The horrific Hamas attack on October 7 crystalized a historic opportunity for the State of Israel, the Palestinians, and the entire region. Israel could now act to guarantee its security in all its territory, solidify its standing on the global and regional stage as a legitimate state, and affirm its right to exist.
The Israeli government still has the option of leveraging the interests of the United States, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab countries to advance Israel’s paramount interest: living in security. This can only be achieved by incorporating both Israel and the Palestinians into the moderate Middle East axis, which will stand firmly against the jihadist forces in the region.
Israel is confronting a multi-arena campaign: Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, pro-Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq, and more. This jihadist axis is supported and spearheaded by Iran.
Israel cannot defeat this axis alone nor does it have to. This extremist axis poses a threat to Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East that seek peace and stability, as well as to the interests of the US and other Western nations. Israel’s safety would be achieved by conducting the war against Hamas with the support of the moderate axis and subsequently establishing a regional security alliance.
Moderate or jihadist axis?
A critical question for the security of Israel is whether, at the end of the war, the Palestinians align with the moderate or the jihadist axis. Israel can promote the Palestinians’ affiliation with the moderate axis through two avenues: by ensuring that governance in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank aligns with it (i.e., excluding from the Palestinian governing structures Hamas and anyone else subscribing to the ideology of obliterating the State of Israel, deradicalization of the education system, and demilitarization) and by offering the Palestinians a future of independence, security, and prosperity. History shows that a military victory is only effective if it is accompanied by such a vision.
In the longer term, Israel’s security in all of its territory will only be achieved if it is able to integrate the interests of the various countries (primarily the US and Saudi Arabia) into a regional security alliance comprising the moderate axis states. Together, these nations would robustly confront Iran and its jihadist proxies wherever they operate. Beyond the security and economic aspects of such an alliance, its establishment would represent the decisive repudiation of the Hamas fantasy that the State of Israel can be destroyed.
The war must end with a decisive defeat: a defeat of the idea of annihilating the State of Israel, which serves as the guiding principle of jihadi ideology. There is only one way to achieve this goal: a regional security alliance of the moderates, in the Middle East and among the Palestinians, who will unite as a formidable force against the extremists.
The writers are faculty members of Tel Aviv University and founders of The Day After the War Forum.