U.S. Jewish leader: Weaken Hamas, achieve ‘real victory’

By Sam Skolnik

Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 | 2 a.m.

A top American Jewish community leader said Wednesday he believes the ongoing military conflict between Israel and the ruling Hamas party in the Gaza Strip may ultimately aid Israel by deterring future attacks.

The key to Israel’s viewing the war as a success, said Kenneth Jacobson, deputy national director of the Anti-Defamation League, is whether Israel is able to prevent the rearming of Hamas, which has fired thousands of rockets into southern Israel in recent months.

On Dec. 27, Israel responded with a large-scale air bombardment that has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and displaced many others, sparking international calls for a cease-fire. Since the bombing campaign began, 13 Israelis have died, including 10 soldiers.

According to Jacobson, Israelis have largely coalesced behind the military effort, believing that a firm response is a necessary and just reaction to Hamas’ attacks.

Israel’s last major conflict with a neighboring force — the 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon — was seen by many Israelis and others as a surprising defeat that demoralized the country and put the leadership of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at risk.

What’s important now, Jacobson said Tuesday in an interview with the editorial board of the Las Vegas Sun, is that Israelis have absorbed lessons regarding achieving the two main goals of the attack: preventing future attacks, and doing so mainly by making sure Hamas doesn’t become rearmed.

“In Israel, there’s a very good feeling of lessons learned,” Jacobson said.

In the Lebanon conflict, the first main Israeli goal — deterrence — was achieved, Jacobson said. Israel’s northern border has been quiet since the war’s end. But the conflict was seen by many as “a major failure” for Israel, he said, because it didn’t stop Iran, Hezbollah’s main state sponsor, from successfully rearming Hezbollah.

The equivalent regarding Hamas, Jacobson said, is the border between Egypt and the southern portion of Gaza, through which Hamas has received the rockets used to attack Israel. In ongoing discussions, Israel has been pressing for an international force to be placed on the small border to help prevent rockets and other arms from slipping through.

“This could be claimed to be a real victory” if the rearming of Hamas is prevented, Jacobson said.

In a larger sense, Jacobson said, many in Israel thought that optimally the war could help turn the tide against Islamic extremism.

But one dangerous consequence of the war, Jacobson said, has been the recent spike in anti-Semitic acts, especially in European countries generally far more sympathetic to the Palestinians’ plight.

Jacobson said he is intrigued by how President-elect Barack Obama will handle America’s response to the Israel-Hamas war, and to Middle Eastern issues generally, though he noted that those issues might receive back-burner attention for a while from Washington as Obama deals with the national recession.

Although the Bush administration has been faulted for taking a passive approach to promoting a comprehensive peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, Jacobson said Obama likely will take a more hands-on approach — though he cautioned that the incoming administration might best be served by not being overeager in its approach.

“I’m personally not sure they should go for the whole ball of wax, meaning a comprehensive peace treaty” between the parties, Jacobson said.

Instead, he said he thinks a wiser course would first ensure that there were the proper precursors for peace on the ground in the West Bank. That means promoting the security forces of the Palestinian Authority, helping prop up the economy there, and overall, promoting an improved quality of life.

As for President George W. Bush’s legacy with regard to Israel, Jacobson echoed many observers in deeming Bush a pro-Israel stalwart who rightly came to the country’s defense when it was under attack for various policies.

But Bush was more surprising and even nuanced regarding the Israel-Palestinian conflict than many give him credit for, Jacobson maintained.

He referred to a 2002 speech from Bush in which he called for a Palestinian state to live peacefully and side-by-side with Israel.

In the end, Jacobson said, he wasn’t surprised that Jews voted in overwhelming numbers for Obama — 78 percent to GOP Sen. John McCain’s 22 percent — given the historic liberalism of American Jewry. Though Obama’s opponents tried to portray the Illinois senator as being anti-Israel, in the end the voters didn’t buy it, he said.