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Israel's Gaza-war soul-searching

Those in the Arab world who claim that Israel lost many wars mistakenly perceive the democratic process of auto-criticizing and evaluating misjudgments during the war as admission of defeat.
An Israeli soldier cast his ballot on an army base near the southern city of Ofakim March 15, 2015. Israeli soldiers started voting on Sunday in Israel's parliamentary election. Polling stations for the rest of Israel open on Tuesday.  REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4TEUW
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The reading of Adnan Abu Amer's Al-Monitor article raised rueful thoughts in my mind. It seems to me that despite the fact that we have lived next to and among the Palestinians for almost 100 years, there has been no progress at all in the Palestinian understanding of Israeli society, its character and its principles. As if 67 years have not passed since Israeli independence and the Palestinian Nakba. As if we are not intermixed and jumbled together, cheek by jowl. Indeed, we still have a very long way to go until mutual understanding will prevail between us. I hope that we understand them more than they understand us.

According to Abu Amer, Hamas inflicted a resounding defeat on Israel in Operation Protective Edge in July-August 2014, at least according to the “war diary” and the leaks and testimonials publicized in Israel since the operation. In the exact same breath, Abu Amer details the fact that none of Hamas’ objectives in that war were achieved: the passages were not opened, the closure was not removed, a naval port was not established and an airport will not be built. So how is it that one side (Israel) was defeated in the war, while the other side (Hamas) did not achieve any of its avowed goals?

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