I have in certain circles, ok, ok, at least in my own mind, gained a reputation as being strongly pro-Israel. That is an error. I am not; I do not always take the side of this country. Rather, I am even-handed. I call 'em as I see 'em. Yes, I have authored several essays wildly in favor of Israel (but I have also criticized its socialist economic policies). It is time, it is past time, for a little bashing of this country. That is, for a lot of bashing, serious bashing.
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Some people claim that The Mossad, the Shin Bet, the War Cabinet, and the prime minister are a bunch of wimps. Sissies. Cowards. Chickens. Quitters. Weaklings. They are ashamed of them; they despise the entire caboodle of them. They have agreed to a pause in their eminently justified self-defense actions in Gaza. A pause while Hamas still holds hostages? A pause while Hamas is still a going concern? A pause before Hamas is wiped off the face of the earth? Feh.
I am not one of these persons. If ever there were a courage-o-meter that registered the bravery, valor, daring, mettle, and resolution of people, those mentioned above would be off the charts. It is to them, and leaders like them, to whom we owe the very continued existence of Israel to the present day.
However, I do respectfully disagree with their decision to engage in a so-called "humanitarian pause." My fear is that this will lead to a ceasefire, a truce, and an eventual peace. That would be all well and good when and if Hamas releases all hostages, not just some of them, and surrenders to the IDF.
This is not the way the US operated in Germany at the end of World War II. Rather, they Dresdened them into smithereens. There was no shipping of food, water, electricity, medicines to them, nor, either, to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And yet Japan never made war on civilians, children, women. Yes, they attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, but this was a military base. The US, then, before it got woke, demanded unconditional surrender; Israel should insist upon something along these lines regarding Hamas. Neither the Germans nor the Japanese hid behind their own women and children. When a despicable-o-meter is invented, Hamas will be way up there, second, only to the Nazis insofar as treatment of innocent Jews is concerned.
Yes, yes, I full well realize that this pause means that some 50 Israeli hostages will be set free and this is all to the good. Every Israeli life is precious. But many more innocent Jews will die in the future due to this unwise surrender to worldwide public opinion. And 150 Palestinians will also be released; this is entirely a different matter. The women and children set free by Hamas were all totally innocent of any criminal behavior. Some half dozen of the men were from Thailand. In very sharp contrast indeed, many of the Palestinian women and teenage boys released by Israel were convicted criminals. They were found guilty by objective Israeli courts of stone-throwing, knifings, and attempted murder. Notice any imbalance here?
We should realize that on one side of this conflagration are the good guys, and on the other are the bad guys. In the early days of the western movies, it was easy to tell one side from the other: the good guys wore the white hats, the bad guys the black headgear. Nowadays, with more woke westerns, the same can no longer be said. We should never lose sight of the fact that the same situation applies now in the Middle East, the views of all too much of the rest of the world to the contrary notwithstanding. There are good guys and bad guys there despite the fact that for all too many opinion leaders, this fact has been lost sight of. There is all too much moral equivalence floating around.
This moral equivalence that all too many people see in this conflict is entirely unjustified. One side started this battle on October 7, 2023, a day that shall forever be marked with infamy. The other side, nowadays, is merely attempting to ensure it never happens again. Never again. To pause in this response is to pause in self-defense. It is to pause in rectification. It is to pause in the pursuit of justice.
Then, there is the fear that this pause will be followed up by a ceasefire, and then by a truce, and then by peace, of all things. Peace that will allow Hamas to regroup. Peace that will enable Hamas to begin its practice of shelling Israel with rockets. Peace that will empower this terrorist organization to reprise its devastation of October 7, 2023. You think they will not do this again if they are able to do so? Judenrein from the river to the sea is still a basic premise of their very being.
When will Israel learn not to fight its enemies with one hand tied behind its back? When will Israel learn to entirely ignore public opinion emanating from much of the world? When will Israel learn to entirely disregard the UN votes? When will Israel learn to entirely disrespect the advice of the US which has not won a major war in 80 years (Grenada does not count!)?
Yes, in the aftermath of the next October 7, 2023, vicious incursion, world opinion will once again be on the side of the victims. Dead Jews are not reviled, only live ones. But as soon as Israel takes any measures in response there will be calls for proportionality, for pauses, for ceasefires, for peace. It is enough to make decent people sick.
I will know when a happy day will have arrived. There will be no more pauses. There will be no more ceasefires. There will be no more peace. No more, until, that is, Israel can be as safe as virtually every other country on the planet.
No more pauses. No more food. No more medicine. No more electricity. No more water. Not until every last one of those hostages is released and Hamas is brought to justice.
Never again.
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