Nipping terrorism in the bud

The next round of violence involving Israel and Hamas is just a matter of time, and Israel would be wise to take the initiative on the matter. The timing should by convenient for the political and military echelons, and it must be based on quality intelligence.

Israel should be the one to surprise Hamas, instead of waiting for rocket fire of any scale. Israel should not be the one left to mount a response. The days of Israel being dragged into a fight by Hamas are over.

In its seven years in power, Hamas has plunged Gaza into chaos, which should remain inside the Strip, instead of affecting the kibbutzim near the Israel-Gaza Strip border and cities nationwide.

Hamas' brutality is growing. It is oppressing the people of Gaza and doing everything within its power to ensure Gaza does not become Westernized. Hamas favors maintaining a "Wild West" in the Gaza Strip, so that it can continue to dictate who can and cannot pull the trigger in Gaza, and how.

Several hours after arch-terrorist Mohammed Deif, commander of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and three other senior Hamas officials were killed by an Israeli Air Force strike in Khan Younis, thanks to accurate intelligence provided by the Shin Bet security agency (although officially, Deif's fate remains unknown), Hamas proved that it could do what the Islamic State group (ISIS) does: Men and women suspected of collaborating with Israel were dragged out of their homes, and in some cases their jail cells, and marched to a public square, while a masked gunman used the Great Mosque of Gaza loudspeaker to urge the masses to attend their execution.

The masses obeyed, and eager to see the victims suffer, demanded they be hanged. But the masked terrorist told the crowd that if ISIS dispensed justice by sword, Hamas would dispense it via gunfire.

The bullet-riddled bodies of the 28 "traitors" were meant to send a message: The IAF may control the skies, but Hamas is well in control on the ground. Gaza's rulers thus demonstrated that their brutality was not reserved solely for Jews or Christians -- innocent Muslims were not safe from it either.

Thanks to Iran, Hamas has twice the power ISIS does. Tehran has made sure Hamas is well armed, well trained and has much better logistical, financial and command infrastructures. So why is it that the terror Hamas has subjected Israel to has failed to convince the world in general, and particularly the United States, of the need to destroy its infrastructures?

Why is it that the U.S.'s firepower is directed at the Islamic State group -- which is no danger to its borders or citizens -- and not at Hamas, which is a known Iranian proxy? And if the U.S. prefers to act indirectly, why has it failed to endorse the Israel Defense Forces' operations?

Hamas is more calculating than ISIS. It prevents the true scope of its atrocities from being revealed, mainly because it is wary of the wrath of the families of murdered Gazans. It has no qualms about harming women and children if it suspects one of their relatives might be a collaborator, but takes great care to conceal it.

Had Hamas been able to realize its tunnels conspiracy, infiltrate one of the communities near the border and abduct Israeli men, women and children, then Israel, the U.S. and the EU would have understood the true nature of Hamas' cruelty.

Luckily for us, while Hamas is stronger than ISIS, the IDF is significantly stronger than the Iraqi Army. The 2007 military coup Hamas staged in Gaza Strip included throwing Fatah officials from the rooftops. Hamas' fantasy that they could do the same to Jews, will remain just that -- a fantasy the IDF has ruined.

World must wake up

The notion of the Islamic caliphate is a principle shared by Hamas and ISIS. This future caliphate, regardless of whose product it is, would be free of any geographic border, and it would be subjected solely to Shariah and Islamic laws.

Hamas and ISIS seek to recapture the grand history and the legacy of the Islamic caliphate created by Saladin. Given the rise of Islam in Europe they have reason to believe the future is promising, and they believe that when the radical Muslims from East and West join forces, the time would come for the resurrection of Saladin's caliphate.

Israel cannot afford to follow in the Western world's footsteps when it comes to the way Hamas should be handled, and cannot afford to be complacent or indifferent. As the Jewish state we have a duty to wake the rest of the world up and ensure that the world's nations see Hamas for what it really is.

As time zones go, Israel is one hour ahead of Europe and seven hours ahead of the eastern U.S. But when it comes to understanding the magnitude of the threat posed by Hamas, Israel is years ahead of both. Israel does not have the luxury of waiting for the rest of the world to wake up. We have to act now and make sure the world acts as well -- before hostilities resume.

Avi Dichter is a former public security and homefront defense minister‎, Shin Bet security agency director, and Knesset member.

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