Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month presented Israel's security cabinet with a short document: "The Day After Hamas." Its key passage states that Jerusalem plans to work primarily with Gazans to rebuild their territory. "Civil affairs and responsibility for public order will be based on local actors with 'management experience,' " it says, and not identified with nor receiving payments from countries or organizations supporting terrorism.
In a step toward this program of self-rule, the Israeli military has begun an informal pilot program of what it calls "humanitarian pockets" in parts of north Gaza cleared of Hamas. These local governing bodies consist of community leaders, whose duties will include distributing humanitarian aid and revising school curricula.
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Daniel Pipes is president of the Middle East Forum.