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Source: https://www.jns.org/debunking-the-genocide-myth/
Israel Has the Right to Destroy Hamas to Prevent Another Oct. 7
(JNS) Amb. David Friedman - Genocide is defined as the deliberate killing of a large number of members of an ethnic group with the intention of eliminating that group. Israel's conduct plainly does not meet that definition. First, Israel is responding to an unprovoked, barbaric attack within its borders on Oct. 7, 2023. Second, Israel has shown no intention of eliminating the Palestinians in Gaza, as evidenced by the smallest percentage of civilian relative to militant casualties of any urban war. Third, Israel clearly has the military power to destroy Gaza, but it never would because genocide decidedly is against the Israeli ethos and values. Fourth, Palestinian communities under Israeli control have grown nearly 10-fold since Israel took over. Fifth, 20% of Israeli citizens are Palestinian Arabs and, under Israeli rule, they have ascended to the highest echelons of business, law, medicine and academia. If you don't believe that Israel has the right to destroy Hamas in order to prevent another Oct. 7, then you just hate Jews, and there's nothing more to discuss. If you believe that Israel has such a right but believe that Israel is killing too many people, then you have an obligation to identify a less lethal way to destroy Hamas. I have yet to hear a single critic of Israel offer such a method. The writer is a former U.S. ambassador to Israel.