A few days ago, we were told about providing financial relief to Gaza, this time as a permit for more merchants to enter and exit the Gaza Strip. On the same day, the Southern Command was informed that the "regulation" was underway. Sources in Gaza, it was reported, said that the explosives that landed in Sderot, precisely at the same time as the "benefits", are a response from those in Gaza who are dissatisfied with the pace of the "regularization".

Seemingly a perfect explanation for the illogical situation. A few more days passed, and it was a wonder - the method of operation of the "rogue" became that of the organization in which Israel runs the "regulation". The media said that Hamas intends to intensify its actions against Israel because the "regulation" is not going to its satisfaction.

Terrorism does not pay economic bribes. In 1923 Jabotinsky made a mockery of his article "The Iron Wall" about those of us who believe that the Arabs' opposition to Zionism can be satisfied with economic benefits: "As long as the Arabs have a hope of getting rid of us, they will not sell their hope - not for those sweet words. And not for any nourishing slice of bread in butter. "

In 1987, 64 years after the Iron Wall, the first intifada broke out. It erupted precisely when tens of thousands of Gazans made their living in Israel, the transit of goods was not limited and the economic situation was clearly better than that which prevailed before Israeli rule. In 2000, the second intifada broke out. And now, precisely when they were released from Israeli control and allowed to direct their efforts inward, the Palestinians launched murderous terrorist attacks against Israel.

The plethora of studies that have analyzed the motives of terrorism in Israel and throughout the world confirm Jabotinsky's premise: There is no connection between personal economic situation and the choice of terrorism as a way of realizing any ideology. The State of Israel would not have been established if the insistence of its founders for a long time on the Zionist idea was contingent on their economic well-being. Believers also follow their leadership, the one that Israel does not work to illustrate that terrorism does not pay off.

Those of us who have abandoned much of their constituent ideology, and all they want is to be channeled into the good life channel, explain by the same logic the behavior of the other party. This is the motive for the Israeli idea that transferring Qatari money to Gaza and providing financial relief to its residents will reduce their dependence on Hamas, and thus the popular desire to realize the organization's ideology. It is a well-known IDF smartness as a direct product of the thinking of Western secular culture. In fact, economic benefits are repeatedly turned into a lever of blackmail and threats, which are used as weapons against those who believe in their effectiveness.

Those who believe that the magic solution to the Gaza problem lies in improving the living conditions of the Gazans, ignores the power of ideology and education, which produce young, hungry or seventy, who are willing to sacrifice in the hope of realizing an idea, rather than in despair. The Israeli leadership is lying to itself and its citizens. Weakness, self-deception, wishful thinking, and especially ignoring the past, allow the criminal organization known as "Hamas" to succeed in its blackmail deal with Israel, the one whose prices have been paid by southern residents for many years. It's not the economy, dumb ...

Col. (res.) Yehuda Wagman is an instructor of IDF combat theory