I feel very strongly that the only possible Israeli answer to the horrifying terrorist attacks that came in, I think totally unexpectedly, with deliberate attention to killing children. Now we now know from the planning documents that have been captured, that the Hamas terrorists were told, Go for schools, go for children, go for families. This was not a military operation. This was a terror operation, it is closer to ISIS or Al Qaeda, than to some kind of military campaign. And we know that they killed the largest number of Jews that have been killed since World War Two and the Holocaust. 

Now, I think faced with an enemy, who has said openly, “not a single Jew will remain” — that’s a quote — not a single Jew will remain, faced with an organization whose founding document calls for the eradication of Israel, faced with enemies who are willing to kill 40 babies, they’re willing to kill an old woman who was a survivor of the Holocaust. 

Imagine if you would, you had gone from dealing with the Nazis as a child, to dealing with Hamas as a senior citizen. Faced with this reality, I believe that Israel has to persevere until they have destroyed Hamas, not just defeated it, destroyed it. And I think they have to set conditions along the Gaza border, where there will never ever again, be an attack on Israel, involving the killing of civilians. 

This will become very controversial. There’s no question that Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran are waging a You Too war against the Israelis. There’s no question that the world will be drowned in negative pictures about the Palestinians, will be told over and over again about the humanitarian crisis. 

I think the fact is that people will rapidly forget, want to forget, the over 1000 Jewish dead, the families that were massacred, the entire neighborhoods that were destroyed the 250 people at a rave for peace, which is the great irony. These were young people going out to have a wonderful evening, celebrating and supporting the concept of peace, and they were slaughtered by Hamas. 

All of that will be drowned by pictures, articles, concern about proportionate responses. And my question is, if you know that 40 babies have been killed, what’s a proportional response? If you know that entire families have been wiped out, what’s a proportionate response? If you know that the targeting was deliberate — and this is the key difference — the Israelis are targeting innocent Palestinians in Gaza. In fact, the Israelis have for a week now been telling people leave Gaza so we can go after Hamas. And I think that Hamas has been saying stay in Gaza. So you can be human shields against the Israelis. And that tells you all the difference. 

The Israelis use their military to protect civilians, Hamas uses their civilians to protect the military. This is a huge problem. And I hope that the Israelis will persevere no matter what anyone else says. It’s their lives. It’s their country. It’s their tragedy, and they should pursue Hamas until it was completely wiped out.