Why a Gaza invasion is wrong for Israel

If Israel announced that it was forgoing, for now, a full-blown invasion of Gaza, who would be happy, who would be relieved, and who would be upset, asks Thomas Friedman.

Thomas FriedmanContributor

Oct 17, 2023 – 8.59am

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When The New York Times′ Israel correspondent, Isabel Kershner, recently asked an Israeli army tank driver, Shai Levy, 37, to describe the purpose of the looming Israeli invasion of Gaza, he said something that really caught my ear. It was “to restore honour to Israel,” he said. “The citizens are relying on us to defeat Hamas and remove the threat from Gaza once and for all.”

That caught my ear because, over the years, I’ve learned that four of the most dangerous words in the Middle East are “once and for all.”