The
world is up in arms (over the 62 Gazans killed). Human Rights forums – the same
forums currently taking a rain-check on the Syrian genocide – are beside
themselves. Erdogan is threatening anything that moves. South Africa recalled
her ambassador for consultations. The Europeans are demanding explanations. The
media is castigating Israel for using “disproportionate means” to defend its
territorial integrity and the armchair experts are insisting that Israel must
certainly have some magic technology to protect her borders from those wishing
to murder its citizens. Everybody who has something to say is saying it. Nobody
wants to be left out.
Neither do I. So let’s consider the facts.
•
In 2005 Israel unilaterally withdrew its armed forces and civilian presence
from Gaza and returned to the pre-1967 internationally recognized border.
•
The territory – supposedly a part of the proposed two state solution – is
governed by Hamas, an acknowledged and accomplished terror organization with a
track record to prove it.
•
Since achieving its “independence”, Gaza has initiated three major military
confrontations with Israel. Even during the relatively peaceful interludes
between these confrontations, thousands of rockets fired from Gaza continued to
rain down on civilian targets in Southern Israel.
•
In order to limit the free flow of arms from Iran to Gaza, Israel and Egypt
imposed a naval blockade on Gaza. This blockade was deemed legal by the UN
appointed Palmer Commission. In the words of the Commission: “Israel faces a
real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza. The naval blockade
was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from
entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of
international law.”
•
Gaza is apparently threatened with a humanitarian crisis. Nonetheless, its
rulers have accumulated an impressive arsenal of missiles and invested millions
of dollars to create an infrastructure of terror tunnels to enable commando
attacks on civilian neighborhoods inside Israel.
•
Hamas continues to hold two Israeli citizens hostage and the bodies of two
Israeli servicemen killed in action in 2014.
•
Earlier in the week, Hamas militants destroyed the power supply lines from
Israel to Gaza.
•
This is only some of what we Israelis have had to live with for the past 13
years and no, there doesn’t appear to be any realistic prospect for positive
change.
Now
let’s consider what Israel has done to counter this horrific state of affairs.
•
Israel developed the Iron Dome air defense system to intercept the barrage of
missiles being fired at civilian targets in Israel.
•
Israel is currently constructing an underground security obstacle on its
sovereign territory to effectively thwart the threat of terror tunnels on its
civilian population.
•
In an attempt to provide basic services to the Gaza’s civilian population,
Israel provides both power and water to Gaza.
•
Thousands of trucks transport food and medical supplies on a daily basis to
Gaza.
•
The accumulated debt of the Palestinian Authority in respect of these services
is enormous. You’ve got it. My tax dollars are financing those seeking to kill
me.
Now
let’s consider what Israel hasn’t done.
•
Israel hasn’t developed an effective technology to prevent destruction of
certain of her security infrastructures.
•
Israel hasn’t developed an effective technology to prevent the hostile
infiltration of its borders.
If
Israel had such technologies, she would certainly have used them. Had Israel’s
objective been to massacre as many Gazans as possible, 62 casualties out of a
target of 40,000 should be considered a dismal failure.
I
know this is difficult to comprehend because Israeli technology is at the
source of everything that opens and closes. From military innovations to cyber
security, from medical technologies to life-saving pharmaceuticals, from
communications to driverless vehicles, from wastewater recycling to water
desalinization. You name it. Israel’s done it.
When
other countries are confronted with security issues like these, they
traditionally solve them by, for want of a better phrase, knocking the shit out
of those wanting to harm their citizens. They wouldn’t waste time and effort
developing technologies to minimize the loss of enemy lives.
Imagine
if Israel reacted like other countries do. Imagine if Israel reacted like the
Russians did in Ukraine, or like they did in Ossetia and Abkhazia, or in
Afghanistan or in Chechnya. Imagine if Israel reacted like the Turks did in
Kurdish Syria or in Armenia. Or like the Belgians did in the Congo, or like the
French did in Algeria. And so the list goes on and on and on and on.
So
in light of the above, let’s consider what happened last week:
•
40,000 Gazans demonstrated violently on Israel’s border in an attempt to
destroy the security obstacles designed to protect Israeli civilians. In true
Hamas tradition, their leaders led from behind while their women and children
provided cover for their soldiers who focused on achieving the military
objectives of the demonstration.
•
In the absence of an effective technology to protect Israel’s territorial
integrity, Israel’s Defense Forces killed 62 people – 53 of them Hamas or
Islamic Jihad militants. That’s surgical by any standard.
•
Not a single Gazan who went about his daily routine by going to work or to
school was killed.
And
so dear members of the UN Human Rights Council, Emperor Erdogan, President
Ramaphosa, Ms. Federica Mogherini, esteemed members of the Press and all the
armchair experts of this world, I must tell you that I’m proud of my country
and the concern it shows for human life.
I
salute Israel’s leadership and her defense forces. They risk their lives on a
daily basis to ensure my safety. I salute the military ethic of the officers
and the soldiers of Israel’s Defense Forces. I salute the resolve of my country
to continue developing technologies for the benefit of all mankind despite our
precarious security situation and the hostility and hatred displayed by our
neighbors.
