(by Oz Bin Nun)
Some wars are unavoidable.
I wouldn’t wish anyone to see what I saw with my own eyes on October 7. I also don’t wish anyone to know what it feels like having to fight for your life and for the lives of those you love most. War is hell, period. This is why we must seuirsly address the call to “stop the war now”. It has been voiced since the moment this war began. It sounds moral, because war is a horrible, terrible thing, but it is not. It is not moral because as war is terrible, sometimes all the other alternatives are even worse.
When I’m forced to kiss my wife goodbyego to war, when my siblings and friends go to war, leaving behind family and children, we don’t like it - the opposite. As a matter of fact, we hate it. We go to war because it’s theonly way we can remove the death threat from our loved ones, and until a diplomatic path guarantees this, we’ll have to keep fighting.
We want to create peace and prevent destruction on the long run, which are not possible with the Hamas and Hezbollah at our borders, threatening our citizens and oppressing their own. Hence we must do everything we can to ensure that the organizations responsible for these atrocities - and that continue to take Israeli lives for a whole year - are no longer a threat. Only after their dismantling can we turn to rebuilding and developing peaceful relations, and I truly hope, friendship as well.
The Culture of Lies.
Right after the October 7 Massacre, I flew to speak at a U.S. campus. During my talk, I argued that even if someone supports Israel, there’s no way to claim that this war is inherently good, or that no innocent people are harmed. We have to be honest: innocent people have been harmed in Gaza. Women and children die, and it’s heartbreaking. I know for a fact that the military and the soldiers are doing everything they can to prevent it, including putting their own lives at risk as they evacuate civilians from a battlefield. It’s terrible because war is terrible, and at the same time sometimes there’s no avoiding war because the death threat still exists - the remaining question is how to conduct it as morally as possible in an impossible situation.
A few days later, the local SJP chapter heavily edited the video of my talk and claimed I had boasted about killing children in Gaza - an accusation that is not only false but ridiculous, as I had already clarified that I personally had never fought in Gaza (however I did fought in the Israeli towns on the border). Shortly afterward, two different newspapers fact-checked this claim and confirmed it was a lie, but the video had already gone viral, of course.
This culture of lies is dangerous because it turns morality, and public discourse into weapons aimed at anyone who dares support Israel. It doesn’t seek to create a better reality or even to promote peace, only to silence people in the public space. The result is a total rift and an inability to communicate.
We have to be honest: movements like SJP declared themselves, as early as October 8, an arm of armed resistance. They praised the October 7 Massacre and spread propaganda that supports killing, kidnapping, and raping. These movements are not liberal, not progressive, and not woke, the other way around. By their fundamentalist aproach they do not bring the world closer to peace—only to more war.
Not Revenge. Prevention.
Some people who discuss the war inthe middle east tend to frame it as “revenge.” This is mostly due to terrible statements from some Israeli public figures, including government ministers. Such statements are not just immoral and irresponsible, they don’t reflect what most Israelis believe in: I saw the horrors of October 7 with my own eyes, the survivors of Nova Mass Shooting and the kibbutzim, but I never went into battle for revenge, nor did we. People don’t leave their families to seek revenge; they leave to protect them.
My friend Eitan Oster RIP recorded a video a few days before he was killed in Lebanon, saying, “A person goes to war not out of hatred for the enemy but out of love for those behind him.” This is how most reservists feel: we risk our lives to protect those in Israel who can’t protect themselves, and for no other reason.
It’s still possible, even necessary, to criticize the Israeli government’s strategy (or to be accurate, lack of strategy). While it’s essential to dismantle war-crimes committing organizations that are threatening the nation’s existence, we musti question the approach - or, better yet, propose an alternative path.
A Double Struggle.
We’re not blind to extremist elements within Israel. In every war throughout history, fighting societies have tended to radicalize, increasingly hating the opposing side. This is a natural and unfortunate result of the daily violence, a reality in which every day Israelis die.
As peace-seeking Israelis we have a dual task, nearly impossible. We must fight to defend our loved ones while constantly resisting the natural inclination toward dehumanization. We must remind ourselves, again and again, that peace is not just possible but neccecary, and remain sensitive and alert enough to recognize a genuine opportunity for peace when it arises.
My request to you, liberals in the U.S. or worldwide, is to help us in this task. Accusations against Israel don’t help; they only strengthen extreme voices, and marginalize peace-persuers like us. Ask yourselves: how can I support the moderate majority in Israel that wants security and dreams of peace? How can I promote real peace, grounded in reality, addressing Israel’s legitimate security concerns and at the same time fulfilling Palestinians rights to live free? We need you now more than ever.
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