Can Israel Finish the Job Now?

In “Why Israel Needs to Finish the Job Now,” my colleague David Goldman writes:

[Israel] cannot afford a repeat of 2012, after which Hamas rebuilt its weapons capability. Where Hezbollah is concerned, the Chinese proverb applies: Kill the chicken while the monkey watches. The reduction of Hamas has to serve as a deterrent for Hezbollah and Syria, not to mention Iran.

Israel’s leaders know this well, and outsiders should be cautious about offering tactical advice. But Israel’s friends must be clear that a “pinpoint operation,” as Secretary of State Kerry demanded inadvertently before an open microphone last weekend, does not serve Israel’s urgent interests. Hamas must be rooted out in depth.

Col. Kurtz provides a strategic assessment:

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This is what the Jews are up against: an enemy that willingly sacrifices its own children, so great is its animus against its eternal foe.  To paraphrase Jimmy Malone in The Untouchables — what are the Israelis prepared to do? And then what are they prepared to do?

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That’s there no good answer doesn’t mean the question need not be asked. As Kurtz says, “It’s impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means… it’s judgment that defeats us.”