'Israel's' ground invasion of Gaza a 'terrible mistake': NYT
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According to Thomas L. Friedman, if "Israel" jumps into an invasion of Gaza, it will be endangering its own interests and those of the US.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a press conference in "Tel Aviv" on October 17, 2023 (AP)
According to Thomas L. Friedman, while US President Joe Biden expressed solidarity with "Israel" during his trip to "Tel Aviv", he also urged that they consider their next steps carefully so as not to repeat US mistakes that came after the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Friedman wrote in The New York Times that Biden was unsuccessful at convincing Israeli officials to hold back. Furthermore, he believes that if "Israel" jumps into an invasion of Gaza without appropriately expressing consideration of a "two-state solution" with the Palestinian Authority and ceasing illegal settlements expansion in the West Bank, it will be endangering its own interests, as well as those of the US.
In particular, Friedman warns that any such move could mean the end of the "Oslo Accords", the so-called "Abraham Accords", and any chance of normalization between the Israeli occupation and Saudi Arabia.
Friedman believes that the issue is unrelated to revenge on Hamas and is more about not acting in a way that benefits Iran and Russia. If "Israel" enters Gaza and alienates "moderate" Palestinian authorities in the West Bank, no coalition or union will go into Gaza to "take it off 'Israel's' hands."
No coalition will help the occupation out of Gaza or help pay for the care of over 2 million Gazans if the government is run by those who think and act that "it can justifiably exact its revenge on Hamas while unjustifiably building an apartheidlike society run by Jewish supremacists in the West Bank."
Since October 7, over 84 Palestinians protesting the Israeli massacres in Gaza have been killed in the occupied West Bank.
The recent tragic strike on al-Ahli Baptist Hospital only angered the Arab world further, something Friedman says is a fraction of the anger that will spread if "Israel" invades Gaza.
He argues that the US should rely on Arab and European allies to pave the way for what he called a "more legitimate" Palestinian Authority in the West Bank that could aid Gaza in the future, but only after a fundamental change in "Israel's" policy toward the PA and settlers.
He also believes that with the current amount of rockets being fired by Hezbollah at Israeli forces on occupied Lebanese and Palestinian territory could mean a confrontation between Tehran and "Tel Aviv", which could drag the US, Russia, and China into the war.
US and Israeli officials relay that US President Joe Biden and his top aides have been cornering "Israel" to refrain from executing a major strike against the Lebanese Resistance, Hezbollah, that could draw it into the war.
