Letters to the Editor: Toby F. Block

Letter to the editor,

October 7 was a shock to Israel, one from which it has not fully recovered. While an official investigation into what went wrong has not yet begun, it seems clear that many involved in securing Israel’s safety were overly confident about the efficacy of the underground barriers which had been constructed at the Gaza border. In addition, an uptick in terror attacks in Judea and Samaria (possibly the result of a Hamas effort to deflect scrutiny from itself) contributed to Hamas’ ability to prepare for the October 7 attack. It is possible that a bit of male chauvinism led to a refusal to accept reports from female IDF soldiers, acting as border lookouts, who reported that Hamas fighters were rehearsing a major attack.

But even if those mistakes hadn’t been made, preventing the attack, or dealing with it if preventive measures failed. would have been much more difficult than minimizing damage from missile attacks (with anti-missile defense units and accustoming people to getting to shelter as soon as alarms are sounded). Certainly, advance warning of the planned attack might have saved lives. But civilians can’t remain on high alert forever nor can troops be posted to civilian areas indefinitely.

Nor is it realistic to assume that Israel could formulate plans for the “day after” before acting against Hamas to prevent future October 7’s being inflicted on Israelis. PM Netanyahu’s initial assertions that Israel would take security control over Gaza after Hamas had been defeated were met with charges that Israel wanted to “reoccupy” Gaza. Although Jordan and Egypt are signatories to the Abraham Accords, neither acted to help Israel’s efforts to get Palestinian civilians to safe zones while fighting continued. With European nations beginning to recognize the “Palestinian state,” there was no way for Israel to quickly build the coalition needed to ensure the demilitarization of Gaza and the deradicalization of the Palestinians (many of whom participated in, or congratulated Hamas for, the October 7 atrocities, despite having benefited from permits to work in Israel or from efforts by kibbutznikim to improve the lives of Palestinians living under Hamas rule.

Toby F. Block, Atlanta