By Any Means Necessary

I make no secret of my solidarity with the Jewish people and the state of Israel.  Like untold millions of Americans, I see a vigorous, democratic Israel besieged by psychopaths who would quite enjoy killing every Jew they can get their hands on.  These are the same psychopaths, by the way, who want to kill just about everyone else as well.  Hamas and Hezbollah have the same moral standing in my book as the Manson Family.

On September 11, 2001, we all had a taste of what Israel has endured for years.  On that day, I fully understood the personal nature of our fight with Islamism.  And make no mistake, it is personal: these people want to kill me, my family, my friends and destroy my country. They want to kill me simply because I exist. And nothing will dissuade them.

I am not troubled by the foggy equivalence that infects the left.  I do not view Israel as morally equivalent to Hamas or Hezbollah.  I do not view Israelis as latter-day Nazis, inflicting a holocaust on the people of Gaza.  The people of Gaza elected Hamas.  They threw in their lot with an Iran-backed terrorist organization dedicated to mass murder.  It is not Israel that fires thousands of rockets into Gaza. Israel’s desires in the matter are rather basic: simply to be left alone.

Israel’s fight is therefore our fight.

But the rocket attacks go on and on.  And the weapons used are growing in sophistication.  From the Times of London:

There were growing fears in Israel last night that Hamas missiles could threaten its top-secret nuclear facility at Dimona.

Rocket attacks from Gaza have forced Israelis to flee in ever greater numbers and military chiefs have been shaken by the size and sophistication of the militant group’s arsenal.

In Beersheba, until a few days ago a sleepy desert town in southern Israel, there is little sign of the 186,000 inhabitants. Schools are closed and the streets of shuttered shops echo with the howl of sirens warning of incoming rockets.

Iran is smuggling longer-range rockets to replace the Qasams:

Israeli officials say that Hamas has also acquired dozens of Iranian-made Fajr-3 missiles with an even longer range. Many fear that as the group acquires ever more sophisticated weaponry it is only a matter of time before the nuclear installation at Dimona, 20 miles east of Beersheba, falls within its sights. Dimona houses Israel’s only nuclear reactor and is believed to be where nuclear warheads are stored.

“Maybe Hamas will get a big present from Iran or Hezbollah, a few good long-range missiles and they’ll use it,” said Limor Brina, 40, a jeweller who is learning the lessons of life under rocket threat: she sleeps with her clothes on and heads to a shelter whenever the siren sounds.

Israel’s worst nightmare is that soon all its cities will be within range either of the Hezbollah Katyushas arrayed on the Lebanese border to the north or the increasingly sophisticated missiles stockpiled by Hamas to the south. Both groups have links to Israel’s archenemy Iran.

Israel has said that its aim is to smash Hamas’s rocket-firing capability but also to topple the hardline Islamist regime that seized power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 after bloody street battles with its secular rivals Fatah. Until that goal is achieved, many in Beersheba are packing their bags and heading for Tel Aviv or Eilat.

“Maybe 30 or 40 per cent of people have left the city,” said Ron Shukron, 26, running one of the few grocery shops still open. As he spoke a siren echoed through the empty streets. With only 15 seconds to take cover, he stepped under a reinforced support beam in the ceiling. Seconds later came the dull thud of a rocket exploding on the edge of town.

Who would put up with this? I would not. And Israel should not have to put up with it either.

Israel must do whatever’s necessary to eliminate Hamas from Gaza. I can only hope that they don’t stop until the job is finished and that the new administration will not go all wobbly while Israel fights our fight.

Tagged as: Israel, Terrorism