During Operation Protective Edge I explained that Hamas, Iran, Hizbullah, ISIS and other similar menaces are merely different arms of the same octopus: radical Islam.
“All the arms of the octopus are watching us now in Gaza,” I said. “If we do not eliminate the arm that is attacking us in Gaza now, it will become empowered. The octopus will perceive Israel as being weak and the temptation to strike and keep Tel Avivians cowering on the ground with their hands covering their heads for months will intensify.”
I was pleased to hear similar statements in PM Netanyahu’s recent speech at the UN. He declared frankly that all the various terror organizations and states are part of the same enemy – radical Islam.
As on-target and important as the prime minister’s speeches may be, however, they do not make much of an impression on the world. That is because Israel’s body language – its diplomatic and military actions – belies its words.
If Hamas is ISIS, the world unconsciously asks, why didn’t you destroy it when you had all the justification and opportunity to do so? If Hamas is ISIS, why do you allow the flags of both these organizations to be waved on the Temple Mount, the heart of your capital?
Israel has been lecturing the Western world about the threat of a nuclear Iran. Why? Former PM Begin did not rely on the world when he bombed the reactor in Iraq. True, Shimon Peres was opposed to the raid and the world condemned Israel. But it also breathed a sigh of relief.
Israel is the country most threatened by Iran. Why does Netanyahu expect the world to solve the problem for us? Isn’t that precisely why we established the state of Israel? So that we would never have to turn to the British or American air force when we faced the threat of destruction?
And if we expect the world to defend us, won’t it think that the establishment of the state of Israel was a mistake?