By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: REUTERS)Botched missionRegarding “Botched Gaza mission leads to massive escalation” (November 13), to err is human, to forgive is divine. And yet, your screaming headline, strongly suggesting ineptitude and gross negligence, leaves no room for forgiveness.Until the Lord returns to us the urim v’tumim, that divine oracle advising generals when and where to commence wars, mistakes in battle will be inevitable.The army will apply the appropriate investigation to determine what in this mission ran afoul. But the brave soldiers and their commanders who were sent on this dangerous operation will live the rest of their lives with the memory of this disaster. The implication that it was “botched” can only add to their pain.FRED GOTTLIEB, M.D.JerusalemShame on The Jerusalem Post for suggesting that the Gaza operation was ill-planned or executed, thus tarnishing the memory of the gallant officer who died for his country. By all accounts, it had been carefully prepared but ran into an exceptional piece of bad luck.MICHELLE MAZELJerusalemThe unfortunate mission that played out in a most violent outburst of hundreds of rockets proves that it is not possible to leave festering on our border a terrorist organization whose sole purpose is to destroy the Jewish state.No matter how many understandings are reached internally or initiated by well-meaning outside interlocutors to elicit calm, the fact remains that these violent incidents will continue unabated.We must either therefore accept the status quo or take the bold and rightful decision to fully protect the nation – especially those citizens living close to the border who suffer most when any incursion is carried out.It is incumbent on our leaders to show that this war by stealth will no longer be tolerated, that our borders are sacrosanct, and those that preach violence and hatred must in turn suffer the consequences and be accountable to their people for their actions.STEPHEN VISHNICKTel AvivAnd the rockets’ red glareRegarding “On the border during rocket fire” (November 13), according to Wikipedia, Nazi Germany terrorized the United Kingdom by shooting 1,402 V2 missiles at civilian targets in World War II. In comparison, the terrorist regime in Gaza has fired more than 400 missiles in a single day at Israeli civilians.Thank God Israel has developed the ability to neutralize many of the missiles before they land or the scope of damage and death would have been unimaginable.Nazi Germany is gone; the Britons again are safe. Unfortunately, Israelis in the South still have to live with the outrageous reality that thousands of missiles nearby are pointed right at them.DAVID WEINBERGRehovotIn May of this year, enshrouded in thick billowing smoke from burning tires, thousands of violent rioting Gazans stormed the Israeli border armed with knives, guns, firebombs and more. Their goal: to vandalize Israeli property and attack innocent civilians. Israeli soldiers defended the border with admirable restraint: riot dispersal means and only when necessary, live fire.The then-United Nations high commissioner for Human Rights condemned Israel for using “wholly disproportionate” force in its response to that large-scale mortal threat. We hear “disproportionate” a lot – it is a favorite term used by diplomats and nations to condemn Israel nearly anytime it acts to defend itself.This week, after an apparent intelligence-gathering mission in Gaza ran into complications and ended with casualties on both sides, Hamas responded by firing more than 400 lethal missiles at the civilian population in many of Israel’s southern cities – clearly a war crime/ crime against humanity.I searched the Internet. Has the UN or any world leader condemned Gaza’s hail of terror rockets causing damage and casualties as “wholly disproportionate?” Unsurprisingly – no. Apparently, the world has a double standard; that phrase can be applied only to an action that Israel takes.FAY SULLIVANBeit ShemeshFomenting violenceRegarding “Women break through in midterms” (November 9), there is nothing wrong with women breaking through in national politics, but it is entirely unfair and untrue for the writer to describe the Democratic Party women candidates as “intelligent representatives who – unlike the people surrounding the Trump White House and the radical Right – are not calling for violence, bigotry, or hatred.”First, several intelligent female Republican representatives defeated failed Democratic candidates.Second, it has not been females in the Trump White House, such as Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Sanders, who have been calling for violence, bigotry and hatred.Rather, it has been the most prominent female members of the Democratic Party including Hillary Clinton, Maxine Waters, Elizabeth Warren – to name but three.Add to that list the Democratic-supporting Hollywood elite, including Madonna, who famously called for blowing up the White House.But it is the “interesting female representatives” of her own party that give us all grave concern – People like Linda Sarsour and Rashida Tlaib, who hate Israel with a bigoted vengeance and whose rhetoric results in the very violence the writer professes to abhor.BARRY SHAWSenior Associate for Public Diplomacy,Israel Institute for Strategic StudiesNetanyaLack of objectivity“Report: 13 Sri Lankans who fled to Israel are imprisoned here and deprived of rights” (November 12) is a classic and upsetting example of how to purposely embed in readers a strong negative picture of Israel while the facts may prove this totally unfounded.The headline and the first 85% of the article paint a picture of inhumane, callous treatment of people who fled here in fear of their lives – imprisoned here and deprived of all normal rights. Only my curiosity and the incongruity of how such extreme actions – so totally opposite to everything Israel stands for and more befitting some of our neighboring countries – could happen here, kept me reading until the end.There, in the last few centimeters of text, we learn of the immigration authority’s response, that at the border, these people “explicitly admitted that they had arrived for work in Israel” and that “the subject of asylum was not raised at any point” until a lawyer was obtained for them and held discussions with them.This puts the picture in a different light altogether and at the very least leaves a large question mark over the entire story.The Ninth Commandment urges us to be honest, which, if we all obeyed it, would avoid most of the conflicts in this world. This is not honesty.CHARLES SMITHMoshav ShoreshWanted: A European armyRegarding “Trump, Macron agree on defense after ‘insulting’ European army (November 11), US President Donald Trump has repeatedly and correctly stated that compared to his country’s contribution and its connection to the defense of Europe, the situation financially is not on a level playing field.Do we want another catastrophic conflict as was faced by millions in the world? Do we require a repetition of the soldier graves of the Armistice centenary in France created by the misery, death and waste in the First and Second World Wars, where millions were unnecessarily slaughtered due to incompetence, lack of tough leadership and collaboration of the French with the Nazis?We recall that during the two world wars, the French and British could not fight their way out of a paper bag when threatened. Had not the Americans to come to their aid, European countries and England would now be speaking German.Macron should listen to Trump, who is advocating a competent army for Europe for its own self-preservation, protection and future.JACK DAVISJerusalemAmerica’s media languageRegarding “Israeli elections or a US peace plan” (November 9), I’m dismayed to see The Jerusalem Post using the language of America’s media. So what if the prime minister is a “right-winger?” “Right-winger” Menachem Begin returned the Sinai to Egypt, even though it meant dismantling Yamit. “Right-winger” Ariel Sharon removed numerous Israeli communities from Gaza in a vain effort to achieve peace. Given the manner in which Hamas has reciprocated the unilateral withdrawal, is it so terrible that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hasn’t negotiated recently on the establishment of a Palestinian state?Even as the article chides him for the lack of negotiations, it admits that the Palestinian leaders have a long record of refusing to come to the table. No one knows what is in the coming US proposal. We can only hope that US President Donald Trump has been successful in getting the Palestinian leaders to realize that their intransigence will no longer be tolerated.TOBY BLOCKAtlanta
