I posted two videos earlier today, either in this thread or the Oct 7th one. I recommend watching them if you're trying to understand the Israeli perspective — not to agree with it necessarily, but to comprehend the mindset. As with any worldview, it has the potential to be both illuminating and dangerous, depending on how it's applied. Israel sees itself as a moral nation, often describing its military as the “most moral army in the world,” and from that perspective, it resists external criticism of its actions.

Regarding Gaza: before October 7th, the population was around 2.3 million, with an estimated 25,000 Hamas fighters. The general population didn’t elect Hamas — many were born into this reality. About half of Gaza’s population is under 18, and roughly 40% are under 15. For years, Gaza has been treated — at least from a strategic lens — as a place to contain threats rather than resolve them. Israel has struggled with how to approach Gaza, and one consequence of that has been a strategy some call “mowing the lawn” — carrying out periodic military operations to degrade militant capabilities before they become more serious threats.

We’ve seen similar preemptive logic used in Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, even when Iran insisted it was for civilian use. (I mention this only to stay on-topic with the Iran thread.)

On the difficult subject of children: from the Israeli security perspective — as often repeated in the October 7th thread — the unfortunate presence of children in a war zone is framed through two core arguments:

That Israel is targeting militants, not civilians — and since Hamas operates from within civilian areas, the blame is placed on Hamas for endangering those around them.

That the concept of collective punishment is a Western liberal concern, and that harsh consequences are seen by some as necessary to prevent future attacks.

Once again, the best way to understand how this logic plays out is to listen to Israelis themselves — ideally with a critical but open mind, capable of recognizing dangerous ideas.

Any challenge to how Israel conducts its business is dismissed. Sorry, I split some milk? too bad.

This post was edited by ferdia on Jun 27 2025 12:19pm

That's A very inhumane standpoint.
And you can think so if you want to.
I'd sacrifice myself to save A child.
Guess we are built different.
Hatred is one hell of A drug.

It's more that being incapable of spelling completely destroys your credibility, because it's a massive red flag of being uneducated - if you can't even spell, why would anyone take what you believe seriously?

I can understand the perspective, but i don't agree with it. I guess that makes me liberal?..
The thing with me is, that i would never accept an opinion that puts children in harms way, no matter the reasoning.
War at face value, is lunacy.
thanks for some actual solid feedback.

If you think my credibility is tarnished by not being able to type proper english, that's on you.

The Israeli army is the army of the people. Most of us serve we're not detached observers, we are the soldiers. I, and many others like me, would never commit atrocities. We know the IDF’s strict rules of engagement and the values it upholds. That’s why it’s often called the most moral army in the world.

When viewed through the lens of enemy propaganda, we may be painted as evil but that couldn’t be further from the truth. We are ordinary people who want to return to our daily lives. Serving in the army isn’t our ambition it’s our duty. We want to get back to our families, our jobs, our businesses, our simple routine.
We don’t seek conflict, but if war is forced upon us, we’ll show up. That’s why Israelis are tough because we fight not out of hatred, but out of necessity.

With Brevity, this is an international forum. English is not my first language either. If, when debating, the opponent can only point to my pronunciation or shortcomings with spelling, when discussing the topic of Gaza, then I am really not worried and am happy to stand on firmer ground.

You say you’d sacrifice yourself for a child but that changes when you become a father.
A man with kids of his own doesn’t throw his life away for a child whose parents handed him a gun and turned him into a weapon.
That’s not compassion it’s naivety. My instinct is to protect innocent lives, including my own children, not to die for someone else’s calculated cruelty

There are a lot of truths in your comment above, and I am still happy with you comments from yesterday so I will go back in my proverbial box.

I have kids, two infact.
Does not change my stance.