Iran continues sacrificing proxy fighters instead of their own men

Our current policy is to fire only on those who fire on us. That has to change.

By GILAD SHARON
Lebanese army soldiers near a Hezbollah poster (photo credit: REUTERS)
Lebanese army soldiers near a Hezbollah poster
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Iranians will fight to the last jihadist, the last member of Hamas, and the last Hezbollah fighter. They have no problem sacrificing impoverished Shi’ites on the altar of their imperialist ambitions; fighters from countries ending in “stan” who join militias that take their orders from Iran. But when it comes to Iran itself it’s a different story. They care very much about themselves. Iran is responsible for attacks on Israel from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, but since this violence doesn’t emanate from Iranian territory, it is Iran’s minions who bear the brunt of our response.
Our current policy is to fire only on those who fire on us. That has to change. Why should Israelis live under attacks instigated and financed by Iran, which even supplies some of the weapons, while Iranians sleep safe and sound in their beds? Is it just because the actual shots are fired from somewhere else? Iran could not care less if Gazans or members of Hezbollah are hit by Israeli reprisals, or if the local population pays the price for Iranian aggression. They don’t fire on us from Iran and we won’t fire on them from Israel. The Iranians must be taught that as long as they’re responsible for the attacks on Israel they also won’t be safe.
If Israeli soldiers in the Galilee are threatened by Iranian activity in Lebanon, why should Iranian soldiers be secure in their own country? And if Israelis in Sderot are sitting in bomb shelters because of Iran, why should Iranians in Shiraz be able to sit in their living rooms? If Tel Aviv or Haifa is under threat, why should it be possible to walk freely through the markets of Tehran? Aren’t there Sunni militias with grudges against with Iran? There are, and plenty of them. If you orchestrate attacks on us, we’ll orchestrate attacks on you. That’s how it should be; that simple, that symmetrical.
Our response in Gaza has been weak, supposedly because of the tension in the North. But the threats from the North and the South are both the work of Iran. Who says we can only strike at weeds above the ground? What’s wrong with giving the roots some attention as well? A response aimed at the source of the evil will be much more effective. Iran won’t be able to accept attacks on its own country, just like we shouldn’t accept attacks on ours. No country would. The responsible parties have to pay, both the ones who pull the triggers and those who give the orders. A Hamas position shouldn’t be the only targeted response to a missile. A Syrian village shouldn’t be the only attempted target of a drone strike. And Lebanon shouldn’t be the only country suffering the consequences of Hezbollah aggression.
The savage war between Sunnis and Shi’ites is more than 1,300 years old. The Iranians hate Sunnis, and the Saudis who represent the Sunni world, much more than they hate us. For Shi’ites, the conflict with Sunnis is a battle for life and death. But unlike the Sunnis who persecuted them for centuries, we don’t constitute a real threat to them. Persia is a shrewd, ancient nation with a wealth of tradition and culture. That’s why their senseless anti-Israel policy is so incomprehensible.
Why do we matter to them at all? Why should Iranians have to endure so much suffering, poverty and distress? They’re wasting their money in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, and collapsing under international sanctions. They could be living a decent, happy life. What they need is a history lesson: Ultimately, no one ever came out on top after messing with the Jews.
Translated from Hebrew by Sara Kitai, skitai@kardis.co.il.