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The Only Formula for Israel's Survival Is Victory

(JNS) Jonathan S. Tobin - The reason why so many people around the world are moved to demonstrate their sympathy and solidarity for the perpetrators of the largest mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust isn't much of a mystery. That Israel is being judged by standards applied to no other nation on earth is obvious. Although pro-Hamas propagandists and their fellow travelers call what is happening a "genocide," the human cost of conflict is minuscule when measured against actual genocides, such as those that have occurred in recent decades in Africa or the ongoing campaign by China against its Muslim Uyghur population. There was no international movement - let alone mass demonstrations - in the streets of the world's cities about any of those conflicts and genocides. Even the illegal and brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine hasn't generated the same kind of intense passion in the form of public demonstrations. Since the 1993 Oslo peace accords, three decades of Palestinian terrorism and rejection of Israeli/U.S. offers of statehood have sobered Israelis up about the intentions of their Arab neighbors. The Second Intifada - five years of Palestinian suicide bombings of civilians on buses, and in restaurants and schools from 2000 to 2005 - and now the horrors that took place on Oct. 7 have created a broad consensus among Israelis mandating both the elimination of Hamas and opposition to Palestinian statehood for the foreseeable future. Neither the territorial withdrawals of Oslo nor its disengagement from Gaza in 2005 made Israel popular. The same was true of the offers of statehood made to the Palestinians in 2000, 2001 and 2008. In fact, the opposite was true. The more Israel took risks for peace by giving up its rights and endangering its security, the more despised it became around the world. Rather than convincing the international community of its good intentions, concessions to the Palestinians made Israel appear to be a thief returning stolen property to its rightful owners. Tragically, the spectacle of Jewish suffering and victimhood on Oct. 7 had a similar impact. Rather than demonstrating the barbaric nature and genocidal goals of Israel's opponents, the anti-Zionists argued that the Jews had it coming. The spilling of Jewish blood has only incited more hatred against Jews. If the current war ends in anything but total victory over Hamas, Israelis should expect no wave of sympathy or understanding. The only formula for Jewish survival is the one that Zionist statesman Ze'ev Jabotinsky wrote about in his 1923 essay, "The Iron Wall," in which he preached that only when the Arab world realizes that it can't defeat the Jews can peace be possible. Those who care about Israel must take these lessons to heart and realize that the only solution to its current situation is for Jerusalem to ignore its critics and push through to victory.
2024-04-02 00:00:00
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