THE NECESSARY WAR AGAINST HAMAS

The revered Israeli author A.B Yehoshua has been a leading voice for over 25 years in Israel's 'Peace Now' movement, and the Israeli centre-left. He is admired internationally for expressing the 'conscience' of Israel, together with Amos Oz and David Grossman. His views on Israel's war against Hamas are of high interest and here is what he said in an interview published in the Jerusalem Report magazine on 16 February 2009 (see www.jrep.com) - [thanks to Beyond Images]

In the interview he criticises Israel for using excessive firepower. But he also says the following:

On the moral responsibility to defend Israeli citizens ...

This war was necessary. A million Israeli people can't be under the constant threat of rocket fire. It was a type of insanity, an impossible situation that was paralysing Israel. I believe any other country would have acted the same way we did out of a moral responsibility to defend its people from rocket fire...

On Hamas sabotage of the opportunity presented by Israel's pullout from Gaza ...

When Israel left Gaza in 2005, the Palestinians could have built, developed, and lived in peace. Then Israelis might have said "It's worth leaving Judea and Samaria ['the West Bank'] even without an agreement if this is the scenario we can expect". But what did Hamas do? With their rocket fire, they sabotaged everything for their brothers in the West Bank...

On Hamas torpedoing Israeli territorial withdrawals from the West Bank ...

Hamas have torpedoed peace. Hamas has caused Israelis to think two or three times about returning the West Bank...