Can Negotiations Be Evil?

The conflict raging in Israel has garnered world attention since Hamas sponsored a killing spree against Jewish villages on the Israeli side of the Gaza border on October 7, 2023. It has been well over a year now that the military of Israel has been fighting in the Gaza strip and destroying the infrastructure that Hamas built. These operations have brought sorrow and suffering to both Jewish and Arab families alike.
In response to the tremendous human cost of this war, nations from around the world are pushing for peace through a negotiated settlement. A ceasefire has been declared, Gazans are being allowed to return to their homes, and some hostages are finally coming to the end of their ordeal. There is no doubt that these outcomes are good, but are they right?
To evaluate the question of right and wrong, we will turn to two arbiters: history and the Word of God. These two sources will help us determine the line between right and wrong.
The first arbiter is history. Just before the outbreak of World War II, Neville Chamberlain infamously negotiated a peace treaty with Hitler over the Czechoslovakian invasion. This deal was much lauded until it resulted in an emboldened Hitler invading Poland. The backlash from this catastrophe lost Chamberlain his office and installed Winston Churchill as the Prime Minister of England.
Churchill adopted a strategy of no negotiation with the Nazis. Thus, when Germany sought peace after conquering France, England rejected it. WWII could have ended with the German occupation of France if only the British had come to the negotiating table and worked out a deal. Lives could have been saved in the short term. Yet the result of a negotiated peace would have allowed Hitler to rampage unchecked across Europe, condemning untold millions to his death camps. Stopping the evil represented by the Nazi regime was worth the lives it cost as it led to generations of real peace in Europe.
In a second example, the Korean War ended with a cease-fire. The fighting cost too much and threatened to start a second global conflict. It seemed right to end the fighting. The war, however, officially continues today with a neutral zone between North and South Korea. This has resulted in the impoverishment of North Korea and the creation of a personality cult around its leader far more radical than Hitler ever achieved. Millions have suffered on the Korean peninsula because the price for victory seemed too high. Four generations have suffered despotism because the price for victory was deemed too high.
Turning to the Biblical account, in the book of 1 Samuel God commanded King Saul to destroy the Amalekite nation completely. When Saul fails to destroy them fully, he is cursed to surrender his dynasty to another. The prophet Samuel completes the utter destruction of the Amalekite King in God’s name. (1 Samuel 15)
The Amalekites, like the Nazis, represented the worst kind of corruption that afflicts cultures that embrace sin. They murdered their children to false Gods and preyed on the weak and helpless. They had been doing so for hundreds of years before God finally said, “Enough!” and ordered their destruction. It was wrong for Saul to negotiate with the Amalekite king when God had declared a verdict of destruction.
When Joshua conquered the land of Israel in the book of Joshua, God commanded him to completely drive out the people living there. Where he succeeded in doing so, the Jews lived in peace. Where the occupants of the land were not fully evicted, the Jews were corrupted by pagan practices and often enslaved by those they negotiated peace with. Generations of suffering resulted from not paying the true price of peace. (Judges 2:10-33)
If God orders the destruction of a people because of the wickedness they have embraced, then such an act cannot be wrong for God is entirely good. How can such violence be good? In this fallen world, violence is often the only possible response to evil. Evil seeks its own at all costs and is only stopped when good opposes it. Police tackle fleeing offenders. FBI agents shoot offenders threatening citizens with grave bodily harm. Soldiers blow up homes from which people are shooting at them, even if others inside are injured.
Make no mistake, defeating evil and doing what is right often comes with a high price. History and the Bible, however, show us that failing to pay that price often results in a much higher cost in the long term, a cost often paid by subsequent generations.
In the negotiations taking place in Israel, let us remember that Hamas is an evil, corrupt organization. Their stated goal is the eradication of the Jews. They embrace murder, rape, and enslavement of all people who are not Muslim. They openly promise further violence to Jews and all infidels. Any peace agreement that does not result in the eradication of this depraved organization will cost far more in the long run than the sacrifice necessary to ensure their defeat now.
It is not Godly to make peace with evil. It is Godly to oppose it. Does this mean that God wants war? Certainly not, but He knows the high price of rescuing humanity from the worst of its depravity. He demonstrated that price when He went to the cross. Opposing evil often requires the highest of sacrifices. Failure to make that sacrifice, however, will always cost far more.
What then can we do? First, we must pray that those negotiating will have the wisdom to establish true peace. Pray that Hamas is utterly broken and unable to rise again as an organization. Pray for the Arabs who are deceived by and suffering under Hamas’ rule would be set free and meet the Savior who died for them. Pray for full victory over the enemies of righteousness and that God would bring his peace to the land of Israel. Lastly, remind those who call for peace at all costs of the examples from history and the Bible of the cost of negotiating with evil.