A Brief Guide for the Perplexed 23
Middle East , and the United States will help the world grasp the true nature of the terrorist threat Israel has been facing and the rationale for Israel ’ s unflinching response .
Unflinching , yes , but also measured . The truth is that Israel , given its military strength , could at any point deliver a much more devastating blow to the Palestinians , as the Allies did against Germany and Japan in World War II , but has chosen not to , despite repeated provocations , for a host of diplomatic , political , strategic , and humanitarian reasons .
Looking back , Jenin was a perfect example . Though Palestinian spokesmen rushed to condemn the Israeli military operation in this West Bank city in 2002 as a “ massacre ” and “ genocide ,” in reality Israel chose the most risky method of entering the city to search for terrorist hideouts precisely to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties . As a result , Israel suffered twenty-three military fatalities while killing some fifty armed Palestinian gunmen . Israel ’ s alternative might have been to attack Jenin from the air , just as NATO fighter planes repeatedly bombed Belgrade in the 1990s , but that would have resulted in indiscriminate deaths , something Israel sought to avoid .
Interestingly , many in the West who criticized Israel for its tactics in dealing with terrorism have adopted those very same methods , including enhanced intelligence , surveillance , penetration , and preemption due to growing fears in Europe about radical Islamist activity , including the thousands of “ foreign fighters ” who returned from battle zones in Iraq and Syria .
Judging from the global full-court press against the terrorists , it doesn ’ t look as if “ restraint ,” “ dialogue ,” “ proportionality ,” and “ compromise ” are currently part of the vocabulary vis-à-vis those who attack in the West , nor should they be . But these are some of the very words proffered as advice to Israel by the international community for dealing with its threat .
In the final analysis , even though Israel enjoys military superiority , Jerusalem understands this is not a conflict that can be won exclusively on the battlefield . Simply put , neither side is going to disappear . This conflict can be resolved only at the peace table , if