No tolerance to real extremists set on our demise

Whilst I respect honest debate with some critics of Israel, those who advocate and fight for our demise because of who we are must be fought by us all with all efforts required to combat a terror that is rapidly escalating.

This is NOT directed at Israel’s friends or our fair critics. Israel as a liberal democracy respects different opinions. I respect the many messages I’ve had from those who respect and accept Israel’s right to exist and self defense who denounce 7th October, but who have challenges with the scale of Israel’s response.

With these critics, with whom I disagree, I am more than happy to have an open dialogue because we empathize about the same things. We both feel deeply the loss of life on both sides and the huge sense of tragedy all round. We debate the Hamas use of human shields, Israel’s response and alternative options and the way forward. Whilst I am passionate in my defense of Israel’s response and its relative restraint, I understand where the pain felt by my counterpart is coming from and like them pray and hope for a solution to this horrible situation. We maintain mutual respect and should keep talking!

What I am seeing increasingly openly however is those who simply hate the very fact Israel and the Jewish State exist and want to end it and with that threaten those who support it and in particular Jews. This group includes:

Many of those protesting, and for sure those stoking the flames at hundreds of college campuses screaming out “Oh Al-Qassam Brigades, You Make Us Proud, Kill Another Soldier Now! Israel Will Fall!” or those who shout out: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” fall into this camp.

Political and social leaders and campaigners stoking traditional antisemitism to win elections, run campaigns of hate against those who support the Jewish state. Some of these campaigns are mobilizing ‘terror cells’ such as the one in the UK that has produced the pamphlet shown in the picture. It is based on a ‘Palestine Action – The Underground Manual’ which contains a 7 step guide on committing criminal action against targets identified with Israel.

Many global players who have chosen to legitimize and support/house Hamas. They include:
– Iran of course who architected the operation and who themselves launched more than 300 projectiles including over 100 ballistic missiles at us
– The Turkish President who said last weekend: “Hamas Is A Resistance Group, Not A Terror Organization” and “[Israel] surpassed Hitler long ago”
– The Qatari leadership whose representative to the Arab League said this week: “There can be no peace or negotiations with the Zionist entity… They only accept one thing – killing. They are the slayers of the prophets…”The Al-Aqsa Flood operation is only the introduction to the annihilation of the corruption that the Zionist entity has spread in the land for the second time. Inshallah, this will spell the beginning of the end for their state”

To these groups and nations, we (the friends of Israel and those true critics who believe in the same values) must unite and show no tolerance to those whose intention is to destroy Israel and propagate extremism and an agenda at odds completely with democratic life.

This means clamping down on those who carry out, justify, educate, finance and fan the flames of terror.