To the Editor:
Roger Cohen is “shamed” by Israel’s actions. He concedes that the Jewish state is entitled to defend itself from Hamas missile attacks, but insists that Israelis delude themselves into believing that “peace is achievable without coming to terms with the deeply entrenched Middle East realities that are Hamas and Hezbollah.”
How can we Israelis “come to terms” with a fanatical criminal group whose ideology is based on death and martyrdom? Hamas and Hezbollah proudly proclaim that their priority is not a Palestinian state but to continue murdering Jews in order to bring about the destruction of the Jewish state.
Aside from a military response, how does Mr. Cohen suggest Israel defend its citizens from an entity that targets civilians with thousands of missiles and trains its youngsters to aspire to becoming Islamic martyrs by killing Jews?
As to the conflict in Gaza, perhaps Mr. Cohen could advise us how to further minimize casualties among noncombatants. Israel has taken extraordinary steps to protect innocent lives, while Hamas uses human shields, deliberately launching missiles from densely populated residential areas.
Liberals love to give us lessons in morality. But if they were in our shoes, they, too, would be obliged to demand that their government take whatever steps are necessary to protect their citizens from being murdered by their neighbors.
Isi Leibler
Jerusalem, Jan. 8, 2009
The writer is a columnist for The Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom.
