A common argument made by the radical Left in Israel, as well as in the progressive Left around the world, is that the blood price of this war is not proportional. They portray it as a monstrous war in which Israel attacks and slaughters the civilian population of Gaza as if it were the war's very objective. Essentially, they are depicting it as the war of Goliath against David.
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I want to address this argument to the best of my ability sincerely and in a serious manner.
There are many victims of this war, and the vast majority of them are Palestinian.
We cannot be blind to this – and I do not believe most of us are.
However, one must ask: Should the concern that combating Hamas – including by taking out their tunnels and command centers – would lead to mass casualties among civilians stop Israel from fighting the organization?
Until October 7, my answer would have been a resolute "Yes." Today, my answer is a no less than resolute "No."
Hamas shattered the fantasy I and many others on the Left had. We insisted on seeing it as a Palestinian political movement with which Israel could reach understandings and agreements. This was the de facto approach Netanyahu had pursued over his long premiership. After all, he has made deals with Hamas and the violence seemed to subside.
The type of violence perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 was of an entirely different nature compared to what we had seen before.
Until this moment, we did not identify Hamas with the radical and totalitarian brutality of Islamist ideology, despite its clear mission statement articulated by its charter and jihadist rhetoric.
Although Hamas had used suicide bombers, which one could reasonably argue is the epitome of jihadist terror, we saw it alongside other kinds of violence by the organization, with incendiary balloons, shootings, kidnappings, etc. within the context of a narrative positing Hamas as a grassroots political movement. Thus, the October 7 pogrom was a reality-shattering moment for many of us, including myself.
When 3,000 terrorists emerged from Gaza and slaughtered the surrounding civilian population - the death of the civilian population was not "collateral damage" – it was the clear objective of this operation.
The ultimate goal was not only the massacre of the civilian population around Gaza but also the monstrous and vile use of the media to disseminate horror videos aimed at traumatizing the Israeli consciousness.
I won't list here the horrors Hamas committed and broadcast to the world, but they are numerous and dreadful. Israelis often revert to Nazi comparisons, although the similarity is quite limited. It's the only reference group most Israelis have for this horror.
These are facts, broadcast by Hamas in Telegram and stated clearly by Hamas representatives in numerous interviews and other outlets.
Israel had no choice but to go to war against Hamas. Starting an all-out war and changing the paradigm with Israel was the ultimate goal of the attack. Indeed, the attack's planners on October 7 knew that their attack would incite an all-out war in Gaza and have long built their entire strategy around this conflict. Why? Because the more Palestinians die from Israeli weapons, the more criticism of Israel grows, as we see, along with antisemitism and hatred towards Israel.
Of course, from an analytical perspective, the military invasion and reaction was a dire mistake – playing directly into the hands of Hamas. The Israeli leadership knew that, of course, but had no choice in the matter. The scope of the attack dictated the retaliation.
Only a strong and wise leader deeply connected to the public can navigate such a crisis. Unfortunately, Israel has a historically weak and allegedly corrupt leadership. And this attack was enabled and compelled by its weakness.
In fact, without the intervention of Joe Biden – who appeared almost in a deus ex machina to save the day and fill the leadership vacuum in Israel – we might have been confronted with a full-blown regional war threatening to tip into a world war due to a knee-jerk retaliation of Israeli leadership. Israel would not be engaging with Hamas inside Gaza – it would be fighting for its very existence across multiple theaters.
While the war became inevitable the moment Hamas attacked, the fact that the attackers took 240 Israelis as hostages and are hiding within a dense civilian population that they use as human shields makes the war that much more complex. Knowing this, and knowing that fighting Hamas will result in the harm of tens of thousands of Gazans, should Israel stop the war or accept a ceasefire?
My answer is no. Hamas has positioned itself not as a national and political rival but rather as an existential enemy of Israel. Its regime in Gaza cannot be allowed to continue to exist. Since there is no scenario where Hamas surrenders or leaves Gaza, Israel has no choice but to fight this war until it utterly defeats Hamas in Gaza.
Still, while the present reality is harsh and fraught with tremendous suffering, we must hope that the faultline of October 7 and the ensuing Nakba experienced by Palestinians in Gaza will lead to a profound change in both Israeli and Palestinian societies. Only by adopting a pragmatic approach to peace through negotiation and a two-state solution, where both sides act with good faith and mutual respect, can this conflict ever end. Both Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace while exercising their collective self-determination.
