Israel is fighting terror properly

At a press conference Wednesday evening dealing with the Brussels terror attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked to "put his own house in order before doing so for others."

This falls in line with the story about the rabbi who cut down the tree in his own garden before telling his neighbor to do so as well. Netanyahu was asked, "Who is the Israeli government to preach to the world when it still hasn't managed to quell the stabbing intifada that has been ongoing for the last six months-"

This is an outrageous line promoted by Habayit Hayehudi and Yisrael Beteynu members in their fight against Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon. There is no complete victory over lone-wolf terrorists -- radicals, products of incitement, men and women prepared to risk murder for family honor -- who take knives and stab Jews, hoping to become martyrs.

Israel cannot stamp out an entire Palestinian town, or even a neighborhood or a street, because a terrorist came from there. A democracy does not have the power to put out the fire entirely, but it can lower the flames to a degree that is possible to live with in the long term, until the terrorists eventually despair. That is what the Israel Defense Forces, the police and the Shin Bet security agency do.

Even the justified use of force costs Israel a great deal. Just like an effective medication that also causes side effects. Netanyahu, Ya'alon and former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz carried out Operation Protective Edge slowly and carefully, listening, and rightly so, to the comments of friends and opponents in the diplomatic arena -- and yet Israel still paid a price.

It was amazing to watch Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Tuesday -- and set aside the fact that he's Jewish -- explaining his refusal to take part in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference and criticizing Israel for an apparent excessive use of force during the defensive operation in Gaza. Yes, it is an incorrect, malicious and unfair claim, but you cannot ignore the damage it does. If that comes from a U.S. presidential candidate during elections, then what about everyone else?

Those who claim that the government is failing to subdue the stabbing terrorism are proposing a policy of "I, and I alone" -- forget everyone else, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, Reform Judaism, J Street supporters, and many others. They may be lost to Israel even if the world now understands that Islamic terrorism is not related to the occupation, which is only one important chapter in this world war.

Many understand this, but when Ya'alon recently met U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, he found that the situation in Judea and Samaria was at the top of the list in the discussion about terrorism. Ya'alon suggested moving it down to the bottom. After all, that is its spot in reality.

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