Israeli writer: Hamas is close to defeating Israel

Israeli writer Yuval Noah Harari said that Hamas is close to defeating Israel because “the campaign in Gaza is not about who kills more people, but rather who is close to achieving his political goals.”

Harari, an Israeli historian and university professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, says that in the case of Hamas, the political goals are “quite clear” and some have already been achieved, while in Israel they are “vague to non-existent.”

He said in an article published by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, “The bottom line is: Without a political horizon, Hamas will defeat us.”

He says, “Who wins the war between Israel and Hamas? In a war, the winner is not necessarily the one who kills more people, takes more prisoners, destroys more homes, or occupies more land. The winner is the side that achieves its goals.” "Political."

He continued, "We are capable of winning all the battles, but we will lose the war Hamas's goals are completely clear. In the near term, Hamas' goal on October 7 was to sabotage the emerging agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia... which Hamas stopped."

He added, "When it comes to preventing an Israeli-Saudi agreement and destroying any chance for future peace and normalization between Jews and Arabs, Hamas is very close to victory. On the contrary, Hamas has actually achieved much more than it had hoped."

He points to "hatred... in the minds of hundreds of millions of people around the world (against Israel)... Anti-Semitism is on the rise, while Israel's international standing is at an unprecedented low level, even in the Western democracies that have been our friend for years." Every additional day that Palestinians are killed or starving in Gaza, Hamas takes another step forward toward victory.

Harari says, "The war on Gaza... will lead to future generations not concluding any peace or normalization agreement between Israel and the Arab world... Filming and documenting the atrocities in Gaza will cause the greatest possible harm to Israel."

He asserts that “Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is waging this war without specifying political goals... Even if Israel succeeds in disarming Hamas, this is a military achievement and not a political goal. Does Israel have an organized plan that explains how defeating Hamas will lead to saving an agreement with Saudi Arabia, or a settlement?” "A permanent settlement in Gaza, restoring our international standing, or any other political goal we long for? Without such a plan, it is impossible to make military decisions such as attacking Rafah or a ceasefire."

Harari concludes by saying, "If Israel succeeds in disarming Hamas at the military level, but remains without a political horizon, this means that Hamas has defeated us."

The Israeli army is preparing for a major attack on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The White House announced that any military operation in Rafah would be disastrous . 

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant warned against military rule in the Gaza Strip, saying, "It will cost us the lives of soldiers and take up military resources to confront Hezbollah and the West Bank," calling for finding a "local" alternative to Hamas.