The Hypocrisy of Condemnation

Why Israel's Response to October 7 Is Mild by Historical Standards

Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, which resulted in the brutal murder of over 1,200 civilians, the rape and torture of others, and the abduction of more than 250 hostages, international condemnations has continued to grow and intensify against Israel. Countries across the world, including authoritarian regimes, have accused Israel of disproportionate force, war crimes, and even genocide. In the United States, while the federal government has remained largely supportive of Israel, prominent voices within media, academia, and political factions have echoed these accusations. This self-righteous posturing ignores the fact that faced with an existential threat on the scale of October 7, proportionally equivalent to multiple 9/11s for a small nation like Israel, virtually every country in modern history has responded with overwhelming severity, often deliberately targeting or accepting massive civilian casualties as collateral in pursuit of security.

The attack was not a conventional military incursion but a premeditated terrorist assault by Hamas and allied groups, involving crimes against humanity such as summary executions and sexual violence. Israel's subsequent operations in Gaza, aimed at dismantling Hamas's military infrastructure, have undeniably caused civilian suffering, but they occur in a context where the enemy embeds itself among non-combatants, making distinction nearly impossible. Yet, anti-Israel groups overlook how other nations, when similarly provoked, unleashed responses that dwarf Israel's in scale and brutality, often against clearly identifiable civilian populations without the complicating factors of blended combatants.