This week I was asked by a rabbinic colleague to join a solidarity mission to southern Israel. They are going to visit Sederot and other places that have been the targets of rocket fire.
In spite of the tremendous sympathy I have for people living in these areas, I felt I had to say no.
I realize the toll these attacks have taken, not only in terms of lives lost and damage caused, but also in terms of the emotional and psychological trauma and that has destroyed the sense of security necessary to live a normal life. Israel should not have let these awful attacks continue for so long without developing a measured, effective response.
But the fact that the rocket attacks have gone on for years in no way justifies the current invasion of the Gaza strip. This is like one kid beating another to a pulp in the schoolyard and then justifying it with a long list of past annoyances and provocations that in his mind makes extreme violence and brutality temporarily acceptable. We all know that it’s not.
What is the goal of the Israeli ground incursion? So far, Israeli leaders have expressed two, neither of which makes sense.
The first is to find all of Hamas’s missiles and other weapons no matter where they may be hidden so that Hamas can’t strike Israel anymore.
Unfortunately, that can’t be done. Though it may be more effective to send Israeli soldiers door-to-door in Gaza, such an operation would lead to extraordinary losses that Israel is rightfully unwilling to accept.
But what is the alternative? The Hamas fighters are located in densely packed urban areas. In spite of Israel’s commitment not to deliberately target civilians, to attack them there with bombs and artillery shows a shocking and unconscionable disregard for human life.
The second goal is to retaliate and thereby deter Hamas from launching rockets. At a Jan. 5 news conference Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said, “Before the military operation, Hamas targets Israelis whenever it likes and Israel shows restraint. This is no longer going to be the equation. When Israel is targeted, Israel is going to retaliate.”
But it seems obvious that the scale of what Israel is doing goes far beyond the straightforward deterrence it should have enacted long ago.
Absent a clear and attainable military goal, I get the sense that this battle is serving another purpose: To vent the rage many Israelis have bottled up from enduring terrorist and rocket attacks for so long.
Revenge may taste sweet for a moment, and I understand why that is what the people of Sederot in particular may now want.
But it is the job of Israel’s leaders to recognize that a country can’t use its army to lash out like a bully that has been goaded into violently avenging past hurts. Cooler heads should have prevailed.
Beating someone up in a fit of fury, even someone that has teased and provoked you, doesn’t solve the problem. It gets you in trouble and also creates a new flood of pain and anger that will seethe beneath the surface, ready to erupt again.
That is unfortunately my fear. This wrongheaded war will injure Israel’s political, diplomatic, and moral standing while also dooming Israel and the Gazans to more rounds of future strife.
I am all for helping and encouraging the people of southern Israel in this difficult time. But if I travel to Israel now, I would also want to participate in an anti-war demonstration. Since my rabbinic colleagues don’t have that on their itinerary, I decided to pass and wait for a different trip.
Rabbi Shlomo Levin is spiritual leader of Lake Park Synagogue.
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