Israel’s War for Survival

March 21, 2025

by: Fiamma Nirenstein ~ JNS

Monday, 21 March 2025 | Israel has no choice but to return to war and press forward to secure the release of its hostages. For months, it has been left without reliable support from the international community, and now, finally, the moment is right with backing from the United States.

Yet, instead of solidarity from world bodies, Israel faces the usual deluge of hostile rhetoric, lies and blind condemnation. As it once again fights in Gaza, it is met with the predictable outcry for an unconditional ceasefire—one that would do nothing but pave the way for future massacres. A ceasefire would allow Hamas to regroup, followed by Hezbollah and ultimately, Iran. But this time, Israel will not fall into the same trap. The lesson of October 7 has been learned—not just about Hamas’s brutality, but also about the ceaseless tide of international blame and venom, including from within Israel itself.

Even as the bodies of murdered children lay unburied, as women were being brutalized and the bodies of the dismembered were being counted, the United Nations called for a ceasefire. Then, as now, the only concern of these so-called humanitarians was maintaining their ideological cohesion—an obsession with self-destructive pacifism that serves the political interests of an increasingly Islamized Western electorate. The suffering of hostages in Hamas’s tunnels, the steady rebuilding of terror infrastructure, and the explicit preparation for another genocide against the Jewish people are secondary concerns to them.

Israel has had no choice but to attack Hamas again, as failing to do so would have enabled the full reconstitution of Iran’s terror axis, stretching from Tehran to Lebanon. The global discourse surrounding the hostages is drowned in a sea of politically motivated noise with a singular, cynical target: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The level of hatred directed at him is remarkable. It blinds people to an obvious truth: When your life is at stake, you must defend yourself.

The current offensive in Gaza has one primary goal: to break Hamas’s refusal to release the hostages. Every day that passes without military action strengthens Hamas’s ability to prolong the crisis, rebuild its forces and rearm itself for the next attack. Just yesterday, Hamas once again forced Tel Aviv’s residents into bomb shelters with its missile barrages. In Judea and Samaria, Israeli citizens face daily attacks from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and even Fatah operatives.

The families of hostages protesting in the streets are right in their agony, but their anger should be directed at Hamas, not Netanyahu. The prime minister has already exhausted every possible avenue of negotiation. Hamas refuses to make any real concessions. The recent deadlock allowed the terrorist group to cement its demands, turning this into a battle for its survival rather than one for genuine hostage release. Hamas seeks to remain in power, to free thousands of convicted murderers in exchange for a few hostages, and to emerge from this conflict as strong as ever, ready to plan the next October 7.

Netanyahu, defying expectations, has taken bold and unexpected action. Critics claim he is only doing so to secure his coalition by appeasing far-right figures like the recently reappointed National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, but the numbers tell a different story—Netanyahu does not need Ben Gvir’s votes to stay in power. Others argue that he is targeting Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar in retaliation for an investigation into the prime minister’s office and its ties to Qatar. However, even Israel’s fiercely independent judiciary has found no evidence of Netanyahu’s involvement. On the contrary, the investigation has exposed severe intelligence failures within Bar’s agency—failures that directly contributed to the October 7 horrors.

A full political and military inquiry will, of course, take place in due time. But in a democracy, there is a clear distinction between elected leaders and appointed officials. The latter are accountable to those who appoint them. If Netanyahu cannot exert authority over senior security officials, it is because his political affiliation is not to the liking of Israel’s left-leaning establishment. That is unacceptable.

Israel is fighting for its survival. It has finally learned how to do so, and no amount of rhetorical posturing will stop it.

As for the number of Palestinian casualties—let us remember that these figures come from Hamas and are unreliable at best. Regardless, no one in Gaza would have died, and no one would be dying now if Hamas had simply returned the hostages. It is Hamas that bears full responsibility for every life lost.

Posted on March 21, 2025

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on March 20, 2025. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90/jns.org