Is there any such thing as ‘total victory’?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands light-years away and one step short of the goal he himself set against Hamas in Gaza.
By Odelia Kedmi
JNS
Sep 18, 2025
Nine days after the Oct. 7 massacre, Israel’s security cabinet declared two goals for the war in Gaza: eliminating Hamas by destroying its military and governing capabilities; and creating the conditions for the return of the 251 hostages. Additional goals followed.
This made me wonder: Why qualify Hamas’s capabilities as “military and governing?” Were its other capacities, educational, social, civic, etc., considered benign?
Over time, Israel’s official statements grew more ambiguous.
“Destruction” softened into “dismantling.” “Subjugation” shrank to “overcome.” Perhaps the statement in June 2024 by Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari, former Israel Defense Forces spokesman, can reveal the prevailing mindset behind these peculiar changes: “Hamas cannot be destroyed, because Hamas is an idea.” His message echoes the complacency of the pre-Oct. 7 era.
Yet on Jan. 23, 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to an IDF officers course and clarified: “My main expectation is total victory. Nothing less. There is no substitute for victory.” In July, he was photographed aboard the “Wing of Zion” plane en route to the White House with a cap that had the words “Total Victory” embroidered on it.
Hundreds of times in the past two years, Netanyahu has invoked the word “victory.” Yet the goals defined by his own government and voices coming out of the IDF do not align with that rhetoric. At a time when the idea of “total victory” is contested, Israel must ask itself: Has it ever achieved one? Some would argue that it has never won at all.
In nearly every military campaign since its establishment, Israel has either stopped short or been stopped by international pressure, compelled into ceasefire agreements with recurring enemies—even when victory was already within reach. Decades after peace treaties were signed with Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994), Israelis still live under constant threat from their borders. Cairo and Amman allow terror to flow in from their sovereign countries. Since the war broke out, Egypt has deployed massive forces to the Sinai border, repeatedly violating the peace treaty with Israel. It also blocks Gazans from evacuating into its territory—undermining Israel’s war effort. Israel, meanwhile, continues its denial legacy and does what it does best when confronted with difficult situations: It looks the other way.
In modern history, total victory is rare. One clear example is Japan, which surrendered after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the country, ending World War II. Few recall what followed: seven years of U.S. military rule under Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Washington dismantled the government, helped reshape its education, imposed reparations and drove sweeping reforms. Remarkably, many Japanese saw this occupation as liberation and still do.
Gaza undoubtedly requires a “MacArthur Plan,” but is that feasible? Can the same Gazan society that celebrated Oct. 7 ( and still does), truly be reshaped? Attempts at such de-Nazification initiatives have failed miserably in Judea and Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem, and, one might argue, within Israel itself (a sensitive subject we shall save for another essay). In Gaza, therefore, the conclusion is unavoidable and one that has nothing to do with vengeance. Only military rule can sustain any pragmatic plan for this tiny sliver of land. Without holding the ground in Israeli hands, there will be no return of the hostages, no security for the border communities, and certainly no total victory.
Israel’s leadership remains haunted by its own shadow while its soldiers long for the order of total victory—an order that no one dares to give. Netanyahu now stands light-years away and one step short of the goal he himself set. What is missing is not capability, but will and courage.
Before the public is once again spoon-fed propaganda on an artificial outcome in Gaza through comforting lies, here’s a reminder: Every Israeli knows exactly what total victory is—one that leaves no room for interpretation.
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