THE WORLD'S MOST MORAL ARMY

 

“The only reason Israel goes to war is to defend itself. And it has to defend itself because it is surrounded by countries, and armed groups, that want to destroy it”.

The above was stated by Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired British army officer, who has more experience in war and terrorism than almost anybody. He was Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, and has fought in combat zones around the world, including Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Macedonia and Iraq. He was also present throughout the conflict in Gaza in 2014. Among other awards, he was made the Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2006

He stated that, nowhere was the essential morality and decency of the IDF more evident than in the Gaza War. In the first six months of 2014, Hamas (designated as a terror organization by the US State Department) launched hundreds of rockets at Israeli civilians. If ever there was a purely defensive war, that was it. After repeated warnings from Israel to stop, the Israeli Air Force finally conducted precision strikes to halt the rocket fire. They also advanced into Gaza to destroy a network of terror tunnels that Hamas had constructed to attack Israeli communities near the Gaza border.

It is fascinating to read about the tactical and ethical dilemmas faced by the IDF and the surprising solutions it invented, and deployed, to prevent “collateral damage”.

They took unprecedented measures to give Gaza civilians notice of targeted areas. They dropped millions of leaflets, broadcasting radio messages, sending texts and making tens of thousands of phone calls. They even knocked on rooftops with a minor preliminary strike, and then launching the effective second strike only if people evacuated. Never, in the history of warfare, has an army phoned its enemy and told them where they are going to drop their bombs!

Most amazing is the fact that many IDF missions that could have taken out Hamas military capabilities were aborted to prevent civilian casualties, increasing the risk to Israeli citizens and soldiers.

Knowing the extraordinary measures the IDF will take to protect innocent civilians, Hamas deliberately positioned its military assets among the civilian population. They hid weapons in schools and hospitals, placed rocket launchers alongside apartment buildings, then forced those civilians to stay in areas they knew would be attacked. They also instructed their people to report the lie that every Gazan killed was a civilian, even if they were actually fighters. Numerous Internet sites show Palestinians elaborately staging sniper victims and smashed ambulances, among other phony horrors.

In the words of Colonel Richard Kemp: “Firstly, Israel is a decent country with Western values, run on democratic principles. Secondly, Judaism, with its unsurpassed moral standards, remains a major influence on the citizens of Israel. I say this as a non-Jew. Thirdly, Israel is a small country, with a small professional army. To fight a war it depends on its conscripts and its reservists. These are ordinary citizens, from professors to plumbers, called upon to defend their homes. They don’t want to be fighting and they don’t want to harm others.

                                                                     

No army takes such risks in order to protect civilians in the history of warfare as the Israeli army does. I say this as a professional soldier. I say it because it’s true. And people who care about truth should know it”.