Personal Thoughts on Israel

I try to recognize that people have biases and different world views, and I try to accept that as I go through life. I wanted to take a second to address a few of my own thoughts on what is happening in Israel and my own perspective on this issue.

I don’t know what it’s like to grow up in Gaza, and I have tremendous empathy for those who have spent their lives in what must be such despair. In times outside of the conflicts and wars, my mental map is to find it comparable to the horrible conditions of people growing up in the worst places in India, or even in our inner cities plagued by drugs and violence. My heart weeps for those children and families who’ve gone through that and continue to grow up in that.

But to be clear, the moral equivalence arguments here that justify Hamas's actions on the account of historical Israeli policies and actions are unacceptable. There is no equivalence. Pure, purposeful targeting, hostage taking, killing, and human shielding of innocent Jewish civilians is despicable and evil. At West Point, we spent many hours studying the theory of Just War and the ethics of the battlefield. In my heart, I believe the Israeli government and military, like our own, acts with that in mind, while the Hamas leadership acts with "malum in se" -- evil in itself.

Israel will respond with massive, justified force, and hopefully, this will catalyze something of greater significance in the longer term future to improve the possibility of eventual peace. The toughest choice the Israeli government faces is how to handle the Hamas usage of human shields - both of the Israeli hostages and of innocent Palestinian civilians.

Two additional thoughts. First, I am disappointed that there is a trend in some circles to push some degree of blame to our own leadership here based on the recent Iran hostage deal and the $6B of aid. It's a silly, stupid argument. We've been politically ineffective on both sides under multiple administrations of both parties - a different issue. I do not believe it's the time to turn this into a domestic US policy debate and a political tool on either side.

Second, and this is hard for many to swallow, but there is still a right to free speech in this country and a right for people to disagree with me, and say so. And it's my right to think that they are wrong. So while I am absolutely disgusted by those who are taking the opportunity to participate in anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rallies where people are chanting horrible things and celebrating these inhumane and evil acts of the Hamas terrorists, as I explain to my family, this is a foundation of our nation and what old Soldiers like me served to protect - our Constitution and these fundamental rights.

Finally, while I try and form in my head this very set of nuanced, specific views that separate out the history from the present and isolate the political from the human side of this, I also have sincere empathy and appreciation for the Jewish families, like my own wife and children, for whom this is a deeply emotional, personal, and painful reminder of atrocities of their past, but also for the present connection to so many of their families and friends living there, and most importantly, a sincere concern about increased anti-Semitism that we are seeing across the planet, and how important it is to remain vigilant in the protection against that.