Former Shin Bet Head: Israel Should Learn Lesson of HiroshimaTo End Gaza Wars

On August 6 1945, an American aircraft, the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

President Harry S. Truman had made the decision that there was no other way to end the 4-year-old war with Japan without incurring hundreds of thousands of American casualties.

The Japanese did not immediately surrender, so a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later. The Japanese capitulated, and surrendered unconditionally.

Former Shin Bet director Avi Dichter says that Israel should learn a lesson from those events of 69 years ago.

Of course, he is not suggesting that Israel follow the American actions exactly, but, as The Times of Israel reports, Dichter wrote on his Facebook page:

“Today, 69 years ago exactly, the American leadership understood that there is no other way to end the bloody war against Japan, but with one action: dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. No, there was no phone call made in advance to the residents of the city warning them about the imminent catastrophe.

“Hamas is not the Japanese army and Israel is not the United States. Nevertheless, we should learn something from the process that the United States and Japan went through during that war… Hamas in the Gaza Strip is dragging its residents to the same depths the Japanese government dragged millions of its citizens.

“Unlike the United States, which fought far away from home, the IDF is fighting Hamas and Jihad terrorism in Gaza, as the fighting can be seen outside the windows of Nahal Oz and Nirim. Our soldiers are fighting for our home as members of their family watch the battle. There is no war as just as our war with Hamas in Gaza these days.

“The ceasefire must yield, aside for quiet, a demilitarization of Gaza from weapons, as was agreed upon by Palestinians in a peace agreement signed in Washington and Cairo.”

Dichter says that anyone expecting Hamas to agree to any form of demilitarization is “delusional.” The only option is for the international community to enforce the process itself.

He continues, “Egypt is the currently the country which has the most effective leverage on Hamas in Gaza, it has a key role in promoting Israeli demands to dismantle the terror infrastructure in Gaza.”

The former head of the Shin Bet adds that all negotiations over the Palestinians’ fate must be conducted with the Palestinian Authority, and that Israel must prepare to provide evidence of Hamas activity within civilian areas.

He concludes, “This cancerous Hamas growth must be taken out, whether by an Egyptian political surgeon or by an Israeli military analyst.”

The issue is not whether Israel actually HAS any nuclear capability, so Dichter’s comments must be viewed metaphorically.

Hamas is at least as fanatical — and at times as suicidal — as was Japan. Rational discourse is not an option. Israel has tried, and failed. As of this writing, some four hours after Hamas broke the last 72-hour truce, Israel’s military response has been limited.

Unquestionably, the majority of Israeli opinion is that there is no long term solution, other than the full demilitarization of Gaza — and the West Bank, for that matter. Events continue to unfold, but Israel is not controlling them.

Perhaps what is unthinkable today may become the only option tomorrow…