I am watching world reaction to the tragedy that occurred in Qana, Lebanon, and I am stunned that world opinion continues to make a moral equivalence between the actions of the state of Israel and those of the Hezbollah. I am not speaking as a person who thinks Israel has a divine-right to the land that they occupy. Nevertheless, they are a democracy that is defending itself from the attacks of a vicious terrorist group. How can Israel acquiesce to a cease-fire while Hezbollah continues to fire rockets at their cities?Dan Gillerman, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, summed up the difference between Israel and Hezbollah on “Meet the Press†this past Sunday. His is a description that the world would do well to consider.
There may be a very serious blow to Israeli—to the Israeli public opinion and to world opinion towards Israel this morning, but this is exactly what the Hezbollah wanted. . .
I must remind you that today alone 115 Katyusha rockets were fired at Israel. The difference is that they fire them specifically to target civilians. We fire in order to destroy Hezbollah strongholds. That is the difference between us. For us, every dead Lebanese child is a horrible mistake and a tragedy. For them, every dead Israeli child is a victory and a cause for celebration. This cycle must stop; this horrible reality must stop. And therefore, public opinion and world opinion is very important. But what has happened today and those reactions which you’ve just spoken about are exactly what the Hezbollah wants, are exactly what Iran wants. Also, in order to divert attention from itself, because tomorrow the Security Council is going to vote on a resolution against Iran on its nuclear quest.
This is part of the war against terror. We are fighting this, not just for ourselves, but for the rest of the world. And when we have brutal and cynical enemies who use children and women as human shields, who use homes in order to fire missiles from, there will not be peace. There will not be peace until the terrorists learn to love their children more than they hate us (source).
Well said.
