When talking about India’s terrorism woes, the country that is often praised and held up by many Hindus as an example of a country which India should learn from is Israel. Israel is seen as a country surrounded by a sea of hostile neighbours, with populations far greater than Israel’s, some of which don’t formally recognize the right of Israel to even exist.
Israel is being criticized left right and centre for its recent military action in Gaza. There are only a few voices speaking in Israel’s favour. I for one fully respect Israel’s right to take strong action to prevent further terrorist attacks against its citizens. Article 51 of the UN Charter attests to every nation’s right to self-defense when attacked.
Israel has undertaken its latest campaign with the aim of decimating the capability of Hamas to operate as an organization, so that it no longer has the capability of targeting Israeli citizens the way it has been. Hamas is an organization that doesn’t recognise the right of Israel to exist at all, in the same way that organizations such as Lakshar-e-Tayyaba want to see the entire India come under Islamic rule. Hamas has claimed responsibility for hundreds of terrorist attacks which have targeted and killed thousands of Israeli civilians.
According to respectable estimates, approximately 1300 people were killed in Israeli military actions in Gaza, of which about a quarter were civilians. Any civilian loss of life is a tragedy, but at the same time the figure doesn’t represent military action which is indiscriminate. Rather, the casualty figures show an effort to target military action towards Hamas targets rather than an indiscriminate killing spree. Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. If Israel were a truly careless aggressor, the proportion of civilian casualties could have been far greater.
There are several similarities between the situations that India and Israel find themselves in today, but also several differences. The most hardcore enemies of both countries cannot tolerate India or Israel’s very existence, and both have faced devastating terrorist attacks for decades.
Israel, despite its tiny size, has an immense technological and military advantage over the Palestinian Authority. India has a sizeable military advantage over Pakistan too, but with both countries having nuclear weapons, the consequences of escalation are far more serious. The horrors of modern warfare and the human suffering by a fourth Indo-Pak war could be catastrophic. That doesn’t mean that we should be forever fearful of taking stern action against Pakistani based terrorists, due to her nuclear capability, but that all other means should be exhausted first before thinking of military action against Pakistan (with the exception of appeasement which should never be contemplated even for a second). A better option would be determined targeted operations by the intelligence services and Special Forces against confirmed terrorist and terrorist training facilities inside both Pakistan and any other country which willfully allows such activities to exist on its soil. Such a move by India would be very difficult to oppose, and would gain widespread support. Prior to 1997, India did indeed have an impressive intelligence network within Pakistan, before the lunatic decision by the then “United Front” Government to dismantle all its intelligence network within Pakistan as a gesture of goodwill.
What is particularly different about Israel compared with India is the way in which politicians simply have to do something determined about terrorism, because the public mood would never tolerate a government to stay in power that didn’t protect them forthrightly. In India the public forgets government lapses and incompetence very fast. The media in India is less responsible, quickly forgetting serious issues of national security for trivial gossipy trash. A mood needs to be created in Indians that will not tolerate a government that doesn’t protect its people.
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Topic: In support of Israel - Hindu Voice UK (Read 3095 times)