How Far Would You Go?

[Note: I spent a lot of time thinking about whether or not to write this. So much has already been written on this topic.  But in the end I decided to write it because I don’t want to remain silent. So here goes.]

How far would you go? To protect your loved ones, that is. You’ve probably thought about this. Haven’t we all? We see something on the news or a tv show and say, to ourselves only and before we think things through, “If anyone ever did that to my kid, I wouldn’t wait for the cops. I’d kill them.”

Hopefully this question will remain hypothetical for us and we’ll never have to find out the answer. But it’s not hypothetical for Israel. Israel has been under constant threat and attack since its inception in 1948. It’s always in the position of having to decide how far it will go to protect its citizens.

And not only its citizens. Israel’s enemies want to wipe Israel off the map. They want it to cease to exist. So Israel also has to decide how far it will go to protect its very existence.

But that’s not all. If Israel falls, there’s a good chance the antisemitic forces we’ve been seeing around the world, including in our own cities, will take that as a sign it’s time for them to rise up and wipe out all the Jews in the world. Which is why Israel also has to decide how far it will go to prevent this from happening, too.

The importance of this war cannot be overstated.

You may think I’m exaggerating; that this can never happen. Especially here in Canada.  But we know better. Jews have been persecuted all over the world throughout history.

The last attempt to wipe out the Jews was during the Holocaust. German Jews thought it couldn’t happen to them. “We’re upstanding members of German society”, they said. “Some of our best friends are German”, they said. “We hold very important positions in society”, they said. All true. And still, it happened.

Israel isn’t alone. This existential threat is felt by Jews all over the world. We can’t sit by quietly and wait to see what happens. It’s not a risk we can afford to take. We tried that before and were almost exterminated by the Germans.

After the terrorist organization called Hamas (let’s call it what it is and make no mistake about what it is) started this war, Israel decided it had to destroy Hamas to protect its citizens, its very existence and the Jewish people. It can’t risk failure. There’s too much at stake. It was, as always, forced to determine how far it would go. It’s taken certain steps to protect the lives of innocent Palestinian civilians, but only to the extent that its objective of destroying Hamas isn’t compromised. At least that’s my view of things.

Hamas counted on Israel continuing its historical pattern of trying not to harm civilians and retreated behind innocent  civilians. In past wars, Israel might have done more to protect civilian lives. But not this time. Israel must do what it must do to destroy Hamas.

And now the world condemns Israel for killing innocent civilians. Israel didn’t create the rules of this war, but it needs to play by the same rules as Hamas. Because it comes down to Israel or Hamas. Only one will survive. And you don’t bring a knife to a gunfight when your existence is on the line.

There’s never been any doubt in my mind Israel must defend itself. There’s never been any doubt in my mind Israel must destroy Hamas. The only question I’ve asked myself is whether the killing of innocent civilians is necessary.

In other words, how far should Israel go to safeguard its citizens, its very existence and the lives of Jews all over the world?

To be clear, I’m against the killing of innocent civilians, which both Israel and Hamas have done. But I don’t think their actions can be compared. The attacks on innocent Israeli citizens by Hamas were unprovoked, including the attack on young adults who went to a music festival hoping to enjoy the music and not be killed, raped or taken hostage. Israel is in an impossible situation where it has no choice but to kill innocent civilians to get to Hamas. But Hamas created this situation. Hamas is the one putting the lives of innocent civilians in the line of fire. 

Israel has always strived to lead a peaceful existence with its neighbours. It’s tried to negotiate a two state solution for the Palestinians. Hamas isn’t willing to negotiate. It won’t accept anything less than the eradication of Israel and all Jews. That means Hamas will continue to attack innocent Israeli citizens and anyone else until it achieves its goal.

People say Israel doesn’t care about the civilians. Those people don’t understand Israel. Israel cares. If Israel didn’t care, this war would’ve been over on October 8. Other people say Israel isn’t doing enough to protect innocent citizens. That may or may not be true, but can Israel do more to protect innocent civilians while at the same time ensuring it achieves its objective of destroying Hamas? I don’t know the answer to this question. I don’t think anyone knows the answer. Given its history, I like to think the Israel is doing what it needs to do to destroy Hamas while killing as few civilians as possible.

The magnitude of the decisions being made in this war is monumental. They will shape the course of history. I don’t think Israel’s perfect. It makes mistakes. But there are no right or wrong decisions. There are only best decisions based on the information available at the time.

The attack by Hamas changed the landscape. It exposed a weakness in Israel’s armour. If Israel doesn’t protect itself, Hamas will continue attacking. Other terrorist groups, sensing this weakness, have also started attacking Israel. Israel’s actions in Gaza are not being taken out of vengeance, but out of deterrence.

So do I think Israel is justified in doing what it’s doing? Yes, I do. Israel must destroy Hamas. It must do what it thinks will achieve this goal, hopefully while using its best judgment to act as morally as possible under the circumstances. When your very existence is on the line, there are times you might have to compromise your principles to achieve your goals. This is one of those times.

Outsiders will no doubt scrutinize and judge. But they can’t possibly understand the extent of the burden borne by Israel in this war. Israel can’t lose.

Do I feel badly about the loss of innocent lives? I feel terrible. When I think of the pain and suffering felt on both sides of this war from the loss of loved ones, I get knots in my stomach.

Does Israel want to be doing this? Judging from its history, I doubt it. But Israel didn’t start this war. And it’s not hiding behind innocent civilians. It’s doing its best under the circumstances. And it has no choice but to win.

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Postscript:

I didn’t write this to justify Israel’s actions. That’s not for me to do. There are many intricacies to this war and the middle east situation of which I have no knowledge. Unless you’re high up in the Israeli government or military and are tasked with the burden of making decisions on behalf of Israel under unimaginable pressure that will affect all Jews and the entire world for generations to come, you shouldn’t judge. You can have an opinion, but don’t judge. You know what they say about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.

Being Jewish, even in Canada, comes with baggage. Throughout history, it’s felt like the Jews against the world. We feel alone. (See my last post Everywhere, All the Time.) Like the world is closing in on us. The forces of evil are never far away, even though they’re in the minority. But we know the world is filled with mostly good, decent people. So if you’re not Jewish and want to support your Jewish friends, you can do something as simple as saying “I know it’s harder than usual to be a Jew right now and I’m with you.” The bigger the tribe, the safer people feel. It helps us to know there are people who believe in us and care about us. Who support us. With your help, good will triumph over evil.

I’ll leave you with this. It’s not long and well worth reading. https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/dear-world-i-dont-care/

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Thanks for reading and for sharing your most precious resource, your time, with me.

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