CLARITY
The View from Israel’s Universe
Michael Oren
October 5, 2024

…A truly proportionate response—hitting Tehran with the same 25,000 rockets and missives that Iran and its proxies have fired at us since October 7—would not, however, be acceptable to the West. Israel, American and European leaders state, has every right to defend itself but must exercise that right prudently. In practice this means that there is no effective counteroffensive action that Israel can legitimately take. Israelis can only sit and be pummeled by enemy barrages until our interceptors run out. Israelis can only legitimately die. Israelis, of course, see things differently. We are already engaged in a regional war and have been, on multiple fronts, since October 7. For us, this is a total war for our national survival, a thoroughly just war against enemies dedicated to our annihilation. READ MORE