Well, I'm not sure how you're evaluating the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. (Are you tweaking the timeline and scope - "last 20 years in the West Bank" - just to not address that?) I'm also not sure how the Second Intifada, Hamas' incessant rockets, and 10/7 fit into your narrative. Lots to criticize in Israeli policy! - but let's not preten…
Well, I'm not sure how you're evaluating the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. (Are you tweaking the timeline and scope - "last 20 years in the West Bank" - just to not address that?) I'm also not sure how the Second Intifada, Hamas' incessant rockets, and 10/7 fit into your narrative. Lots to criticize in Israeli policy! - but let's not pretend that this isn't a two-way street.
I genuinely don't follow the logic in saying that Israel's working with Hamas makes them somehow morally culpable for Hamas' subsequent actions. Hamas had, after all, taken control in Gaza and had a degree of electoral legitimacy. Maybe that was bad policy - in retrospect, Hamas was clearly banking everything on the 10/7 attack - but it's not surprising that Israel would work with the powers-that-be in the Gaza Strip.
Well, I'm not sure how you're evaluating the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. (Are you tweaking the timeline and scope - "last 20 years in the West Bank" - just to not address that?) I'm also not sure how the Second Intifada, Hamas' incessant rockets, and 10/7 fit into your narrative. Lots to criticize in Israeli policy! - but let's not pretend that this isn't a two-way street.
I genuinely don't follow the logic in saying that Israel's working with Hamas makes them somehow morally culpable for Hamas' subsequent actions. Hamas had, after all, taken control in Gaza and had a degree of electoral legitimacy. Maybe that was bad policy - in retrospect, Hamas was clearly banking everything on the 10/7 attack - but it's not surprising that Israel would work with the powers-that-be in the Gaza Strip.