The stories and video are chilling and horrific. Armed men roaming through an Israeli music festival calculatedly shooting civilians at point-blank range before looting their personal effects.
The carnage was part of a surprise attack by terror group Hamas on Saturday morning that left at least 900 Israelis and at least 11 Americans dead. Militants descended upon the Israeli border from the Gaza Strip, shooting indiscriminately, killing innocents and taking hostages. The attack — with Iran’s fingerprints all over it — was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
Hamas apologists described the terrorists as “fighters,” but “serial killers” more accurately describes their actions.
And to what end this madness? To provoke a war that the terror group cannot win?
“Clearly, this act by Hamas is suicidal,” Nathan Thrall, former director of the Arab-Israeli project, told The New Yorker. “It is an attack of unprecedented scope, and Israel will retaliate to a greater degree than it has before, potentially leading to outcomes we haven’t seen before: not just a simple razing of Gaza by airplanes but also a ground incursion and potential reoccupation of parts of Gaza.”
Israel has a right to defend itself from such barbarism, and the nation responded as expected: with massive force. The Israeli cabinet approved a declaration of war and counterstrikes began immediately. President Joe Biden put the weight of the United States behind Israel with a quick condemnation of “this appalling assault.”
Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum, noted in Monday’s Wall Street Journal that President George W. Bush in 2003 argued that “Hamas should be dismantled” as an enemy of “those who love freedom and peace.” Perhaps that day is now upon us.
In addition, this escalation should shatter all illusions about the reality of the Iran regime. “An operation of such scale and complexity is unlike anything Hamas has previously attempted,” Eugene Kontorovich, a George Mason law professor, wrote Monday for the Journal, “and strongly suggests Iranian involvement. Hamas has publicly thanked Iran for its support, and Iran’s supreme leader applauded the invasion.”
Are congressional Democrats and the White House paying attention? Using Hamas and Hezbollah stooges as their proxies, the Iranians have lit the fuse that explodes any notion of their peaceful intentions.
Mr. Kontorovich observes that “Many in the West don’t take seriously Iran’s or the Palestinian factions’ aspirations to wipe out Israel.” Israelis, on the other hand, live with the reality of such anti-Semitic fanaticism every day. Which makes it even more important at this moment for the United States and the White House to stand unwaveringly with the Jewish state.