Hamas’ terrorism is shocking, but Israel must pursue peace

To the editor: Thanks to David N. Myers for his insightful opinion piece on the path Israel should take after the attack by Hamas. Though we are all reeling from reports of the brutality and savagery of the attacks, we must also understand that 2 million Palestinians with little hope cannot be confined to a small area such as the Gaza Strip and expected to remain peaceful.

Before the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had lost support both outside and inside Israel. There were massive demonstrations, and even some groups in the Israel’s Defense Forces had threatened to refuse to serve under him.

Now, Netanyahu is emboldened to carry out whatever plan he wants, as no one will oppose the leader of a country during a war.

Meyers proposes two different paths forward. Which will Israel take? The state of Israel was born the year after my birth. For decades, I have hoped that a fair and realistic solution might be found to bring peace to the region.

Now, I doubt that I will live long enough to see it.

Laurie Jacobs, San Clemente

..

To the editor: Myers hopes that Israel will repeat the wisdom of having made peace with Egypt after the Yom Kippur War of 1973 and do the same with the Palestinians after the current attack by Hamas.

Apples and oranges. Egypt is a nation-state. Hamas is a terrorist organization committed to the annihilation of Israel.

To make peace with any Palestinian entity that might be tempted to accommodate Hamas would be suicide for Israel and for the Palestinians. Hamas killed other Palestinians when it took over the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Did the United States make peace with Al Qaeda after Sept. 11, 2001?

Peter Brier, Altadena