On Israel

Join me as I wade into a geopolitical issue that has no clean answer, stewarded by multiple sides that are all convinced the very lord above has ordained their victory.

The following ten statements represent my core beliefs on the most recent escalation in Israeli-Palestinian tensions. You need not agree with all of them, or even some of them. But I hope that you will give them the same weight and consideration as many are giving to the Iranian bots and leftist imbeciles who are spewing utter lies and antisemitism on Twitter.

1. Israel has a right to exist as a sovereign, independent Jewish state based on internationally-recognized borders and lands controlled by them both de facto and de jure.

2. Israel has a right to take offensive and defensive military action to defend its borders and its people against Hamas and Islamic Jihad — Iranian-sponsored hostile forces that wish Israel’s destruction by state-sponsored violence, sabotage, terrorism, economic sanction, and political subterfuge. All actions Hamas is taking against Israel is with the express goal of killing all of the Jews living in Israel and replacing Israel in its current form with a Palestinian state.

3. Israel no longer occupies Gaza. Gaza’s citizens bear at least some responsibility for the consequences of electing a terrorist organization whose sworn and stated goal is the destruction of Israel.

4. Hamas is intentionally targeting civilians with rockets in violation of international law. Hamas has renewed its call for suicide bombing campaigns against Israeli civilians.

5. Israel takes all reasonable precautions to avoid harming civilians when it prosecutes targets in Gaza. This includes warning residents who are being used as human shields by Hamas prior to launching attacks.

6. Hamas purposefully uses civilian infrastructure as military command and control centers, staging grounds, supply depots, and even launch pads for their rocket attacks on Israel.

7. Hamas wants Israel to cause as many unintentional Palestinian civilian deaths as possible because Hamas cares more about pushing the narrative of the Israeli “oppressor” than protecting their own people. Hamas is equally, if not more, responsible for civilian deaths than Israel.

8. Israel is justified in attacking purportedly “civilian” infrastructure when it is being used by Hamas as military infrastructure. The destruction of these buildings is proportional to the military necessity of disrupting rocket attacks being directed from, and originating from, those locations.

9. The Iron Dome is a marvelous defensive weapons system. But, its efficacy does not justify Hamas’s deliberate targeting of civilians because if the Iron Dome did not exist, far more Israelis would be dying right now. Those who say that Israel’s military actions are not justified because of the Iron Dome’s effectiveness are literally saying that more Israelis should die before Israel can use force to prevent more rocket attacks.

10. The situation in Gaza should not be conflated with the situation in the West Bank. Settlements are a political problem and require a politician solution. Thousands of rockets being launched are a military problem. If you say that Hamas is justified in launching rockets against Israeli civilians because of settlements, you are endorsing using violence to achieve political goals — the very definition of terrorism.

This situation will never change unless and until the international community stops imposing a double standard on Israel when it takes offensive and defensive military actions that are necessary to prevent potentially lethal attacks on its citizens.

The right of Israel to exist is not a question. It is a fact. Israel’s critics must recognize that when Israel takes steps to attack Hamas in Gaza, it is doing so in order to survive. Israel is not attacking “Gaza,” it is attacking Hamas — the organization bent on Israel’s complete destruction.