“Israel has to lay out what their vision of the future is for Palestinians.”
When it comes to the chaos of wartime, expert insight is crucial — which is why Katie recently turned to General David H. Petraeus to make sense of what’s going on in the world right now.
Petraeus’s expertise in this arena is vast: After serving 37 years in the United States Army, he was the director of the CIA from 2011 to 2012. Now, he’s the co-author of a new book, Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine.
Given his credentials, it’s safe to say that Petraeus has more experience in wartime strategy than all but a small handful of Americans. Katie spoke with him to get a better understanding of the complicated dynamics at play with Israel’s ongoing invasion of Gaza. Below, you can watch their full conversation — and read a few of the highlights.
Katie Couric: What do you think about Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 attack?
David Petraeus: I support Israel’s conclusion that they have to destroy Hamas. This is clearly an Islamist extremist group. This is an organization that cannot be negotiated with. And to do this, [Israel] has to go into Gaza City. They have no alternative. They’ve encircled it now, and ultimately, they’re going to have to clear every building, every floor, room, cellar, tunnel — not to mention the hundreds of miles of tunnel underneath Gaza City, of course.
Let’s talk about Hamas. Can you truly destroy Hamas, or do you just simply have to degrade it?
It remains to be seen. I think the conclusion [by the Israeli government] is that they cannot do what they have done in the past, which is to simply degrade Hamas. That only gets them a few years of relative peace, and then they end up back in something that’s typically even worse.
So they have decided to destroy Hamas again. I think this is doable, but it doesn’t mean there won’t be remnants of Hamas and of Islamic Jihad that linger. What you need to do is show that life can be much better than what Hamas has provided for the Palestinians and Gaza.
Al Jazeera says more than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed. Is this bloodshed going to create even more terrorists?
Well, what you’re talking about is why I feel that Israel has to lay out what their vision of the future is for Palestinians. There has to be that kind of vision provided to give hope, and to make Palestinians understand that this terrible damage and destruction is going to lead to something better for them and their families.
A lot of people are calling for a ceasefire. Do you think that’s advisable?
There is momentum that has been established. Israel has worked very hard to achieve that momentum. Once you have momentum, you exploit it. You keep on going. If I were Israel at this point in time, and I had invested so much in this campaign already, I wouldn’t allow the enemy to get to take a deep breath and reconstitute. You want to press the momentum that you have, the advantage that you have established. I think a ceasefire would be the wrong decision at this point.
Eager for more? Katie and General Petraeus go much deeper in their illuminating full conversation, which you can watch in the video above.
