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as millions do at border crossings and air-
ports all over the world. Still others talk 
about self-determination — forgetting 
that Palestinians elected the leaders in 
Gaza who ordered these attacks.
And all this babble ignores the human 
view: wives who watched their husbands 
die outside their homes, children lost 
in rocket attacks, slain by machine gun 
rounds or taken captive. The suffering is 
immense.
The Abraham Accords, which 
brought peace between Israel and four 
Arab nations, offered historic hope. 
Finally, it seemed, Arab nations and 
Israel would work together to focus 
on improving the lives of ordinary 
Palestinians who, like the Israelis, want 
jobs, housing, health care and schools 
for their children.
But Iran had other plans, supplying 
vast amounts of rockets, mortars, guns 
and ammunition to the Gaza Strip by 
ship, plane and truck. (Some of those 
deadly cargoes were intercepted by the 

U.S. Navy and diverted to Ukraine.) 
Iran wanted war and Hamas complied.
Hamas has killed more Americans 
than any other terror group except for 
Al-Qaeda. It has access to underground 
warehouses of weapons, platoons of 
drones, squadrons of rockets, thousands 
of fighters, and training facilities to pro-
duce more. Hamas plans, promotes and 
encourages terrorists and then lionizes 
them as “martyrs.”
Its war with Israel could last longer 
than the Yom Kippur War.
If we tolerate extremism, it will erode 
the rock of security and ultimately 
destroy all U.S. efforts to stabilize the 
Middle East.
Hamas’ leader, Ismail Haniyeh, should 
no longer be received as a hero in Arab 
capitals. The U.S. Treasury must sanction 
Haniyeh and his loved ones and deprive 
them of travel and international pay-
ments.
It is also not normal that Hamas con-
tinues to be supported by a series of non-

state initiatives and foundations, some of 
which are based in Europe.
This terrorist attack comes as the 
United States works to negotiate a historic 
deal that normalizes relations between 
Israel and Saudi Arabia, which could 
transform the Middle East. Perhaps that 
was the real target of this attack.
U.S. President Joe Biden expressed 
his support for Israel in a phone call 
with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu after Hamas’s assault. “We 
stand ready to offer all appropriate means 
of support to the Government and people 
of Israel,” Biden said in a statement.
This is important, but the United States 
must do more. When the smoke clears, 
it is likely that American citizens will 
be among the dead, wounded and cap-
tured. Hamas is now a threat to America’s 
national security and its attempts to bring 
peace to the region. 

Originally published by the Jerusalem Strategic 

Tribune.

‘WE ARE ALL ISRAELIS’ continued from page 6

