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Israel's Gaza War Is Self-Defense, No Apologies Needed

(Jerusalem Post) Prof. Gil Troy - I won't apologize for Israel's justified actions in self-defense since Oct. 7. Beyond unfairly counting natural deaths and Palestinians killed by rocket misfires, Hamas inflates the number of "innocents" killed in Gaza by at least 12,000 - the number of terrorists killed. Echoing Hamas' statistics makes all Palestinians "innocent," no matter how murderous, or deems the IDF the world's worst army, only killing civilians, missing every terrorist. Why should Israel apologize when Hamas still holds 134 hostages, when we've barely finished identifying Israelis burned to a crisp, when our sexually abused and maimed brothers and sisters are still adjusting to the wounds that will forever haunt them? Is anyone demanding Hamas apologize for the destruction it unleashed on Oct. 7, or seeking apologies from Palestinians who joined and cheered? Hamas attacks. Israel counterattacks justifiably. Hamas terrorists hide behind defenses they built by stealing humanitarian aid, exposing their women and children to make propaganda points - and the world buys it. So, no, Israel should not apologize. Nor has Israel behaved in an "over-the-top" way or "dehumanized" Palestinians - as President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken unfairly charged. As an American historian, I understand that the most pressing moral question is: "Is the war justified?" Every liberal democrat knows that the moral imperative when fighting a just war is to save yourself, your comrades, and your country. I, for one, am proud of how effectively and carefully Israel has defended itself. Both Blinken and Biden supported the Iraq War and the other post-9/11 wars which killed over 400,000 civilians. I wonder if either believes America "dehumanized" the Germans or the Japanese during World War II. America has never apologized for any disproportionate deaths in wartime. Apparently, I missed the lectures describing the times America stopped short of winning to please an ally or provided humanitarian aid during wartime - for the enemy to steal. The writer, an American presidential historian, is a Senior Fellow in Zionist Thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute.
2024-02-15 00:00:00
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