When a military/terrorist force whose Islamic ideology for decades has vowed the elimination of your nation and your race, and then slaughters 1,400 or your civilian women, children, and men, what does “proportionality” mean?
Here are several possible meanings of that term, with only one that fits the situation.
Definition #1:
Respond by killing only the number of people who were killed. This definition is the limitation that Palestinians and US leftists would like to impose on Israel. Anything beyond that is called “ethnic cleansing.” That is rather strange since that is exactly what the initial attacks against Israel intended to carry out.
Definition #2:
Respond by eliminating ONLY the Hamas leadership or planners who carried out the attack. This is similar in effect to the first definition. It stops way short of addressing the perpetual threat to Israel.
Definition #3:
Give Hamas a stern warning that if they dare attack Israel again, they will be sorry. This is the “proportionality” preferred by Hamas, the Palestinians, and the Islamic nations as a whole. It is also the proportionality practiced by the Biden administration when US interests are attacked by Iranian, Syrian, or Yemen missiles.
Definition #4:
Base “proportionality” on intent as well as current and historical actions.
For example, if an individual announced his hatred of you and expressed his intent to kill you, and over several years actually attempted to do so on numerous occasions, and no legal entity was available to stop his repeated attempts, what would be an appropriate action on your part? Warn him? Cut off his right thumb? Or more?
This is the situation Israel finds itself in. Hamas, and the Islamic doctrine and Ummah [Islamic community] generally, have for decades declared their hatred of Israel and vow to wipe Israel and Jews off the face of the earth. And on numerous occasions since Israel’s founding in 1948 has attempted to do so through several wars that Israel won.
And over the last several years there have been thousands of rocket attacks coming off of Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon against Israel. The October 7th attack is when Israel's restraint was finally broken.
Given that backdrop, here is the required definition of “proportionality”:
The elimination of all who planned, financed, equipped, carried out, and supported or continue to support the attacks against Israel , along with their sustaining infrastructure.
THAT is the only rational definition of “proportionality” that Israel should apply and appears to be applying to the current situation. This proportionality is based on a combination of both intent and repeated and ongoing actions of the adversary.
The apologists for Islam, Hamas, Gazans and Palestinians are wailing, gnashing their teeth and ripping their shirts over such Israeli audacity. This includes most of the media, leftist politicians along with ignorant college students who are doing the same via protests and incendiary propaganda.
The October 31 Israel bombing of the location of known terror leaders north of Gaza City is a case in point. It just so happened to have also been a refugee center occupied by several thousand Gazans who ignored Israel’s warning to move south out of the northern Gaza war zone. Those who remain were appropriately assumed to be either Hamas fighters or willing human shields. Twenty some were killed and a hundred or more injured.
Again we hear wailing, gnashing of teeth and ripping of shirts with cries of “ethnic cleansing” and “war crimes.”
War is hell. Justified proportionality is a bitch. Israel is attempting to finish what Hamas started and intended for Israel.
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As an aside, the Houthis, who control Yemen, have today declared war on Israel. Their motto:
“Allahu akbar, death to the United States, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory for Islam"
Hamas believes exactly the same.
Who are the "citizens" of Gaza? They are described HERE.
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