The Takeaways
- If Israel refuses to accept the Palestinian Authority as a part of civilian authority after the current war, the IDF will have to stay in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for an extended period of time and would make the latest case of regime change under military occupation, like the Iraq case in 2003.
- Mindset problems require mindset solutions, more than guns and bullets. Winston Churchill said it well: “Those who never change their minds, never change anything.” Ultimately, the Israelis must prove to their neighbors and to the world that they possess superior, nobility, loftiness and dignity values that match their technology and military strengths. This requires a change of mindsets from killing to co-existence; from warfare to peace & business; from violence to tranquility, and mostly from “Using all the power when we have it” to “Putting justice before power.” Only power that goes with justice becomes insurmountable, otherwise like a soldier fought in the Six-Day war puts it, “to live by the sword is to die by the sword.”
- One example of mindset change is in the movies “Fifty Shades,” where the male character Christian Grey changed his sadist behaviors — thought to define who he was but later overcame by his love of Anastacia Steele. I wish Netanyahu would act like Grey to add another window of life changes, putting whatever happened before as “sunken,” and focus on the better future for both Israelis and Palestinians.
- But the biggest difference between the movies and reality in the Middle East is that there is little love between the two peoples. According to the polling of Washington Institute, more than 80% of both Israelis and Palestinians do not trust each other, almost 60% Palestinians believed it good to attack Israeli, including civilian targets. Meanwhile, poll also found that
53% support extrajudicial killing of Palestinian terrorists even if he or she has been caught by security officials and no longer pose a threat. - There is still light at the end of tunnel, as Palestinians’ opinions toward the two-state solution and toward Israelis remained dynamic rather than static over time and are milder among East Jerusalemites.
- Polling data also show that military or security incursions in area A cities (26%) or settler violence (29%) are the top concerns for Palestinians, more than anything else.
- Israel settler violence may have been treated with leniency similar to that received by American servicemen overseas: In Japan, American servicemen have been far less likely to be convicted, even though the treaty says Americans should be subjected to the same laws as Japanese citizens for crimes committed off base and off duty. The same legal leniency may have encouraged rampant abuse of the system by some extremist settlers, pushing the issue to be Palestinians’ top concern.
- On November 9, 2023 the High Court of Israel ruled that Israeli settlers were given the land in Jordan Valley illegally and they should return the land to the Palestinian. This makes the control of settlers legally easier. Biden’s proposed visa bans would also send the right message to extremist settlers.
- That said, in the latest poll on what should happen with Gaza at the end of the war, 32% of respondents said “Israel should remain permanently and renew Jewish settlement”; 30% said the enclave should be “given over to international trusteeship”; 14% said Israel should “maintain a permanent military presence”; 10% percent said it should be “handed over for rule by the Palestinian Authority”; and 14% said they did not know. If we add up the 32% and 14%, then near 50% Israelis are willing to see Israelis remaining in Gaza Strip.
- With so many Israelis still support Jewish settlement or military presence in Gaza, our job is hard and we have a long way to go toward independent governance of Gaza Strip by the Palestinian Authority. Settlers and military may create an opportunity for the ordinary Palestinians to understand Israelis better, but they may also create a threat to regional peace — It all depends on how Israelis treat Palestinians in Gaza Strip and West Bank.
- If past behaviors are an indicator of the future, we may not be able to depend on this generation of Israelis to solve the conflict and must promote connections especially for the future generations, starting from American volunteers sent to Israel, West Bank and Gaza Strip. Connecting people means making them better understand each other better, communicate more frequently and friendly, and take solid steps toward improving trust. Right now, there is a profound lack of information especially among Palestinians to Israel and Israelis. We need to send more American volunteers as paid and trained missionaries to promote mutual understanding across generations.
- With the right volunteers in between, we trust the “Magic of Ordinary Days” like the 2005 movie, in which two strangers who were totally different ended up loving each other.