LETTER: Jewish state surrounded by enemies

It is Bernard Benson who misses the point of the Israeli response, and in his letter he demonstrates one of the reasons why many people in good faith also do so, this being his observation that no European country has been on what he calls a “killing spree” after a terrorist attack (“Israel comments miss point”, January 15).

Israel cannot be compared to a European country. It is small and surrounded by enemies who not only wish it harm, but also want to eliminate it for reasons that predate by decades the current Palestinian disputes, including the “occupation” and the other accusations that go with it.

It is therefore important to recognise that today’s political status is the effect of that intent rather than the cause, which is never acknowledged by commentators, even in passing. Looking at a map will tell you there is the constant possibility, notwithstanding Israel’s security establishment, that the state could be overrun.

That nearly happened in 1973 and in the recent Hamas attack — the huge build-up of offensive weapons by Hezbollah is a reminder of that fact.

It is not an exaggeration to say the threat is existential and has to be treated as such, and that therefore Hamas and, at some point Hezbollah, have to be removed as threats one way or another if Israelis are to live normal lives. So, what we are seeing is not a “killing spree in Islamic countries”, it is an attempt to neutralise an enemy once and for all, which had proved its potency.

There is a lot more to this, including the behaviour of a nasty right-wing element in Israel, but that is a distraction and incidental to the fact that the death and destruction we see now would seem to be an unwelcome but inevitable consequence of more than 100 years of Arab attacks on the Jewish inhabitants of the region. 

Sydney Kaye
Via email

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