Several hours after the cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Islamic Jihad went into effect May 30, and quiet returned to Israel’s south, the security Cabinet convened in Tel Aviv. The ministers discussed the lessons to be learned from the last confrontation a day previously with a shower of mortar bombs fired from the Gaza Strip. But it seems that they focused on the wrong aspects of the conflict: They mainly discussed security and military-related issues when the important, burning problem related to Gaza is the political-diplomatic one.

Throughout the 24 hours in which dozens of mortar bombs and rockets were fired at Israel’s southern localities, and Israel’s air force bombed targets in Gaza in response, government ministers brought up dozens of suggestions regarding how to solve the security problem called “Hamas in Gaza.” Cabinet member and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said in an interview with Ynet, “It is likely we won’t have a choice but to strike Gaza and conquer it and put an end to this terrorist regime once and for all.” Education Minister Naftali Bennett, another Cabinet member, said during a tour of the Gaza-envelope region in Israel, “Escalation on the Gazan side was not coincidental. The mind is Iranian, while the hands belong to Hamas.” Cabinet member and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said, “All the options are on the table, including conquering the Gaza Strip.” Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich from their faction suggested “to conquer Gaza, disarm Hamas from its weapons and establish an Israeli settlement in Gaza.”

Almost all of the speakers that day ignored one simple fact: Gaza is a security threat to the residents of southern Israel because of the impact of the closure that has continued for more than a decade over Gaza's 2 million residents. As long as the closure continues, Gaza will not quiet down and rounds of fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas and the other Palestinian organizations will only become more frequent. There are those in the Israeli security apparatus who say this, as opposed to the members of the diplomatic-political ranks. But the politicians prefer “once and for all” aggressive solutions without taking into account the ramifications of conquering the Gaza Strip, and the price that it would involve.

Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot spoke clearly and incisively at a meeting of the government in February, saying, “We must make a real effort to avoid a humanitarian collapse in the Gaza Strip.” He warned that if the situation would continue without change, we should expect a military conflict in the south in a year’s time. Eizenkot’s words were right on target for what happened over the past few weeks, and last week specifically on the Gaza border. But then, and even today, Cabinet members including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman ignore his warnings.