Friends of Israel (and I am one of them) must despair that the country will ever learn that disproportionate and counter-productive security operations, like the invasion of the Gaza strip and now the attack on the aid convoy, do not just cause appalling loss of life but alienate the nation from the international community and ultimately do nothing to strengthen its security.<\/p>\n
The loss of life and the many injuries in the latest operation represent both a tragedy and an outrage. It has resulted in Israel’s allies in the region – Turkey and Egypt – having to review fundamentally its cooperation with the nation, it has immediately weakened the effectiveness of the blockade, and it must – and should – lead to a re-evaluation of the whole notion of such a blockade that punishes a whole society and not just Hamas extremists. Meanwhile the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is no nearer to being released as he should be.<\/p>\n
If one makes any criticism of Israel, one runs the risk of being branded as anti-Semitic, so let me quote an Israeli – David Grossman – who, in this article<\/a>, provides one of the most balanced and valid critiques of the military operation and rightly refers to:<\/p>\n “a clumsy and calcified policy, which again and again resorts by default to the use of massive and exaggerated force, at every decisive juncture, where wisdom and sensitivity and creative thinking are called for instead.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n