The horrific images and ghastly descriptions seemed torn from the darkest corners of the Jewish psyche and the worst imaginings of our tragic history: the elderly executed at point-blank range; toddlers and children torn from the arms of murdered parents; bodies desecrated and displayed as the trophies of cheering and jeering militants.
With its echoes of the Yom Kippur War’s surprise attack 50 years earlier almost to the day, the incursion by Hamas on Oct. 7 under the cover of an unprecedented barrage of rocket fire has been justly characterized as Israel’s 9/11. And while the immediate condemnation by world leaders of this heinous and cowardly attack has been affirming, current support of Israel’s right to a robust response will inevitably wane for many, as the narrative quickly shifts from standing with the victims of terror to indictments of the pursuers of self-defense.
The path to peace, while seemingly clear, is far from simple. Decades of radicalization for the Palestinians and too many thwarted peace processes for the Israelis have generated a leadership that is far more accepting of a deteriorating status quo than visionary in taking risks for an end to conflict. This toxic and tragic pattern of attack and counterattack inflicts unimaginable suffering on the innocent residents of Gaza, who languish under the tyranny of a terrorist state. But there is a distinction between Israel’s defensive acts and Hamas’ indiscriminate rocketing and deliberate massacre of noncombatants. Only the ideologically deluded could render a moral equivalence between these adversaries.
In the coming days, many critics of Israel and apologists for terror will insist that context is everything — that somehow Israel’s actions were a provocation for Hamas barbarism. They will argue that this is the product of the blockade of Gaza, or the occupation emerging after the 1967 War, or if they are more unguarded in their candor, the 75 years of Israel’s very existence — which most Arab nations still refuse to acknowledge. Beyond the obvious outrage and insult of this kind of victim-blaming, the inconvenient truth is that Gaza is not occupied. Israel relinquished the territory almost 20 years ago in the hopes of fostering peace with Hamas. It soon descended into the chaotic base of attacks on Israel, its citizens victimized by a leadership content to let them live in squalor in the service of an unbending hatred of Israel and monomaniacal devotion to its destruction.
Unlike many nations who suffer these devastating attacks, the people of Israel do not have the luxury of a lengthy process of mourning and reflection, of healing and extended planning for a judicious response. Surrounded by enemies who scrutinize for any sign of weakness, Israel must act quickly and decisively, grieving the dead and absorbing the shock while readying for battle. But it is the Israel Defense Force’s code of ethics — its tohar neshek, or commitment to a purity of arms — that distinguishes it from the wholesale slaughter and wanton pogroms of Hamas thuggery.
And while Israel will endeavor to minimize collateral damage to the Gazans with a concern that far exceeds the regard of their own leadership, many will die, needlessly, on both sides. The fog of war obscures even the most illumined conscience. But it is only in the striving for our humanity — even against the call of baser passions — that we truly secure the better world for which we fight.
The post Israel grieves for its dead, goes into battle at same time first appeared on Latest American News.
The post Israel grieves for its dead, goes into battle at same time appeared first on Latest American News.