The Price of Revenge

One month ago, we passed the one-year anniversary of October 7, the date when approximately 1200 people—Israelis, some dual American-Israeli citizens, and many foreign workers temporarily in Israel–were massacred.  Some two hundred and fifty people were taken hostage; some have been freed, many have died while in captivity, and the fate of those who are still being held hostage is unclear.  Israel’s retaliation for Hamas’ horrific act has left over 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza dead, millions displaced, and hundreds of thousands injured and maimed.  Now, in response to Hezbollah’s repeated bombing of Northern Israel, Israel is attempting to eradicate the Iranian-backed terror organization from Lebanon by bombing that country.  The result is more death, more destruction, more displacement.  Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, and now Lebanese suffer from trauma that will take generations to recover from, if such recovery is even possible.

Benjamin Netanyahu—and his government—were caught completely unprepared for the attack that occurred on October 7.  The government had received credible warnings that such an attack might happen.  In fact, intelligence had revealed information of the possibility of such a major attack for almost 20 years.  Netanyahu’s government ignored it.  He was too caught up in dealing with his own political and legal future to give sufficient attention to those warnings.  Netanyahu failed:  he failed his country, he failed his fellow Israelis, he failed Jews around the world.  His negligence allowed 1200 people to be slaughtered.

Avenging the death of your relatives is hard-wired into the psyche of those who live in the Middle East.  Honor killings are still practiced by those who feel that their family’s honor has been damaged.

Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing cabinet ministers, along with the leadership of both Hamas and Hezbollah suffer from the same need to avenge the death of their peoples.

Netanyahu’s response has been further fueled by his humiliation at being a leader who failed to protect his people.  Given the toxic combination of vengeance and humiliation brewing inside his psyche, Netanyahu vows he will never agree to a ceasefire with Hamas and now Hezbollah.  Doing so would only further his sense of humiliation and impotence.

Revenge is a corrosive emotion.  It eats away at your humanity.  Fueled by the need for vengeance, any action becomes possible, permissible, justifiable.  Those who are motivated by the need for vengeance will stop at nothing to assuage their own self-righteous anger.

Revenge is not the stance of statesmen, of wise leaders who are able to see beyond their own rage.

Israelis and Palestinians need wise statesmen now, leaders who can lead the two people out from the place of no return into which they have descended.  Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs and Jews throughout the world need wise leaders who can look inside the shadows of their own psyches and break the cycle, offering the region and the world a small ray of hope that there is a way forward.  Otherwise, one hundred years from now the region and the world will all still be mired in an endless cycle of violence and vengeance from which it is impossible to break free.