Now that we are approaching nine months into the war, the topic of what “the day after” in Gaza will look like has dominated public discourse.
While there is global frustration on what a post-war reality will be and who will govern Gaza once Hamas is defeated, very few seem to have solutions or ideas of what that can look like.
Hamas has been significantly weakened to the point where experts say that it cannot repeat October 7 again and, according to Nadav Eyal in his column in Yedioth Ahronoth, over 95% of Hamas’s rockets are gone.
Still, if Israel stopped the war today, Hamas would likely recruit more terrorists and replenish its arms. A post-war reality that is not planned correctly could lead to a failure like Afghanistan or the formation of ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Hamas is more than just a military, it is an ideology – and you cannot defeat a hateful ideology on the military front alone.
One of the items that Israeli military leaders are looking at is suggestions put forward by Dr. Netta Barak-Corren, a law professor who works in conflict resolution with a number of her colleagues, to be the basis of what a “day after” plan should look like.
She explained how the group of professionals looked into the successes and failures of rebuilding and transforming nations that were once consumed by authoritarian, ideologically extremist, and murderous regimes.
Drafting ideologies in history
Some examples of successes include both Germany and Japan after World War II, and even reducing the influence of ISIS in the Middle East. Like Nazi Germany, Hamas has instilled its ideology through education, culture and the structure of its government.
Some argue that the Nazis were able to brainwash an enlightened nation (believing that this makes it easier to deradicalize a society). Yet, Hamas, just like the Nazis, did everything in its power to suppress any opposition to their regime and were ready to fight until the very end.
Japan was also an example of extremist ideology that even idolized suicide in the culture and the Japanese military forces during World War II.
The Japanese government and military used propaganda to promote the idea of dying for the emperor and the nation as the highest honor. This was a significant factor during the war, especially with the kamikaze missions.
The self-sacrificial kamikaze component in the Japanese military can be compared to the jihadi component of Hamas in Gaza as well as the “unwillingness to surrender” component.
The examples of fundamentalism in German and Japanese societies and what led them to become the countries we know today can teach us how a society can reform and overcome extremism.
ONE CRUCIAL factor that the public needs to understand about the “day after” plan is that experts reiterate that Hamas’s “complete defeat” is necessary to achieve a sustainable strategy and to not fall into the traps of Iraq or Afghanistan.
There are so many versions of what “complete defeat” actually means: Some say it is the total destruction of Hamas, others refer to it as crushing their battalions and command structures, and others refer to both the military and civilian aspects of the Hamas system.
The first component of “complete defeat” would mean Hamas losing sovereignty over the territory in Gaza (similar to what happened in Nazi Germany and Japan).
The next component must be a complete loss of control to avoid a situation like Lebanon where Hezbollah doesn’t technically govern but maintains control in almost every element of Lebanese life “behind the scenes.” Lastly, public trials, similar to the Nuremberg trials, must be administered to senior Hamas perpetrators.
Hamas is fighting to maintain sovereignty and control of Gaza, knowing the moment it loses that, it has nothing. They are playing the patient, long game, biding their time and hoping that an “end date” is set, the way it was in Afghanistan, which allowed the Taliban to take back control.
There is still much that must be refined when we talk about “complete defeat” and what “the day after” will look like, but many who argue that it is impossible to defeat an ideology forget something crucial.
It is correct that it is impossible to defeat ideas such as hatred and racism – they will always be there, but we can defeat how much space they take up in society.
Nazism still exists today, it has not been completely eradicated from this world, but it is no longer the center of German ideology that it once was. Nazism no longer has infrastructure and no longer has territory to control.
We have to be responsible, patient, and careful when we plan a future for Gaza and must ensure that the new governance structure promotes peace and stability, preventing the resurgence of extremist ideologies.
Only through comprehensive, well-thought-out strategies can we hope to build a sustainable and peaceful post-war reality for Israel and Gaza.
The writer is a social media activist with over 10 years of experience working for Israeli and Jewish causes and cause-based NGOs. She is the co-founder and COO of Social Lite Creative, a digital marketing firm specializing in geopolitics.