Arabs. But allowing Gazan Arabs to escape would undermine the two-state delusion that the World would love to see in order to create an existential threat to Israel.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, recently claimed that if imprisoned Gazans are allowed to leave it would be another example of Israel’s policy of “ethnic cleansing”. At the same time, he believes that the real ethnic cleansing that took place in three waves on October 7th has to be understood in the proper context.
In any event the ”innocent” Gaza Arabs are entitled to unlimited food, fuel, electricity and other supplies to ensure that they do not amass on the Egyptian Rafiah border demanding freedom. Today, Hamas theft of thousands of tons of humanitarian supplies meant for the “innocent” civilians of Gaza is not prevented by US Secretary Anthony Blinken, Francesca P. Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur, the Red Cross or UNRWA.
Everything is being done by the West to keep the Gazan Arab population hostage, to eventually rebuild Gaza and fund a new regime made up of so-called technocrats from a collection of Fatah, PA, PLO, hostile Arab entities, and useless international entities such as UNIFIL.
Desperate Gazans wishing to escape represent less than one percent of recent global immigrations that include escapees from Ukraine, Mexico, Latin America, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Syria, and numerous African countries.
The US Congress should enact similar to Congressional Resolution 311 and call for the international community to assist in the relocation of Gazan Arabs.
Moslem countries with hundreds of millions of people and millions of square kilometers surely have room for all the Gazans that seek to relocate. In recent decades no Arab or Muslim country has allowed immigration of Palestinian Arabs. The time has come for them to open their doors. Egypt is more than 2600 times larger than Gaza. Egypt is terrified that the Gazan Arabs would join the militant Moslem Brotherhood and overthrow the el-Sissi military regime. But why not find homes for the Gazan Arabs amongst the 56 Islamic majority countries with a population of over 1.3 billion Muslims representing 1000 times the population of Gaza?
If Gaza is rebuilt and the Gaza Arab population is forced to remain, there will be another war in just a few years. Seemingly harmless Gazan mothers will once again sing the praises of their shahid sons who commit indescribable atrocities. A murderous pathological Islamist terrorist gang has brain-washed children from kindergarten, and created a population trained to hate and when possible, kill Israelis and Jews. The World has lost the opportunity to rehabilitate the population of Gaza. Gaza, a hundred-year-old terrorist base, can never again be allowed to attack a peace-loving Israel with fedayeen murderers and rockets.
We can hope and pray that the second Trump administration will implement the real “Deal of the Century” outlined by David Friedman, former US Ambassador to Israel, in his courageous book, “One Jewish State”. A Jewish State from the river to the sea that offers freedom and opportunity to all of its inhabitants.