I originally published the following in the Times of Israel on August 25, 2014
Is anyone else getting tired of hearing how successful Iron Dome is at defending Israeli civilians from genocidal attacks carried out indiscriminately by Gaza-based Islamic jihadi terrorists?
Is anyone else getting tired of hearing about how the genocidal Hamas terrorists of Gaza are constantly setting the agenda, deciding which Israeli civilians are to be allowed the privilege of sleeping an entire night in their beds rather than being chased into shelters every time a jihadi maniac is bored and wants to see some action?
Is anyone else getting tired of seeing the Jewish state’s hands tied behind its back in its response to indiscriminate attacks on its civilians by Gaza-based Islamic terrorists, while the world community berates Israel for its defensive measures and steadfastly refuses to apply its only viable tool against Hamas and its various other collaborators?
That tool is FUNDING. Hamas knows it can afford to see wholesale destruction in Gaza because the world community will always hasten to pick up the tab for its abuse of its own civilians in its genocidal war against the civilians of neighbouring Israel. Stop all funding to all parts of Gaza, and the population of Gaza will rise up and overthrow Hamas. It really is as simple as that.
Is anyone else getting tired of seeing how Israel responds to Hamas atrocities with one fearful eye on the world’s media and the UN and EU, bodies that steadfastly refuse to deal robustly with Hamas?
Well, there’s a saying: fight fire with fire. When a forest fire rages out of control, often the best way to prevent it from spreading is to start your own fire in a strategic location, denying the forest fire any combustible fuel by the time it reaches your deliberately set fire. It’s called a firebreak. The wildfire dies out because the bare soil of the firebreak’s broad, empty swathe denies it any fuel. It takes time, but the wildfire dies out.
The same goes for Gaza. Hamas terrorists rain rockets and mortars down on civilian communities in the Jewish state, to which Israel responds by limiting its attacks to Gaza terrorist sites. Very ethical, very moral, very principled. And not very effective. Fight fire with fire, bring the same weapons to the fight, use any adage or cliché of your choosing.
You don’t turn up to a brutal ice-hockey match wearing a pretty ballerina tutu and figure-skating footwear. You come padded, helmeted, wielding a hockey-stick to smash the puck in the direction you want it to go, if necessary through your opponents, and you use full-body contact to drive your opponents out of your way as you relentlessly make your way to the goal.
Nor do you turn up at a pistol duel waving a sword. You deal with your enemy as he deals with you.
There are two reasons why Hamas is so successful at waging its war of attrition against the Jewish state: the first was mentioned earlier – the world community always hastens to pick up the financial tab, so Hamas can afford to continue waging its genocidal, racist war until kingdom come. No Palestinian Arab atrocities against their own civilians or against Israeli civilians are ever deserving of proper censure by the world community, so why should they desist? There’s no incentive whatsoever. Stop the funding, and their terrorism will stop. No money means no funding for rockets.
The second reason was also mentioned earlier: do unto Hamas as they do unto you. Since they fire missiles indiscriminately at civilian targets in Israel, Israel should respond in exactly the same way. As it is, Israel has consistently responded in a measured way, as precisely as possible, aiming specifically at military targets.
This policy has not worked. It has not deterred Hamas – and why should it, since most of the really important Hamas military targets are safely embedded in civilian infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and apartment blocks – targets the IDF naturally shies away from attacking. And of course every single response by Israel, no matter how measured, how precise, has earned the Jewish state harsh criticism by a hypocritical world community. A world community that massively criticises ISIS Sunni Muslim jihadists carrying out bestial genocidal attacks on non-Muslims in Syria and Iraq, while passively ignoring Hamas Sunni Muslim jihadists carrying out bestial genocidal attacks on non-Muslims in Israel. The double standards are of horrifying proportions.
Who could possibly object to applying the same rules for Jews and non-Jews…
Since Israel is being roundly criticised by the world community for pinpointing its responses to terrorist attacks, and that policy has not silenced the terrorist attacks, the time has perhaps come for Israel to do to Gaza what the Gaza regime is doing to Israel: random missile attacks.
Then sit back and count to twenty. You probably won’t even get past ten, because the world community will suddenly, magically find a mechanism to stop all Hamas attacks against Israel.
Because the world community will not stand idly by while Gaza civilians are put in the position of Israeli civilians, with random rockets and artillery barrages striking any time of day or night, sometimes in open fields and sometimes in kindergartens, schools, shops, apartment buildings, business, cars, buses. It won’t happen – because the world community will always ensure that Gaza’s civilians are protected from the consequences of their elected Gaza government’s actions.
So THAT is how to fight fire with fire. By letting the world community do the work of building the essential firebreak.
Everything else has failed. Time for the UN, EU and US to do some useful work for a change. As Israel starts levelling the playing field, playing to exactly the same rules as Hamas.
After all, who could possibly object to applying the same rules for Jews and non-Jews…