Ariel Schalit / AP, file
A battery of Israel’s Iron Dome defense missile system, deployed to intercept rockets, sits in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Aug. 7, 2022. Israel is vowing to retaliate against Iran, risking further expanding the shadow war between the two foes into a direct conflict after an Iranian attack over the weekend sent hundreds of drones and missiles toward Israel.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024 | 2 a.m.
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Israel needs to strike back — hard!
Whatever a few countries and the unknowledgeable and gullible left in the United States say about Israel’s right to defend itself against those who would deny its existence (figuratively and literally), the attack on the Jewish state this past weekend by Iran should put all doubters to rest!
There is not a country worth its own right to exist that would allow anyone else to attack it with over 300 rockets, drones and missiles without the most crushing of counterattacks against the offender. So why shouldn’t Israel do the same?
I believe it should and I believe that any response must deliver a crushing blow to Iran, its proxies and everyone else in the Middle East who believes that terrorism has a home anywhere in the world.
What should that response be?
As I write this, the Israeli War Cabinet is considering all manner of reaction to the murderous assault on Israel’s existence. There are allies and friends who caution against doing anything that will expand the war throughout the region. They say Israel’s extraordinary defense Saturday night with the considerable help of the United States, Great Britain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia — yes, Saudi Arabia — and others yet to be named was a gigantic win.
There are others who say that Israel must show the world and its bad actors that Israel and Israelis must not be trifled with — that’s a nice word for attempted obliteration of an entire country. The only thing those with murderous intentions in that part of the world understand, they say, is overwhelming and brutal force.
I agree with both.
That’s why I have to pay attention to history. I realize that some people prefer not to be encumbered by facts so they may disagree with me, but there is much to be learned from history and the people who made it.
I am thinking about three giants of Israel.
The first is the one-of-a-kind Abba Eban, Israel’s vaunted foreign minister at the time of the Six-Day War as well as the Yom Kippur War. When discussing Israel’s desire to make peace with its Arab neighbors, he said, “The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”
Next , let’s consider what Israel’s founding prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, said after Israel’s miraculous victory in 1967.
He said: “If I could choose between peace and all the territories which we conquered last year, I would prefer peace.” He did wisely make an exception for Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
And, finally, there was my friend and Israel’s extraordinary visionary, Prime Minister and, then, President Shimon Peres.
He saw, when others could not, a time when the countries on the Saudi Peninsula, all of Israel’s immediate neighbors, Israel and the whole of North Africa would come together to form what he referred to as the modern day Garden of Eden. It would be a technological, agricultural, financial, military and energy-rich powerhouse to complement the United States, the Europeans and Asian alliances to compete with those who wished all or each of them harm.
He saw all of that happening within one or two generations.
So, here is the way Israel and the rest of the peace-loving world can strike back at Iran in the hardest and most meaningful way possible. It can listen to the wisdom of those three leaders.
First, Israel and Saudi Arabia (and, by extension,the rest of the Arab world not controlled by Iran and its Russian friends and allies) must not miss this opportunity to normalize relations.
Those two countries were close to a deal before Iran’s murderous terrorist proxies in Hamas decided to attack and brutalize innocent Israeli men, women, and children on Oct. 7, 2023.
The attack was meant to stop that deal from going forward. Completing it now and transforming the Middle East into something extraordinary would be Iran’s worst nightmare — because it would be done without it — and the best hope for Israel and its neighbors to fulfill the dream of David Ben-Gurion — to turn toward peace.
And secondly, Israel must resolve to move the Gazans to a place of safety and finish the job it must finish. That would be the best way to get its hostages back and to destroy the ability of Hamas and its leaders to ever threaten Israel or the Palestinian people again. It is an open secret that most Arab countries would like to see Hamas disappear. That would not only require Israel but also Saudi Arabia and others to agree on an appropriate solution and make a commitment for a Palestinian future.
Brian Greenspun is editor, publisher and owner of the Sun.
