The Blogs: One Quick Question Explains Why Israel Attacked

Quick question: If heaven forbid Iran had developed nuclear bombs and used them to launch a surprise attack against Tel-Aviv, Netanya, Haifa, and Be’er Sheva, killing millions of people in an instant, how do you think the UN and human rights establishment would react?

This was a terrible crime.
This was a crime, but we must understand it in context, followed by a long rehash of anti-Israel complaints.
Colonialist, Zionist occupiers have forfeited their right to life, and only the oppressed themselves can decide what means of struggle to employ. Let’s have a picnic to celebrate Palestine.

My guess is that each of these camps would draw significant numbers. Regardless of the exact breakdown, just the fact that two and three would likely be well represented is enough to understand why Israel attacked Iran.

One of the main objections to this being a valid Israeli exercise of self-defense is that many countries face nuclear-armed foes. In spite of the danger, all the others rely on deterrence and diplomacy, so that’s what Israel should do too.

But there’s a big difference. Other countries’ right to live in peace and security isn’t questioned, whereas Israel continuously faces an avalanche of delegitimization and hate.

We live in a world where a young couple was recently murdered in Washington, simply for being perceived as Israeli. Where deadly attacks on Jewish institutions have become common all around the world. Where a band can unfurl a banner with an anti-Israel expletive at a rock concert to cheers and applause. Where the massacre of Oct. 7^th is excused, justified, and, by a significant minority, praised and reenacted with glee.

If the peace movement had made clear their campaign is for security and equal rights for everyone, Israel might not feel threatened. If diplomats had made clear when criticizing the war in Gaza that they accepted Israel’s need to defend itself and free the hostages, while their concern was only that humanitarian aid get through and Israel do its best to prevent civilian harm, Israel might feel that its rights are secure.

But that’s not what’s happened. In addition to chants of ‘death to Israel’ and denigrations of Zionism, we’ve seen vast demonstrations shouting inflammatory slogans such as ‘from the river to the sea’ and ‘globalize the intifada’. Human rights groups and the UN have not accused Israel of using disproportionate force or hindering aid in a measured, fact- based manner. Instead, they’ve bombastically charged it with genocide. By now this seems to have given Israel the absurd status of world enemy number one.

Fear that nuclear weapons might be used typically centers on accidents and miscalculations. But it’s understood that they are at most a last resort, an ultimate threat to ward off annihilation. A nuclear surprise attack to destroy another country would be unthinkable. Any leader who sought to do such a thing would be reviled as one of history’s greatest villains. But when it comes to Israel, that’s not so sure.

For years Iran’s leaders have vowed to destroy Israel and wipe it off the map, and they put a clock counting down towards Israel’s destruction in the center of Tehran. Can anyone imagine a countdown clock anticipating any other country’s demise?

Iran’s leaders must understand that the slaughter of millions of Israelis would result in condemnation, and maybe some sort of sanctions. But sadly, it would also be met with significant justification and support. With that in mind they might just decide it is in fact feasible to go ahead.

As soon as the war began, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres posted on X, “Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail.” But with regard to this crisis, peace and diplomacy have been tried for decades. Not only have they failed, they’ve made things worse.

By exaggerating Israel’s transgressions to such an extent that Israel now stands accused of genocide, human rights advocates and diplomats have created a situation in which committing genocide against Israel no longer seems beyond the pale. When Israel sees that the international law and human rights system no longer protect its population even from nuclear annihilation, it’s only natural that it turns to its own military. Anyone who so much as hesitates before selecting answer number one to the question above bears some of the responsibility for that.