Israel has right to proportional self-defense and both sides must respect international law. So says the EU.
Thank you very much but no thanks. There is confusion here. Of course we have the right of self-defense.
We are way beyond self-defense. We are at war and being at war we have the right to win on our terms.
At the first violation from the Pal IL should take back the Phil corridor. IL cannot save the Pal from themselves, it is Islam STUPID!
IL should practice deception too.
That’s the wrong paradigm. The correct paradigm is that we are in a war. In war you have the right to win. In order to win you are allowed to use what ever force is necessary to achieve that purpose. The purpose being to defeat the enemies will to war against you. That is what is know as “proportionality”. A cease fire is a win for Hamas and unmitigated disaster for Israel.
How has cease fire and retreat worked for Israel? In Lebanon, we now have an entrenched Hezbollah right up to the Israeli border with at least 50,000 rockets that can hit anywhere in Israel. Had we not left the security zone or finished the job during the last war, this would not be the case. Had the last Gaza confrontation, Cast Lead finished the job, we would not have the current conflict and not finishing the job means: 1. It will be just that much harder the next time and we all know there will be a next time (with a far more capable Hamas and one in complete solidarity with the their Muslim Brothers in Egypt) and and 2. Israel’s deterrence has taken a further drastic hit emboldening it’s enemies.
The opportunity to defeat Hamas will never be as opportune as it is now. With Egypt not yet organized and consolidated, Syria otherwise preoccupied, Lebanon at the brink of civil war and world opinion temporarily not overtly hostile to Israel, now is the time for a decisive victory. Such a victory would greatly enhance our posture against Iran both as a demoralizing factor for the Mullahs as well as lessening their retaliatory options.
In the tough neighborhood of the Middle East were only strength is understood and respected, a decisive victory is what Israel needs for its very survival.
But of course, this will not happen with the feckless leadership Israel is cursed with.
Alert a block of hovels in Gaza that the IDF will destroy the area in 12 hours, do it. Soak, rinse, repeat.
Generals Patton and Pershing would do it. Only they would give a warning of 10 minutes.
@ Mike Lumish:
You are right. And since we know that, we should do whatever we want and NEED to do. All that will result, in worst case scenario, is that Obama et al will strongly object and that’s where the word fait accompli (forgive the spelling)comes to mind. Nothing can be less satisfying then giving in to foreign demands for the sake of a lesser success or, certainly, maybe even no success at all. In my mind it’s like accepting defeat when you could win because others object to you winning. As a postscript to this comment, the same should apply to annexing J & S and building all we want. It would be very interesting to see Obama’s handling of Israel’s back (eg. his reaction) if Israel actually does assert it’s military and legal rights. We really shouldn’t care. We can fight that battle of hasbara after the fait accompli.
I have comments in moderation .
Israel does have that right, Ted, but will Israel exercise it?
I suspect not and, in part, because president Barack Obama certainly does not have Israel’s back.