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Source: https://www.jns.org/six-months-of-valor-and-suffering/
Israel Is Demonstrating What the West Will Have to Do to Defend Its Civilization
(JNS) Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein - Six months after Oct. 7, the Israel-Hamas war has made everyone more aware of the preciousness of life. They are determined not to allow it to be taken. They are saddened by the vicious hatred of Israel's enemies and those enemies' willingness to commit horrendous atrocities. They are determined to fight those enemies more intensely than ever. Each day, there are new stories of unprecedented courage and faith. Israel has been fighting a long and difficult war provoked by the worst attack suffered by Jews since the Holocaust. This war has forced us to accept that hatred is stronger than any attempt at coexistence and tolerance, stronger than concessions like the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. Israel is demonstrating what the West will have to do to defend its civilization. Fearless soldiers have lost some 500 of their comrades - and thousands have been wounded. These soldiers have demonstrated that when massacre strikes a democratic nation, that nation can fight back while still protecting its values. And it can do so with all its citizens on board. From the moment the Oct. 7 attack began, everyone rushed to put their lives on the line. They are fighting a war of survival. They know millions of people, hundreds of thousands of displaced persons, and their own families are depending on them. One soldier told me, "My grandfather was in Auschwitz, my father fought in the Yom Kippur War in '73, now 'never again' is me." The writer, a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, served as vice president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Italian Chamber of Deputies.