Eric R. Mandel
After extraordinary tactical successes against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iranian ballistic missile and nuclear targets, Israel faces its most underestimated and enduring adversary in Hamas. Despite the physical devastation in Gaza, Hamas still holds living hostages — and with them, the leverage to shape Israel’s international standing and internal politics.
Former allies, including the UK and France, have shifted their posture so dramatically that they now offer statehood as a reward for terrorism. These governments no longer condition recognition of a Palestinian state on even minimal reforms — such as Hamas disarming, its leaders going into exile, or the Palestinian Authority halting its educational incitement of violence and delegitimization of Israel in schools and state-run media. The moral asymmetry is stark: Hamas’s use of human shields, its indiscriminate targeting of Israeli civilians, and its genocidal charter are routinely ignored by international actors who once claimed to stand against terrorism.
As a Jerusalem Post editorial recently noted, “According to UN data, from May 19 to July 29 of this year, 87 percent of its 2,010 food trucks in Gaza (85 percent by tonnage) were ‘intercepted’ — either peacefully by crowds or forcefully by armed actors. That means only 13 percent of the food meant for hungry Gazans arrived at the proper address.” Yes, Israel shares some responsibility for Gaza’s dire humanitarian crisis. But the world’s insistence on blaming only Israel — while ignoring Hamas’s deliberate strategy of creating chaos at distribution sites — only emboldens terrorists and distorts the moral landscape.
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