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Now Comes the Test of Who Supports Israelis' Human Right to Self-Defense

(Washington Post) Natan Sharansky - World leaders have denounced Hamas' barbarism and affirmed the legitimacy of Israel's right to self-defense. But what about tomorrow? What will happen as the Palestinian death toll rises? Hamas has a powerful unconventional weapon: Palestinian civilians, used as human shields. The more Palestinians who die because Hamas terrorists cynically hide behind them, the more the free world will turn against Israel. It is only a matter of weeks, or days, or even hours, until articles will appear in major publications depicting the Israeli government as indiscriminately targeting innocent Palestinians, and the UN will pass resolutions demanding that we cease our war of self-defense. I was a member of Israel's security cabinet when we made crucial decisions about how to fight terror during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s, at a time when hundreds of Israeli civilians were targeted and killed simply for living in the Jewish state. In light of these experiences, I know with certainty that Israel expends more effort than any other country during wartime in trying to minimize harm to innocent civilians on the enemy side. The world would benefit immeasurably if Saturday's attack were to prompt free nations, together with leading human rights organizations, to finally unite completely in the fight against terrorism - and in the belief that every state, Jewish or not, has the right to defend itself against the indiscriminate murder of its citizens. The writer, a former Soviet dissident and refusenik, was an Israeli government minister and chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel.
2023-10-11 00:00:00
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