Two recent speeches by high-profile politicians about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war capture their opposite approaches and goals, and two high-profile assassinations this week show exactly how Israel intends to keep fighting it.
On July 24, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the American people and their representatives in government from the hallowed plenum in Congress, laying out in stark terms Israel’s aims for this war. He described in harrowing detail the events of Oct. 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered more than 1,200 Israelis, breaching the ceasefire agreement with Israel already in effect and launching the current war.
Netanyahu explained how all violence and terrorism in the Middle East are orchestrated by the terrorist state of Iran, which funds its proxies to keep Israel and her Western allies, particularly the United States, in a constant state of fear and unsettlement. As American terror sympathizers chanted anti-American slogans and burned Old Glory just across the street from the Capitol, Netanyahu thanked the American people and asked the world for its continued support as Israel defeats this existential threat once and for all.
After she met with Netanyahu, presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a speech in front of the White House that laid out her position vis a vis Israel’s war on Hamas. After a cursory nod to Israel’s right to defend itself (apparently a controversial thing to say these days), Harris launched an extraordinary attack on our leading ally, in a desperate bid to gain the support of the left wing of the Democrat Party.
She blamed Israel for the “human suffering in Gaza” while repeating misleading and debunked claims from the United Nations about the deaths of children and widespread “food insecurity.” Conspicuously absent from Harris’ critique was any mention of Hamas’ role in perpetuating Palestinian suffering, choosing to focus solely on Israel alone as the exclusive cause of pain and suffering during this conflict. She omitted any reference to Hamas’ notorious strategy of embedding operatives within civilian areas while using innocent people as human shields to provoke and exploit Israeli defensive actions. Furthermore, Harris suggested that Israel was responsible for the impasse in ceasefire and hostage negotiations, neglecting to acknowledge that their counterpart in these discussions is a terrorist organization with a well-documented history of prioritizing survival over peace, even when they are the instigators of the violence.
While Netanyahu explained why a threat from an Iranian terror proxy like Hamas needs to be comprehensively crushed and defeated, Harris’ bothsidesism and calls for deescalation from both the righteous and reprehensible sides of the conflict only serve the interests of Hamas. The folly of Harris’ approach became clear just two days later.
On Saturday, a missile fired by Hezbollah, the Iranian-funded terror organization that essentially runs Lebanon, hit the Israeli-Druze town of Majdal Shams and killed 12 children and severely injured 15 more while they were playing soccer.
Since Oct. 7, empowered by Hamas’ actions and egged on by their Iranian masters, Hezbollah has peppered Israel with rocket attacks from across the border into Israel’s north, causing approximately 60,000 Israeli citizens to flee their homes. Israel has been reluctant to respond decisively, until now.
Why? Because the United States is strongly discouraging Israel, instead calling for diplomacy between all parties to hash all the issues out.
But what they don’t seem to understand is that diplomacy by itself is not a solution but a tool to reach outcomes. If the outcome of “diplomacy” with terror organizations is their continued existence, leaving hostages still in captivity, and leaving Israelis unable to return home, that is not a win for any rational person.
With a misguided foreign policy that seeks an exclusively diplomatic approach with people who have no interest in peace, the current administration (which has shown support for Israel) is coddling and emboldening Iran and its terror proxies in an ill-conceived strategy that hurts U.S. interests in the region and globally.
With Iran confident that the United States would restrain Israel, their proxies continue attacking Israel and compromising its entire infrastructure and way of life. For an administration that desperately wants the war to end, even if only for political reasons, its slow-walking and overly cautious approach has harmed the war effort and only prolonged the international crisis.
Yet, in the past week, Israel finally unshackled itself and began taking aim at the heads of the snakes that have tormented it for decades, sending a message that the gloves were off.
On Tuesday, Israel launched a targeted airstrike into the heart of Beirut and eliminated Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s most senior military commander. Shukr, a founding leader of the terror militia and a close associate of “Secretary-General” Hasan Nasrallah, was responsible for countless terror operations and civilian deaths. The United States had a $5 million bounty on his head, holding him responsible for the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings, when 241 American servicemen were killed.
Arguably the more shocking news broke on Tuesday evening, when Iranian state media announced that Hamas boss Ismail Haniyeh had been assassinated in Tehran. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility. Despite the wish casting of pro-terror apologists in the media who have labeled Haniyeh a statesman and peace negotiator, Haniyeh was a terror monster who presided over the destruction of Gaza from his luxurious digs in Qatar. Directly responsible for signing off on terror attacks that took thousands of lives, Haniyeh thought he would be spared if he fashioned himself as some sort of untouchable moderate statesman and framed as such by a complicit press, regardless of his less-than-savory activities.
For months, it looked like he was right. Until he went too far.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, thanks to a comprehensive strategy to stop the flow of weapons from Sinai, the probable assassination of Hamas Military Wing Leader Mohammed Deif, as well as dismantling the Hamas terrorist infrastructure in Rafa and elsewhere, Hamas has responded with … zero rockets because Israel has removed Hamas’ ability to harm it. This wasn’t achieved by a shaky diplomatic “solution,” where Hamas could bide their time to commit another Oct. 7, but by Israel’s comprehensive war effort to snuff out any chance they have of doing it again. Now, Israel is removing the obstacles to peace from the battlefield and hoping to close this chapter of history and begin writing a new one.
The pain and suffering of the last many months could have been avoided if Israel had been supported from the beginning to rid the world of genocidal terror organizations that seek to wipe it and the United States off the map. Israel is fighting and winning the battle against its enemies and the enemies of America. All they ask for is our support from thousands of miles away. Thousands of Palestinians and Israelis could still be alive if all the pressure placed on Israel were correctly directed at Hamas and their leaders to surrender, return the hostages, demilitarize Gaza, and rebuild a peaceful society that would coexist and even flourish next to Israel. Twelve innocent Israeli-Druze children might still be alive if, months ago, Israel had been empowered to rout Iran’s proxy terror group, Hezbollah. The fact that Israel is being criticized for eliminating mass murderers shows a deep moral rot in society.
When our leaders are wavering in their confidence in the morality of our positions, all elements of deterrence are lost. Empty calls for appeasement resonate with no one. Not with our enemies that sense weakness and not with the allies that need our support. It’s time the United States backed Israel to end Iran’s war on the West so we can turn the page on this awful chapter and rebuild together, in peace and security.
Yonatan Hambourger and Tzali Reicher are writers and rabbis serving communities throughout the regional South. Reach them at y@tasteoftorah.org.
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