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Dan Ehrlich

Bombing Many to Get One: Not Morally Jewish

A cheap tactic in Israel’s current war is using aircraft bombing to kill Hamas terrorists when the job could be done by infantry troops with far less risk of killing innocent civilians.

Yet, what is often the case, something cheap now may end up costing a lot more in the future.

This type of cheap pest control has been routine for more 15 years of warfare against Hamas and has been the main reason international opinion quickly turns against Israel once civilian bodies are pictured amidst the devastation.

Yes, there’s less risk to IDF ground troops having jet fighters do the wet work. But, the death toll among civilians, innocent or not, is a fact in such a war.

Most recently air strikes hit residential areas in the Jabalia refugee camp on Gaza City’s outskirts on Tuesday, killing more than 50 people and injuring around 150, Hamas officials said.

Even discounting Hamas’ often inflated casualty figures, the sight of a large bomb crater where a building once stood is evidence something devastating happened there.

The Israeli military said it had targeted the camp to kill Ibrahim Biari – a key Hamas commander linked to the group’s 7 October attack on Israel who, it said, had taken over civilian buildings in Gaza City with his fighters.

But IDF officials claim to have killed Nasim Abu Ajina, instead, whom they identified as the commander of a Hamas combat battalion in northern Gaza.

I find it amazing that a people with the super intelligence (213 Nobel Prizes) and a high moral compass can only come up with aerial bombing as a weapon of choice to eradicate terrorists.

One aspect of Judaism that separates it from Hamas is respect for life, all life.

Israel says its goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties with pinpoint bombing accuracy. But, its known Hamas bases its terror troops in the midst of innocent civilians. This means some civilians will be sacrificed to kill the Hamas troops.

This goes against basic Jewish morality.

It’s probable that Iran was pulling the strings via Qatar in the October 7 attack. As much as Israel claims to be targeting Hamas leadership, the fact is those top leaders aren’t in Gaza, they’re based in Qatar.

It’s also probable that the October 7 Hamas attack was perpetrated out of fear of Israel’s growing acceptance in the Arab world…an acceptance that now is in danger as the Arab civilian body count grows with each day of the war.

Not only did the Netanyahu government fail to prevent the October massacre, its thirst for revenge is putting at risk the Abraham Accords and increasing the chances of a wider war.

Yet, Netanyahu is hoping his massive war of vengeance predicted to last months will deflect the reality of his failure. His end game: As always, to stay in power.

About the Author
A London based American journalist with a long wide ranging career spanning print, radio TV and online news.
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