A month ago, at this hour, I had to tell my two daughters - 3.5 years old and 20 months old - that they must remain completely silent. No word, no cry.
It was 7AM, they had just woken up in a dark room with no electricity or food, and five people were shouting outside the window.
It was 7AM, they had just woken up in a dark room with no electricity or food, and five people were shouting outside the window.
These people soon began firing bullets into our home through the living room window.
They tried to break through our locked door with their guns. They sprayed our two cars with bullets.
These people were Hamas terrorists, armed from head to toe, on a mission get in and kill us.
They tried to break through our locked door with their guns. They sprayed our two cars with bullets.
These people were Hamas terrorists, armed from head to toe, on a mission get in and kill us.
Imagine yourself having to tell a 1.5 year old, stuck in a dark room with no food, electricity or toys, hearing gunshots and shouting all around her, that she must be silent. That now is not a time to make any noise, because it's dangerous outside. Think about that for a second.
Now imagine having to do that for ten hours. Ten hours in the dark, with sounds of war immediately outside your window - not nearby, not down the street. Literally on your porch. Right in your backyard. Gunshots fired into your living room. Asking yourself, is my dog still alive?
One month ago today, when Hamas entered the civilian community where I live, they knew exactly what they were doing - and what would be the price.
There are many military targets along Israel's border with Gaza. Some were attacked on October 7.
But that wasn't enough for Hamas.
There are many military targets along Israel's border with Gaza. Some were attacked on October 7.
But that wasn't enough for Hamas.
They deliberately chose to enter civilian communities and the homes of families, to murder innocent people. In my community, they shot to death a teenage girl who worked in our kindergarten. They kidnapped two sisters, only 14 and 8 years old, not before murdering their father.
Had they managed to break into the room where we barricaded silently that day, we all would have died. My wife, a social worker who began her career helping Muslim families in southern Israel fight for their legal rights; My daughters, not old enough to hurt a soul in this world.
We survived, but many didnt. In our community, the military arrived at a crucial moment. In one neighborhood, the terrorists had just began opening car trunks and pulling out spare tires. Why? So they could start fires in homes and force families to come out and be shot or taken.
I don't want revenge in Gaza. I don't feel any satisfaction upon hearing that civilians are killed there now. I'm as sad as one can be over their deaths. But I know that when Hamas came into my community on that morning, it knew EXACTLY what would happen in Gaza the next day.
Hamas declared war after several years in which successive Israeli governments looked for ways to improve the economic reality in Gaza.
In my own community, we were proud to employ workers from there, paying them 10 times the average wage inside Gaza, helping them build homes.
In my own community, we were proud to employ workers from there, paying them 10 times the average wage inside Gaza, helping them build homes.
I'm the last person to claim Israel has no fault or blame in our long conflict with the Palestinians. I have written hundreds of articles against the policies of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, and in favor of a real commitment to Palestinian rights and sovereignty. But..
What Hamas did on October 7 had nothing to do with any of this. It was a suicide mission to murder as many Israelis as possible, specifically in civilian communities, with no policy goal or endgame other than murder, torture and pain. It shut the door on improving Gaza's economy.
When Hamas terrorists came to my home, they knew a family with young children was living there. Our baby stroller was parked outside the door as they shot through the windows. And they knew that after they complete their mission, Israel, like any country, will have to retaliate.
On that day, they knew they had signed the death certificate of thousands of people in Gaza. For them, it was a price worth paying for the joy of murdering my teenage neighbor and kidnapping children. They knew Gaza will suffer terrible, shocking destruction. They did it anyway.
I have my own criticism of the Israeli government's response. I don't understand what's the long-term strategy guiding our action, and I'm afraid Netanyahu, a corrupt, failed, useless man, will try to prolong the war for personal gain. But none of that changes Hamas' culpability.
No country in the world would have accepted what happened to my family on that awful morning - and you must multiply it by many thousands of families. A country that doesn't *kill* the people who tried to murder my daughters, and those who sent them, has lost its right to exist.
This hasn't changed my belief, based on a cold, calculated read of the reality, that in the long-run, we must find ways to share this land, provide measures of sovereignty to the Palestinians, protect their human rights. But first we must survive. We can't do that if we're dead.
In order for all of the above to even be a relevant topic of conversation, Israel must first of all defeat Hamas. This organization can't remain an active force in Gaza after the atrocities they committed deliberately against civilians. And defeating Hamas will come with a price.
Hamas, of course, has been preparing for years for this moment, entrenching its military presence within civilian installations. Schools, hospitals, clinics. Hamas has shown the same total disregard for civilian deaths in Gaza, as it did in my neighborhood on October 7.
The pseudo-academic discourse around this war, with hysterical vocabulary being hurled at Biden for supporting Israel after the attempted murder of my daughters, is totally irrelevant, except for the purpose of helping Trump, a long-time dream of suicidal elements on the left.
The bottom line is, a country that doesn't retaliate in the most forceful way after terrorists kidnap an eight year old from her bed, simply won't exist. Especially not in the Middle East.
That doesn't mean Israel should be shielded from any criticism during the war or after it.
That doesn't mean Israel should be shielded from any criticism during the war or after it.
Biden should definitely use his influence and leverage to promote steps that will create long-term stability and open the door to a better future here. But if Hamas isn't defeated and its leadership killed, nothing Biden will do will have any positive impact. Hamas must go first.
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