The Israeli government has had enough of the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hamas indiscriminately rocketing its neighborhoods, schools, and citizens and is striking back hard. The trouble has been brewing for some time, as Liberty Nation has reported. In the midst of turmoil between Iran-Hamas terrorists and Israel, Democrats in Washington seem conflicted about whose side to take.
Clearly, for the Israel Defense Force (IDF), the battle with Hamas is the pressing combat imperative. The Jerusalem Post's Anna Ahronheim, reporting on the IDF operations along the border with Gaza, writes:
"Some 2,000 rockets fired since fighting began Monday [May 10]. On Friday morning, the IAF intercepted another drone that crossed from the Gaza Strip into Israel after the Iron Dome missile defense system had downed one the day before. Earlier in the day as well, IDF fighter jets and aircraft attacked a number of underground Hamas facilities in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as an aircraft launcher station aimed at the center of the country, and a number of observation posts in the north and center of the Gaza Strip."
According to the report, airstrikes involved around "160 aircraft dropping over 450 missiles on 150 targets." The aircraft struck various locations where a Hamas-affiliated terror group called "the Metro" was digging tunnels under Gaza city. IDF ground forces were also involved with artillery pieces and infantry from the "Golani" brigade. Artillery fired into Gaza hitting Hamas "when they came out to attack Israeli targets."
Ahronheim described the artillery barrage using a total of 500 artillery shells and 50 tank rounds. While the IDF is engaged in dealing decisively with the Hamas terrorist organization, an important aspect of this Middle East conflict is Iran's foundational part.
Again, as The Jerusalem Post reports in another dispatch: "Iran says Hamas is targeting Iron Dome sites, airports. “ The tactics used in this Hamas rocket attack on Israel are "similar to the Houthis in Yemen," who Iran also backs. The Houthi-like tactics are in evidence as The Jerusalem Post describes it:
"What that means is that in the past, Hamas would do things like threaten to strike Jerusalem or Tel Aviv and then execute a missile attack. But it would do this in a limited and symbolic manner. This conflict has appeared different. It also appears different because Hamas rocket fire is not in response to IDF strikes; it is Hamas driving the conflict."
While the IDF is battling Hamas and Israeli communities continue to be the target for literally thousands of rockets, Washington has not found a unified voice condemning the Hamas rocket attacks.
In a Fox News article, Peter Hassan writes: "Escalating violence between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas has cast a spotlight on deepening Democratic divisions over the Jewish state." As Hassan explains it, "International observers are concerned about the possibility of full-scale war…President Biden and Democratic old guard have voiced support for Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas' rocket attacks."
But the uncontrollable mouths of the far-left Democrats and Hamas supporters have taken the occasion to grandstand their views. Never at a loss for uninformed chatter, Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) draws a sense of moral equivalence between Israel's right to defend itself and the terrorist actions of State Department-designated terrorist organization Hamas. She said:
"'By only stepping into name Hamas' actions - which are condemnable - [and] refusing to acknowledge the rights of Palestinians, Biden reinforces the false idea that Palestinians instigated this cycle of violence. This is not neutral language. It takes aside - the side of occupation.'"
Of course, the U.S. can be expected to support its closest ally in the Middle East when that ally is being attacked and is defending itself. But Ocasio-Cortez makes the common leftist mistake of conflating the Palestinian people with the terrorist organization Hamas that exercises authority over them in Gaza.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a supporter of Hamas, accused Israel of terrorism, not to be outdone. These pro-Hamas Democrats do not go unnoticed by Israel.
In an interview with Fox News' Shannon Bream, Danny Danon, former Israeli ambassador to the UN representative from Israel – and on the ground in Jerusalem – indicated how Israelis are thinking about the equivocation coming from Washington. Danon said:
"I was disappointed to hear voices coming from Washington from the Biden administration telling both sides to show restraint. There are no ‘both sides’ to this conflict. You have the terrorist organization Hamas…and you have the closest ally to the U.S. So, please don't talk about both sides. We expect the U.S. to stand with Israel."
In the same Fox News interview, Joel Rosenberg, New York Times best-selling author, also summed up what many Israelis are feeling on the ground in Jerusalem:
"You don't get a sense from the UN, for example, of a clear condemnation of those who are perpetrating this horror, there's a horror show going on – Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The world has to be unequivocal that terror is absolutely unacceptable and is not our fault. There's too much going on in the media and in politics. Ilan Omar, for example, accusing us of terrorism. That's nonsense and reprehensible."
Israel has been in jeopardy of being destroyed as a nation since its beginning. Fighting its adversaries in the region is not new. The U.S. has been a supporter of Israel, stronger at some times than others. But now is not the time to falter in standing firm with the Israeli people defending their homes.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.
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