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Beyond the Narrative of Blame: The Urgent Need for an Honest Reckoning on Israel and October 7

(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Oded Ailam, former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad and now a researcher at the Jerusalem Center, declined an invitation to participate in a European documentary focusing on Israel's failures on October 7, 2023. This is his response: Following the massacre of October 7, Israel remains in the throes of a collective trauma, leading to intense self-recrimination. Yet the obsessive focus on our failures risks diverting attention from the true threat - the ideology that drove the October 7 attack in the first place. The October 7 massacre was the culmination of an ideological war driven by Hamas and its backers, who have cultivated a relentless culture of hatred, jihad, and the eradication of Israel. However, instead of facing this reality, much of the world chooses to exploit Israel's moment of vulnerability, portraying us as aggressors committing so-called "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza. This twisted narrative does not just distort the truth, it strengthens the wave of anti-Israel sentiment sweeping the world. Radical Islam is not merely waging war against Israel, it is waging war against any system, any people, any ideology that does not conform to its absolutist vision. Israel stands on the front lines of this battle. Yet, instead of acknowledging this, much of the world chooses to focus exclusively on Israel's internal failings, thus emboldening our enemies. If there is any hope for peace, it must begin with an honest reckoning, not within Israel alone but within Palestinian society itself. There must be a total rejection of Hamas's ideology - embedded so deeply within Palestinian society, an abandonment of the so-called "right of return," and, most importantly, a fundamental shift in the education of Palestinian children away from indoctrination and towards coexistence. Given the existential threat Israel faces, this is not the time to fixate on Israel's failures while treating Hamas's monstrous atrocities - enthusiastically supported by large segments of the Gazan population and radicalized Muslims worldwide - as a mere side note. A true reckoning must confront the entire reality, including the radical forces that orchestrated October 7 and the global enablers who continue to justify their actions.
2025-03-18 00:00:00
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