Continued hatred
Regarding “Paradigms will need to shift for Sderot rebirth” (October 16): Hamas has demonstrated for all to understand that it is a fatal misjudgment to leave territory, placing it in the hands of our enemies. As Herb Keinon stated succinctly, “Over the last 25 years, Israel voluntarily removed two buffer zones created along hostile borders,” Gush Katif, where “settlements and the army installations inside Gaza provided one buffer zone, and southern Lebanon… Both were removed with tragic consequences.”
Disregarding the lesson of October 7, the world, and many Israelis, will continue to insist that we leave Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and allow the creation of an Arab state – totalitarian, repressive, corrupt, and irredentist, with a hostile population and a growing armed force. That it will be demilitarized is as risible as the claim that it will be democratic, “living side by side in peace with Israel.”
Such a state will be a breeding ground for continued hatred of Israel and a territory for launching acts of terror. And, as a member state of the UN, as opposed to a terrorist organization, it will be untouchable.
Israel could have destroyed Hezbollah (the organization, not the ideology). Instead, we stood by as it developed into a potent military force. Having learned nothing, we were in the process of doing the same with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We are now spectators as Iran promotes the growth of terrorist forces in Judea and Samaria.
What did Israel’s governments do for decades as the cancer grew in the north, south, and east? They maintained a policy of keep things as calm as possible; react, but not with overwhelming force. Buy a few years of relative quiet.
The old Israeli paradigm was “offense,” the new is “defense.” We build walls and fences. The tragedy of October 7 showed us how well that works.
The doctrine of defense has been allowing Iran to build and tighten a noose around us. We must fear that our government will exacerbate this process by allowing the Palestinian Authority, with the help of the EU, to expand into Area C while limiting Jewish building, in accordance with US pressure.
The doctrines of “defense” and maintaining “calm” are recipes for defeat.
BERNARD SMITH
Jerusalem
Significant visit
Regarding “Joe Biden on unprecedented wartime flight to visit Tel Aviv: ‘Israel is not alone, freeing hostages is top priority’” (October 19): As a dual US-Israeli citizen, I wish to thank President Biden for his significant visit to Israel during this time of war.
I was a member of the board of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington during the 1970s and ‘80s, and periodically we were visited by members of Congress. Senator Biden came to meet with us, and what was striking that I remember was that he chided us for not being pro-Israel enough, to give support to him in his activities in supporting Israel. I know that his support for Israel is genuine and heartfelt.
My only criticism is that in some of his remarks he takes a “holier than thou” attitude in warning Israel to avoid civilian casualties. The IDF has always taken great measures to do just that and there is no need for him to stress this, although he might be doing it for his domestic audience.
JACK COHEN
Beersheba
Laws of war
Why did The Jerusalem Post publish the false and divisive “War, humanity, and humanitarian law” (October 18) by Eden Farber? What she wrote ignores the laws of war.
She states that Israel needs to distinguish between Hamas and civilians, but it is Hamas that is required by the laws of war to make its forces distinguishable. By not doing so, they are illegal combatants and Israel is not required to somehow identify them while they hide among civilians.
There are differences between humanitarian law and the laws of warfare. Many of these can be determined by whether there is a valid military objective to an action and whether the action is reasonable in relation to these objectives. It would be illegal for Israel to starve non-combatants out of vengeance or to depopulate the Gaza Strip, but because Israel has valid military objectives, it can legally maintain a siege even if non-combatants starve.
The removal of an enemy force, the return of hostages, and the destruction of the ability to wage war are all valid military objectives of a siege and Israel has no reason to spend the lives of its soldiers to accomplish these objectives without a siege.
In response to the statements made by Ms. Farber:
A siege that starves hundreds of thousands of civilians is not illegal if done for a valid military purpose and the laws of war do not require Israel to allow aid consisting of food, water, fuel, or electricity. Any transfer of aid requires the agreement of both Israel and Hamas to ensure the safety of everyone involved, and so that the aid is not diverted to Hamas. Israel is certainly not required to supply aid to enemy civilians or sell materials to aid organizations.
Forbidding medical aid is illegal if the medical aid is solely for the use of civilians, but not if Hamas can be reasonably expected to use the aid, as is likely.
Evacuating one million civilians without humanitarian resources would be illegal but Israel did not do this. The civilians are not under Israeli control. Hamas as the controlling power is required to remove civilians from danger, and Hamas is responsible for ensuring they have reasonable supplies. Farber confuses a humanitarian gesture with forcible population transfers.
Indiscriminate attacks are illegal but attacks on military targets are legal if civilian casualties are not excessive to the military benefits of the attack (as she indicates elsewhere). Collective punishment is illegal but a siege is not collective punishment since the besieged people are clearly not “under the power of” the besieging forces.
On a final note, Farber seems to not be aware of the laws regarding reprisals. Directly from the ICRC: “A ‘reprisal’ is a breach of international humanitarian law, which would otherwise be unlawful but in exceptional cases is considered lawful as an enforcement measure in response to a previous breach of international humanitarian law by the enemy, with the purpose of terminating the enemy’s violation.”
DONALD RICH
Haifa
Although I am not a lawyer, it is clear to me that Eden Farber is lecturing the wrong side. Hamas makes no distinction between combatants and civilians. Its fighters do not wear uniforms; it hides munitions in homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals; it commits double war crimes by firing missiles at Israeli population centers from Gazan population centers. Only the most rabid Jew-haters would argue that Hamas was justified in killing Israeli babies because those babies would grow up to serve in the IDF.
What place does “proportionality” have in an unprovoked attack on civilians? After the ethnic cleansing of Jews from land of religious and historic importance to them, Israel liberated Gaza and the “West Bank” in 1967 only after Jordan, allied with Egypt and Syria, waged a war instigated with the open intention of destroying the Jewish state and annihilating its people.
Since then Israel has offered to share some of the land with the Palestinians, but it hasn’t been enough for the PA and Hamas. They refused to negotiate to set the secure and recognized borders called for in the Oslo Accords, and diverted monies donated for their people’s benefit to attempts to delegitimize and destroy Israel instead.
Some thirty percent of the “homemade” missiles that Hamas and other terrorist groups fire in Gaza malfunction and fall short, never reaching Israel. One such incident caused an explosion at a hospital when the crashing missile ignited munitions stored near the building. Clearly, Hamas has not been taking precautions to protect Gaza’s civilians. Some would even say that Hamas welcomes the deaths of Gaza’s civilians, gaining sympathy for their cause by falsely claiming that Israel was responsible for the deaths.
Was Israel acting inhumanely in stopping the supply of water, food, medicine, and fuel to Gaza? Or was it putting Gaza under siege instead of carpet bombing the entire strip?
Israel is following the “rules of war,” while Hamas completely ignores them, and would leave Israelis in danger of suffering multiple October 7s.
TOBY F. BLOCK
Atlanta
Feeling inspired and safer
US President Biden’s statements and actions related to Hamas’s barbaric attacks deserve high commendation. In his article, “The hug Israel needed” (October 20), with the subheading, “In his flying visit, Biden proved to be a supportive friend, concerned brother, empathetic mother, and moralizing father,” Herb Keinon points out that “Biden... has been able to touch Israelis in a way its own leadership has been unable to.”
Other recent articles that show the strong support by the president and his administration are “Biden’s support is personal but it also puts him firmly in pro-Israel mainstream” and “This is no time for neutrality, says [US Defense Secretary] Lloyd Austin” (both October 15).
President Biden has also called Hamas “sheer evil,” pledged unwavering support for Israel, and has given a speech that left many Israelis feeling inspired and safer. His talk has been called historic, compassionate, heartfelt and genuine, endearing, and unforgettable. Former Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren called it, “the most passionately pro-Israel in history.”
In addition, Biden plans to supply military aid to Israel and has moved two aircraft carrier attack groups to the area as a sign of support and a warning to Hezbollah.
By very sharp contrast, “Trump blasts PM over readiness” (October 13), resulting in DeSantis saying, “It is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for president, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel.” In addition, Trump has stated, without any evidence, that if he was president now, Hamas would not have attacked Israel, and he has called Hezbollah “very smart.”
RICHARD H. SCHWARTZ
Shoresh
Like his previous statements regarding Hamas, President Biden’s visit to Israel seemed to hit all the right notes until you look at what he actually said (or didn’t say).
Biden confirmed Israel’s right to self-defense, but then instructed Israel not to be consumed by rage. Instead, we are supposed to exercise restraint in order not to repeat the mistakes the US made after 9/11. Imagine if anyone had counseled America to exercise restraint following that darkest day.
Biden said “it appeared” that Israel was not responsible for the Gazan hospital tragedy, but then pointed out that “many other people disagree” – as if the inaccuracy of the blood libel spread by Hamas and its media apologists was still up for debate. Strangely, he referred to those who fired the deadly rocket as “the other team.” No, Mr. President, this is not a cricket match.
On his way back to Washington on Air Force 1, Biden emphasized that he was not saying that Hamas (actually, it was an Islamic Jihad rocket) hit the hospital intentionally, but that “you gotta know how to shoot straight.”
He pivoted to repeating the need to find a way for everyone to live in peace, including adopting the two-state solution. According to Biden, Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. (Forget that the Palestinians elected the terrorist organization.) This allowed him to promise $100 million in aid to the West Bank and Gaza even though much of the money will go to the PA’s “pay-for-slay” program or will be stolen by Hamas. Apparently, murdering Jews pays real dividends.
Biden’s visit may have provided Israel a transitory symbolic benefit, but the overall impact is limited. The trip was primarily a photo-op meant to raise his disastrous poll numbers back home. During the event, Biden demonstrated weakness and equivocation on the world stage.
EFRAIM COHEN
Zichron Ya’acov
Terrorists on our doorstep
Regarding “‘The Sabbath Massacres’” (October 22): The Palestinian people voted for Hamas when they could have done so for the PLO instead. Yes, both are not friends of Israel. However, when you align yourself with a known barbaric terrorist organization, the future is going to be fraught with issues that, as shown on October 7, can and do spiral out of control.
Unfortunately, the world considers Gaza to be full of innocent civilians. This is far from the truth. Many are collaborators, others are held as human shields by the Hamas mafia, but when you align yourself with such an entity you have to face whatever an incursion into Gaza by the IDF brings about.
The infamous date of October 7 proved we can never have heinous murderous terrorists on our doorstep, all of whom must be eliminated for the protection of our people. Right is on our side along with the togetherness, solidarity, and the determination that the horrors of those terrorist crimes will never be forgotten or allowed to happen again.
We thankfully are not the Jews of the 1930s. We have a country and people to protect and will do so because there is no other choice.
STEPHEN VISHNICK
Tel Aviv