I dare you to answer this quiz about Israel’s ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza without cracking a bitter smile and heaving a sigh of cynical disbelief.
By DAVID M. WEINBERGPalestinians gather near the remains of a building that was completely destroyed by an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City November 13, 2018. (photo credit: REUTERS/SUHAIB SALEM)
1. How long do you think that the current ceasefire with Hamas will hold?a) Several more hoursb) One weekc) One monthd) Until the end of Avigdor Liberman’s tenure as defense minister, tomorrow 2. What do you call this past week’s fighting?a) A skirmishb) A round of conflictc) An operation
d) A war 3. When this ceasefire inevitably is shattered by Hamas, Israel will then do which of the following?a) Assassinate the entire Hamas leadershipb) Again cut-off electricity and gas supplies to Gaza for a few weeksc) Bomb some more empty buildings in Gazad) Agree to another ceasefire 4. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is worried that the ceasefire with Hamas will hurt his political standing with residents of Sderot and other hard-hit southern regions, and instead they will vote for which party?a) United Arab Listb) Yesh Atidc) Yisrael Beytenud) Bayit Yehudi 5. How many such military “operations” has Israel been forced into since the unilateral withdrawal of settlements and the IDF from Gaza in 2005?a) Threeb) Fourc) Fived) Depends on how you define “operation” – and who cares, the point is that Israel hasn’t deterred Hamas from attacking 6. About how many rockets and missiles have been fired into Israel from Gaza since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s vaunted “disengagement” (unilateral withdrawal) from Gaza?a) 10,000b) 20,000c) 30,000d) 40,000 and at least 10,000 acres of agricultural fields have been burned 7. What was the only time that the Israeli left-wing lauded Ariel Sharon?a) When he fought for the Mitla Pass in Sinai in 1956b) When he led troops across the Suez Canal in 1973c) When he surrounded Beirut in 1982d) When he took “Zionist initiative” (sic.) and unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, paving the way for Hamas rule8. What did former prime minister Ehud Olmert call his plan for unilateral withdrawals from the West Bank, and would this have caused more or less missile fire into Israel?a) “Disengagement Part Two,” and it would have led to calmb) “Convergence,” and with PA cooperation there would have been no missilesc) “Consolidation,” even though more conflict was expectedd) “Realignment,” and obviously this would have resulted in missile fire from the Samarian highlands into Ben-Gurion Airport and Gush Dan 9. Who provides the most diplomatic and material support to Hamas in its confrontations with Israel?a) The United Nations and the European Unionb) Iran and Turkeyc) The BDS movementd) All of the above 10. World leaders will respond to future rounds of Israel-Hamas conflict by doing what?a) Calling on “all sides” to end the violenceb) Condemning Israel for “disproportionate” use of force, and pouring more cash into Gaza reconstruction without serious supervision of how Hamas uses the fundsc) Condemning Hamas for firing indiscriminately at Israeli civilian centers, for partnering with Iran, and for standing committed to Israel’s destruction – while expressly backing Israel’s right to defend itself against the genocidal Hamas, without reservationd) Answers a and b11. If 450 rockets were to fall in one day on populated areas of Paris, Bonn and London, what would be the “proportionate response” of Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, and Theresa May?a) They would seek to invest billions in the attacker’s economy to improve quality of life and squelch the urge to attack France, Germany and Britainb) They would vote for a UN Security Council resolution calling on all sides to show restraintc) They would wipe-out the leadership of the attacking party from the face of the earthd) They would carpet-bomb the attacking zone to kingdom come, as the allies did in WWII 12. Which of the following do you think Hamas leadership is likely to do over the coming decade?a) Decide to devote all its funds to education, employment and civilian reconstructionb) Invest in hi-tech parks and advanced agriculturec) Teach peace and democracy in its preschools and high schoolsd) Continue to drown the people of Gaza in terrorist attack tunnels, underground cement bunkers, rocket factories, and false dreams of overwhelming Israel 13. In the coming years, Israel will devote the bulk of its national resources and efforts to which of the following tasks?a) Purposefully targeting Gazan schools, mosques, hospitals and civilian housing centersb) Educating its own public towards enlightenment, scientific advancement and economic successc) Promoting democracy and human rights, and humanitarian aid missions in the region and around the worldd) Answers b and c 14. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas was unable to halt Israel and Hamas from reaching a ceasefire, because of what?a) He was sleepingb) One of the rockets from Gaza hit and killed a Palestinian from Hebronc) He likes to see Israel bleed, and he knows that there will be many additional ceasefires that he can yet try to stopd) Nobody asked for his opinion 15. If Avigdor Liberman or Tzipi Livni were today prime minister of Israel, they would handle the situation so much better than the current prime minister, by doing which of the following?a) Decapitating Hamas leadership and sending the IDF on an 18-month bloody campaign to reconquer every inch of Gazab) Swiftly reaching a peace accord with Abbas who would assume responsibility for Gaza and bring goodwill to the entire areac) Getting Egypt to take control of Gaza, and Jordan to take control of the West Bank, ensuring long-term stabilityd) All of the above answers are ridiculous In my opinion, the correct answer to all questions is option d. The author is vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies, jiss.org.il. His personal site is davidmweinberg.com.
