Farley Weiss and Leonard Grunstein are authors of the new book Because It’s Just and Right: The Untold Back-Story of the U.S. Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel and Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
(JNS) Evil is never defeated without being completely defeated. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill understood this in 1943 when they decided not to pursue a negotiated armistice with Nazi Germany. They knew that the failure to decisively defeat Germany in World War I had been a fatal mistake. It allowed the Nazis to spin a false narrative that Germany had not been defeated but betrayed by Jews and socialists, planting the seeds of World War II. To prevent World War III, the Allies had to have complete victory over evil.
Israel is faced with a similar decision in its defensive war against Hamas. A mere ceasefire without the unconditional surrender of Hamas and the return of all of the hostages would be a victory for evil.
Unfortunately, unlike World War II, many countries that should know better refuse to accept this. It only emboldens evil. It’s not a coincidence that just when the United Nations was considering a pro-Hamas resolution demanding a ceasefire, Hamas suddenly resumed firing missiles at Israel. This was entirely predictable.
But this is not the first time Israel has been forced to make good decisions in the face of U.S. and international opposition. When Israel did so, it benefited not only Israel but the world as a whole.
-On May 14, 1948, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the modern State of Israel. He did so in the face of opposition from the U.S. State Department. While President Harry Truman immediately recognized Israel, he also ordered an arms embargo on it. Secretary of State George Marshall warned that Israel would be overwhelmed by invading Arab armies. They did invade, but instead of being overwhelmed, Israel decisively defeated them.
-In May 1960, Mossad captured Holocaust architect Adolf Eichmann in Argentina. To its eternal shame, the U.N. Security Council—with U.S. support—unanimously condemned Israel. But during Eichmann’s ensuing trial in Jerusalem, the world heard shocking testimony about Nazi atrocities and eventually grasped the terrible reality of the Holocaust. A new generation understood why the fight against Nazism was so essential.
-In 1967, France, the United Nations and even the United States refused to take action to prevent an Egyptian-led Arab coalition from massing their armies on Israel’s borders. Israel obliterated its enemies in the following Six-Day War that June; a year later, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson supplied Israel with F-4 Phantom fighter jets for the first time.
-In 1981, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered the destruction of Iraq’s nuclear reactor. Again with U.S. support, the Security Council unanimously condemned Israel. Years later, however, U.S. Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney thanked Israel for its actions, without which the Gulf War might not have been won.
-On Sept. 6, 2007, Israel destroyed Syria’s nuclear reactor despite U.S. President George W. Bush’s refusal to approve the mission. Nevertheless, Bush subsequently praised Israel’s actions.
The same is true today.
Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rivals acknowledge this. War Cabinet member Benny Gantz, who is viewed favorably by the Biden administration, has unequivocally stated that Israel must enter Rafah and decisively defeat Hamas. Gantz said that, in the current situation, the IDF is like firemen who have extinguished 80% of a fire, and a fire is never truly extinguished until it is completely extinguished.
According to polls, some 75% of Israelis support a Rafah operation and the total defeat of Hamas. Former President Donald Trump, Democratic Senator John Fetterman, the vast majority of Republican senators and an overall majority of Congress members agree.
Israel should follow the will of its people and its genuine supporters. It must also remember that, if it achieves total victory, a perfidious world will eventually thank Israel for it.