Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas needs Israel to defeat Hamas in order to keep alive the possibility of a new PA Arab country, Israeli think tank analysts wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
"Without Hamas's defeat, there can be no serious progress toward a treaty that both satisfies Palestinian aspirations and allays Israel's fears. At stake in Gaza is nothing less than the future of the peace process, according to Shalem Center fellows Michael Oren and Yossi Klein HaLevi. 
At stake in Gaza is nothing less than the future of the peace process.
"Without the assurance that they will be allowed to protect their homes and families following withdrawal, Israelis will rightly perceive a two-state solution as an existential threat. They will continue to share the left-wing vision of coexistence with a peaceful Palestinian neighbor in theory, but in reality will heed the right's warnings of Jewish powerlessness," according to the analysts.
The Gaza counterterrorist offensive "may also be the last chance to reassure Israelis of the viability of a two-state solution. At stake in Gaza is nothing less than the future of the peace process," they added.
Oren and HaLevi pointed out the Israeli sentiment moved towards favoring a new Arab state within Israel's current borders during the 1982-2000 Israeli counterterrorist campaign in Lebanon.
"This transformation represented a historic victory for the Israeli left, which has long advocated Palestinian self-determination," they wrote. "The left's victory, though, remained largely theoretical: The right won the practical argument that no amount of concessions would grant international legitimacy to Israel's right to defend itself."
The researchers also think that the international community's constant condemnation of Israel has intimidated politicians from taking defensive measure against terrorism. "One consequence was an Israeli reluctance to respond to periodic Hezbollah provocations following Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000. This hesitancy allowed the Shiite terror organization to amass a rocket arsenal with the proclaimed intent of devastating Israel's population centers."
Worldwide allegations that Israel used "disproportionate" force in the Second Lebanon War in 2006 pressured Israel into "prematurely ending its defensive operations in Lebanon and compelled [it] to accept an international 'peacekeeping' force that has permitted Hizbullah to rearm far beyond its prewar levels," Oren and HaLevi stated.
Concerning charges that the current counterterrorist operation in Gaza is "disproportionate," the writers declared, "If Israel was guilty of acting disproportionately, it was in its willingness to seek any means, even at the risk of its citizens' lives, to resolve the crisis diplomatically."