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After Oct. 7, Israelis Can't Live with an Armed Gaza

(New York Times) Steven Erlanger - After the Hamas invasion on Oct. 7, Doron Shabty, his wife, and their two small children hid in Sderot, near the border with Gaza, and survived. A reservist in the infantry, he went into the army the next day. After more than 100 days in Gaza, Shabty, 31, said that to restore Israelis' faith in their country's ability to protect them, there cannot be a return to the situation of Oct. 6. "We can't live with an armed Gaza - we just can't do that," he said. The shock of Oct. 7 reminded Israelis that they have powerful enemies next door who wish them dead. Accompanied by a powerful new sense of Israel's vulnerability, Israeli attitudes toward the war, which Israeli Jews overwhelmingly support, inform virtually their every expectation for the future. It is likely to do so for a long time to come. According to the latest Peace Index survey from Tel Aviv University, 94% of Israeli Jews and 82% of the total population think the Israeli military has used "adequate or too little force" in Gaza. Some 88% of all Jewish Israelis think the number of Palestinians killed or wounded in Gaza is justified by the war. Only 27% of Jewish Israelis (and 24% of Palestinians) support a two-state solution.
2024-02-18 00:00:00
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