Difficult Truths About the Israel-Hamas War

As the Israel-Hamas war enters its sixth month, the suffering in Gaza’s civilian population is horrific. In ways that garner considerably less media coverage, all of Israel remains deeply traumatized as well. Hamas raped, tortured, and murdered 1,250 people in its genocidal October 7 assault, and took 250 more hostage, but its avowed goal is the death of all Israelis and all Jews. For Israelis, October 7 is 9/11 magnified, because the attack didn’t come from a small coterie of terrorists 6,500 miles away. It came from next door.

My understanding of the war is colored by my experience as an American Jew. Also, my wife is Israeli and I have family and dear friends in Israel, which gives me a special window into the trauma and anguish that all Israelis have lived with since October 7. Here in the states, the conflict has led to a dramatic increase in incidents of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and has been a source of enormous pain within the Jewish community. I view Israel as an extraordinary country whose aspirational values I admire, and whose existence is necessary to the safety of Jews everywhere. In truth, I am scared for Israel’s survival, but I also fear what it is becoming, in the same way that I am terrified for my own country in this strangest of election years.

Telling the truth. Hamas is a genocidal organization, intent on destroying Israel and wiping out the Jewish people. Of course Israel has the right to defend itself. Nothing, but nothing, justifies what Hamas did on October 7. There can be no “buts” following that statement.

Telling the truth. Here in America, some people’s immediate response to October 7was to blame the victims, citing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. For a time it became impossible for me even to acknowledge what I know about that side of the story, because to do so would have helped those who would demonize Israel. But laying all blame on Israel for Hamas’s attack and the ensuing war obliterates important parts of the story.

Telling the truth. Many people who identify as pro-Israel are also pro-Palestinian, and pro-peace. They want to believe Israel is doing all it can in Gaza to protect civilians. Beyond question, Israel has taken some steps to do so, but the truth — painful to me beyond words — is that the Netanyahu regime has done insupportable things in the course of its war with Hamas. It has not provided enough humanitarian pauses in the fighting to allow life-saving aid in. It has repeatedly employed 2,000-pound bombs with massive kill zones in densely populated areas. There have also been incidents in which Israel has provided advance warning of bombings and directed civilians to safe zones, but then struck some of the safe zones when IDF intelligence indicated that these places were safe houses for Hamas commanders. To be clear, however, Israel’s failure to adequately protect Gaza civilians does not make it guilty of genocide, a crime defined by killing with the intention of destroying a people. Hamas’s words and actions precisely fit the definition of genocide. Israel’s do not.

Freedom, justice, and equality are ideals woven into Israel’s identity, much like the self-evident truths enshrined in the United States’ Declaration of Independence. We all take for granted that the U.S. is deeply flawed, but the world does not grant Israel the right to fail. Today, many regard Israel as a pariah state, and the weight of condemnation extends to the Israeli people, and to the Jewish community here in the U.S. The word for that is anti-Semitism.

Israel’s failings do not erase its right to exist, or diminish its need to defend itself against Hamas. These failings are dwarfed by the damage Hamas itself inflicts on the people of Gaza, whom it uses as human shields, pawns in its objective of destroying Israel. As long as Hamas continues to exert power, calls for a permanent cease-fire are like saying that Britain should have made peace with Hitler in 1940, after France’s capitulation, when Hitler’s intention to conquer England remained crystal clear.

Telling the truth. The government of Israel and the Israeli people are two distinct things. During the nine months preceding October 7, Israelis took to the streets in weekly protests against the Netanyahu government that frequently exceeded one million participants (the equivalent of 30 million protestors here in America) over Netanyahu’s attempts at undermining the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction. Over time, these protests broadened, encompassing the rights of Palestinians who have suffered greatly under Netanyahu’s leadership. He now faces additional criticism, both for his government’s failure to prevent the October 7 attack, and for his handling of the ongoing hostage crisis. Today the overwhelming majority of Israelis distrust Netanyahu and the far-right government he led before October 7.

It beggars the imagination what will be left of Gaza after the war. Along with most Jewish Americans, I care about that. I also worry about this war’s impact on the soul of Israel. For Israel to survive with its fundamental values intact, it will need to disempower its overtly racist and violence-inciting right-wing leaders by voting them out with Netanyahu. It must re-dedicate itself to creating a viable path forward to a two-state solution. For that to happen, Israel must also be willing to examine the way it has conducted itself during this war. If it finds that war crimes have been committed, Israel must be willing to hold those responsible to account.

I wish I had perfect clarity about what Israel should do differently in defending itself against Hamas, but I don’t know enough to make those judgments. Absolute certainty about anything as complex as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a giant red flag, no matter where one’s sympathies lie. A certain amount of uncertainty is a good thing, actually, if it comes from a willingness to acknowledge facts that don’t align with our own version of things. And that’s the truth.

Peter Melnick is a composer, songwriter, and president of the Community Shul of Montecito and Santa Barbara.