Israelis not paranoid; surrounded by threats

Last week provides a tragic lesson as to why the Israelis may view things differently than the rest of the world.

To their north, Assad slaughters his own Syrian citizens with impunity while the world does nothing. Based on this, they can easily imagine the genocidal slaughter that would take place if the Syrians crossed the Golan and reached Haifa.

To the west, Hamas has gone from lobbing a rocket a day into Israel to a massive bombardment of hundreds of rockets. The Israelis did kill three terrorists on their way to launch a major killing operation from Egypt. But can you imagine the United States allowing itself to be attacked when it uses drones to neutralize terrorist leaders in the Philippines or Yemen?

To the east is Iran, which has called for the destruction of Israel and is busy developing a nuclear capability that will allow it to do just that. Of course, the majority of Israelis do not want a war and hope that the current policy of sanctions will have its desired effect.

To the south is an increasingly lawless Sinai Peninsula where terrorists are taking advantage of the chaos in Cairo to attempt border crossings into Israel.

The Israelis are not paranoid. We do not have to give the Netanyahu government a blank check, but we should understand that they really are surrounded by enemies who would destroy them in a heartbeat.

Mitchell A. Levin

Cedar Rapids