The horrors of the massacre of innocent civilians by the Hamas terrorists and the unbelievable number of over 1,400 murdered, have completely changed our rhetoric.
Until now, the Israeli Center did not dare to utter phrases like “erase the...,” or support collective punishment. Now, everything has changed. Current and former security personnel, commentators, journalists, and even thinkers and intellectuals, allow themselves to express themselves freely in favor of erasing entire areas in Gaza, which clearly means having to harm the civilian population.
Statements that were once attributed to delusional extremists have now become commonplace for many in the mainstream. I, too, belong to this camp. I also believe that Gaza should be hit in such a way that subdues the Hamas regime, causes its collapse, and imposes a new order there.
I too am willing to suffer severe consequences for the civilian population there. But it is precisely for this reason that it is important for me to clarify: even if the rhetoric has changed, nothing has changed from a moral-value point of view.
Some say that our policy of a “moral army” should be stopped. Some say that it is necessary to loosen all reins and act as if “the landlord has gone mad.” That is not true. Crushing Gaza does not mean that we are no longer moral.
Exercising a heavy hand, not seen until now, is not “madness.” We are not crazy and we will never act like wild animals, with animal emotions and without using our heads. That is how our enemies behave, those who have lost their humanity. Not us. We simply are not applying what the world tends to consider as moral. In normal times, we are used to identifying morality with love and mercy and with acts of kindness and giving. On the negative side, morality is revealed when we limit our power and prevent ourselves from behaving in an unrestrained manner. But at times such as these, another side of morality is also revealed.
There is right and there is wrong
A morality that places a responsibility on us to destroy the evil around us and in the world. Because when pure evil is revealed in the world, complexity disappears. There is good and there is bad. There is truth and there is falsehood. There is life and there is death. And at this time, the moral stance is to take a clear side and decide who is on each one. The scenes from the Simchat Torah massacre leave no doubt: we are dealing neither with soldiers nor with freedom fighters demanding rights.
The terrorists are not human; they are worse than animals. The sight of the abductees, including women and children, babies and the elderly, being forcibly taken by the terrorists into the Gaza Strip, as well as the joy of the residents there at what happened – all these show that Hamas has a solid civilian base. A whole community that supports them. Whether it is because they have been brainwashed, or they have chosen this does not matter now. It is a fact that there exists a society where respect for life and human rights are at the bottom of their scale of values. And such a society also has responsibility for what is happening there.
WE WANTED to believe that in 2023, such things no longer exist. We wanted to believe that the human race had evolved, that morality and the dignity of life had taken root in the human psyche. But reality slapped us in the face. Our neighbors consist of a murderous society that does not respect basic moral values which are a condition for humane life.
What is the role of morality at this time?
First and foremost, to protect the citizens of Israel from any harm in the present and in the future. But that is not the end of our role. This time we cannot be satisfied with achieving peace for a few years. We have a moral duty to destroy the evil. Those people who murder children and old people in their beds, who abuse women and men, who step on the bodies of our soldiers – should disappear from the world. That is the way to mend the world. Yes, I know it is hard for people to make the connection between fighting, killing, and morality. But whoever does not destroy evil will also not be able to fight for good. The poet of the book of Psalms captured this by saying: “You who love God, hate evil.”
Whoever loves truth, morality, and good, must, in the same measure, hate evil. This is not a contradiction. It is exactly the same thing. Those who can be, should be saved. This is clear. We are not acting out of revenge or destroying for the sake of destruction. We are acting on a moral mission to destroy evil.
During this mission, civilians will also be harmed. There is no other way. The entire society there is part of the story, and it will also pay a price. Especially when we have so many abductees there who we must save at all cost, and yes – the lives of the abductees come before the lives of the Gazans. This is a first-rate moral statement. The IDF must act with all its might and power in Gaza. Not from a lack of pity for our enemy but out of great mercy for mankind and humanity. Not from a loss of judgment but out of a clear recognition of the character of the human society in whose vicinity we wish to live. If we are objects of life, we must now kill. We are not only serving ourselves. We are the messengers of all humanity
The writer, a rabbi, leads the Rabbis and Communities initiative at Ne’emanei Torah Va’Avodah, an