Dan Perry and Daniel R. DePetris debate:
Dan Perry:
The world cannot protect all borders, but the case of October 7 was unique: A jihadist terrorist group was allowed to forcibly take over a delicately situated territory, arm itself to the teeth, dig attack tunnels, and oppress the local population for almost 20 years. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah in Lebanon—the world treated these as acceptable, as the problems of perhaps Israel and Lebanon. But these criminal organizations can create butterfly effects. It’s not too far-fetched to claim the massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023, not only badly backfired against Palestinians, but also helped Donald Trump return to office, and in this way affected, say, Ukraine. These militias must be seen as the enemies of all humanity.
Daniel R. DePetris:
The blunt reality is that terrorism is a problem to be managed, not solved. While this might be a cliche, it’s one that rings true; states can’t win the war on terrorism any more than they can win the war on poverty or the war on drugs. What states can do, however, is limit the degree to which terrorist groups can operate. This includes everything from treating threat assessments from intelligence analysts lower down the chain of command with the seriousness they deserve to working on comprehensive strategies that seek to undermine the narratives and causes these terrorist groups use to gain recruits and resources. Unfortunately for Israel’s political leadership, none of this occurred in the lead-up to the October 7 attack; threats about a Hamas build-up along the Israel-Gaza border were discarded, and political resolutions to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute were left in purgatory.
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