Israel's Choices - by Arnold Kling - In My Tribe

The US administration is telling us: “This is a victory, you’ve already won by thwarting the missiles. No need for any further action.” No, it’s NOT a victory. Yes, it’s a remarkable success of Israel’s air defense systems, but it’s not a victory. When a bully tries to hit you 350 times and only succeeds seven time, you’ve NOT won. You don’t win wars just by intercepting your enemy’s hits, nor do you deter it. Your enemy will just try harder with more and better weapons and methods next time. How DO you deter? By exacting a deeply painful price.

We’re not asking anyone to fight for us. We’ll do the job. But we do expect our allies to have our back, especially when it’s tough—and now it’s tough. Be on the right side and help us defeat these horrible and savage regimes.

If Israel chooses to sit back and do nothing, it gains the approval of the “international community.” The question is how much that is worth. The “international community” has been willing to tolerate Iran undertaking a campaign against Israel that any sovereign state would regard as intolerable. It tolerates Israel constantly being attacked by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah in the North, depriving Israel of some of its territory and requiring Israel to keep many men out of the economy and in the army. The American Administration and its allies are making Israel pay a huge price for “ironclad” support. Iran is paying no price at all.

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