The horror show taking place in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas has drawn proverbial lines in the sand around the world. At first, everyone felt sympathy and sorrow for Israel at the mindless attack by the terrorist group Hamas, along with outrage at the inhumanity we saw broadcast on websites all over the world.
As bad as the Palestinian’s lives might be, no one representing them has a right to kill innocents in the name of defending their existence.
Israel’s Uneven Response
Since then, Israel has responded with an attack upon Hamas, Gaza, and the Palestinian people that, at best, can be considered barbaric and is dangerously close to a term most associated with the Jewish people: Genocide. As bad as the attack on Israel was and as much as Israel has every right to fully defend itself, Israel doesn’t have the right to kill innocents as a means of protecting its existence.
Why Would Hamas Do This?
Most people immediately ask, “Why would Hamas launch such a cowardly attack on Israeli civilians? Surely, they must have anticipated a massive response from Israel.”
Of course Hamas knew how Israel would respond. That was the plan.
Hamas couldn’t care less about the 1400 people they massacred; they wanted Israel to use its massive force to destroy Gaza and martyr or kill as many Palestinians as they could.
The Master Plan Working as Designed
This chess move was designed to anger, provoke, and infuriate the Israeli government into an unprecedented use of force that would squash both Hamas and the Palestinian people.
It’s a tactic so calculated and confident in its success that it’s actually scary to the degree of precision it has worked.
Yes is the answer to what should be going through your mind right about now. Yes, Hamas deliberately planned for and achieved the deaths of thousands of their own people at the hands of the Israelis.
The more terror perpetrated against Palestinians by Israel, the more world sympathy and anger towards the plight of the Palestinians they could garner. The more hatred the world has for Israel, the less inclined other Arab nations will be to make peace with the Jewish nation.
Absolute Power Corrupts
For Israel’s part, the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu has been asleep at the helm in terms of protecting Israelis from this attack. It is also so petrified of losing power and position that, in three weeks, it has destroyed its democratic credibility as a nation of peace and rationality worldwide.
Israel of old would have never left itself this vulnerable to attack. The security of its people everywhere around the world has always been a top priority for the Israeli government, but never more paramount than on its own soil or at its borders.
That security failed miserably, and Netanyahu’s government knows it. Without question, its all-out attack on Gaza is symptomatic of a failed government attempting to save face with a savage response.
How Israel Could Have Responded
The proper move from Israel, in lieu of securing their country from attacks such as this, would have been to do what they have done best in the past: surgically attack Hamas with minimal civilian casualties. They could have taken a page from America’s drone program, which can target just about anyone with a little patience and intelligence.
Had Israel reacted with diligence instead of reckless revenge, they would have accomplished a multitude of victories.
First, they would have maintained the high ground of moral integrity, which Hamas desperately wants to take from them. Second, they could have reached out to neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia, with whom they were close to reaching a normalization pact (a development that Hamas desperately hated). Thirdly, they could have significantly diminished the power of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran by sympathizing with and helping improve the lives of Palestinians while mourning the deaths of their own fellow citizens at the hands of these vile terrorist groups.
Don’t Believe What You’re Told
It’s beyond comprehension that Hamas has morphed into some exalted position of moral authority in protests all over the world. Just as baffling is the antisemitic vitriol flowing from the mouths of some Americans, fits of anger and hatred promulgated by Adolf Hitler.
What isn’t questionable is why. It’s all by design. The bottom line is that the more Israel destroys, the more capital Hamas banks.
D.G. Allen is a political commentator and writer.