*Editor’s Note: This “Letter from Larry” is a sardonic rebuke.
Jan. 3, 2023
Letters to the Editor
Wall Street Journal
Dear Editor,
It appears that the WSJ is intent on keeping track of Palestinian causalities implying that civilian deaths are symptoms of Israel’s wild west mentality symbolized by its disproportionate response.
Many assume that Israel is guilty of all the crimes it is accused of because compared to the people who accuse it of occupying and oppressing them, it is an economic powerhouse with a powerful military. No matter what Israel does, it is stronger than the Palestinians and therefore guilty of the crime of disproportionality.
How is it proportional for Israeli bombs to bring down whole buildings while Hamas rockets are either knocked out of the sky or fall harmlessly in fields and occasionally drill a hole in someone’s house leading to a couple of measly Israeli deaths? How is it proportional for Israel to lose 12 people in a war while its adversary loses two hundred? No one is saying that Israel does not have the right to defend itself, but does it have to do it so efficiently?
So here’s the solution. Israel should retire the Iron Dome, Then it should only respond in kind, one missile for one missile. If Israel’s missiles are more accurate, then Israel’s rocket squads should remove the GPS target trackers making its missiles as inaccurate as Hamas’ rockets.
Then Israel should make sure that 15% of its rockets misfire and land within Israel killing more Israelis. This will keep the casualty figures up. Like Hamas, Israel should withhold the casualty figures for self-inflicted killings to keep its citizens from turning against the government.
Another act of proportionality has to do with explosive balloons launched by Hamas. These are borne on favorable Mediterranean winds. Unluckily for Israel, it does not have favorable winds to launch incendiary balloons against Gaza, and because Hamas does not have a navy, to honor proportionality, Israel will have to launch balloons from row boats manned by Yeshiva students moored a couple of hundred yards offshore.
The final adjustment to achieve proportionality will be for Israel to cement over its bomb shelters forcing people onto the streets just like the situation confronting the Gazan people. That way more Israelis can die.
I sincerely hope that more Israeli deaths will satisfy Israel’s critics.
Oh, by the way, most of the Israeli casualties from the 2021 Hamas-Israel war were Israeli Arabs whose families must be wondering why their fathers and sons died at the hands of their Gazan cousins.
Sincerely yours,
Larry Shapiro
