If the government of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu decides to invade Gaza, the world should support the decision. Israel has remained remarkably restrained over the years as terrorists within Gaza mercilessly target civilian centers with rocket attacks. The loss of life and property resulting from these attacks often receive the most attention. However, the psychological terror being waged against Israelis occurs most often.
Opponents of forceful Israeli military response like to point out that these rocket attacks from Gaza only sporadically kill Israelis. Yet these apologists fail to recognize the psychological terror that these thousands of rocket attacks inflict on Israelis. In Sderot, just across the border with Gaza, two hundred bomb shelters dot the roadsides. Israel constantly monitors skies over the region for rocket launches. Because of Sderot’s close proximity to Hamas strongholds, once a rocket is detected, Israel can only provide a ten second warning for its residents. Imagine the scramble of those in bed, in a vehicle, in the shower to run towards a concrete safe haven. Yet, this is terror. Talk to a kindergartner who every day is reminded of the possibility of death as he spends recess on a playground built constructed around a bomb shelter.
The situation now grows more grave. The threat from militants has expanded beyond southern Israel to the suburbs of Tel Aviv, with Hamas utilizing much more advanced Fajr-5 rockets. Hamas uses these weapons indiscriminately, knowing that with randomness and civilian targeting terror grows exponentially.
Consider this: in just over 8 months, terrorists launched more than 1000 rockets from Gaza into Israel. Gaza is only 360 square kilometers in size, comparable to NYC which encompasses just over 300 square miles. NYC is immediately adjacent to surrounding population centers; similarly, the urban areas within Gaza are just miles away from civilian centers in Israel. After all, Israel is not much larger in size than the state of New Jersey! If a terrorist organization successfully gained power in NYC, just as Hamas gained power in Gaza, and launched 1,000 rockets into New Jersey, what should the proper response be? Would we actually demand Governor Christie and President Obama to just hope for the best? Or would we think of suggesting New Jersey residents simply vacate their neighborhoods? On the contrary, sensible people from across this country would demand our Commander in Chief root out terrorist fortifications in an effort to protect our homeland.
The world should support Prime Minister Netanyahu should he choose to wage a ground invasion of Gaza. The invasion is morally justified, and we should be vocal in our approval.