Does Israel have the right of self-defense?

Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Israeli civilians by the hundreds were killed and mutilated without warning this week when terrorist forces hiding out in the Gaza Strip invaded densely-occupied areas of Israel. This was an unprovoked military attack on a civilian population that simply wants to go about the everyday business of living. Responsible for this atrocity is the Iranian-sponsored terrorist group Hamas. The objective of this group, so they claim, is to assert Palestinian rights. Their real purpose is to murder Jews and destroy the State of Israel.

The question has been raised, is Israel justified in striking back at Hamas positions in Gaza? The most cogent argument in defense of Israeli counter-attacks is that the US would do the same thing if New York and Chicago were targeted by enemy missiles.

During past terrorist attacks, instead of backing Israel’s attempt to defend itself, President Biden repudiated the pro-Israel stance of his predecessor. Biden prefers to give aid and comfort to sponsors of terror like Iran instead of loyal allies like Israel. Australian news anchor Rowan Dean said Biden has proved himself to be a “dangerous hardcore leftist” whose emerging anti-Semitic ideology should be “shunned and avoided at all costs.”

Calling Israel’s defensive response “transnational white identity terrorism,” members of the “squad”—Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—have pressured the Biden administration to condition US aid to Israel. “We must take a hard look at nearly $4 billion a year in military aid to Israel,” agreed Sen. Bernie Sanders. “It is illegal to support human rights violations.” Sorry Bernie, it is called self-defense. The human rights violation occurs when Hamas deliberately targets civilian populations.

The media has joined the Democrats in adopting a hostile attitude toward Israeli self-defense, intentionally depicting Palestinians as innocent victims. During an interview with former Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, CNN anchor Becky Anderson argued that Israel violates international law when it targets civilian sites in Gaza. “Perhaps you suggest that we just lay back, let them shoot rockets at us, not shoot back, because they are hiding the rockets behind women and children,” Bennett replied. “Would you do that, Becky? If your family was under fire, would you suggest that your government not defend you because they are hiding the guns and rockets behind civilians? Any country is expected to defend its citizens, and you, Becky, should not be speaking about us. It’s them, it’s Hamas, it’s deplorable what they’re doing, using their own people as human shields.”

“It is Hamas that must be condemned for housing its terrorist infrastructure in the same complex as civilians,” said Aaron Klein, senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “This is far from the first time that Hamas has used civilians as human shields.” Israel has adopted a policy of warning civilians and allowing them enough time to evacuate. Hamas provides no such warning when it commits the double war crimes of firing rockets indiscriminately into Israeli cities and launching those rockets from Palestinian civilian zones. No other army in the world would exercise such restraint, yet Israel is regularly accused of deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians.

“The party that bears the guilt for this confrontation is not us,” said Prime Minister Netanyahu, “it’s those attacking us.”

Will there be an end to the fighting? “The moment they give up their desire to annihilate the Jewish people and the Jewish land,” said Naftali Bennett, “there will be peace.”

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