War can erupt without warning, and no participant escapes unharmed.
I AM writing this column five days after Hamas launched vicious attacks on Israel, aware that many more days will have passed (and much more could happen) before subscribers read my thoughts.
The attacks are devasting for Israel and its citizens. Politically, militarily, they will be embarrassed by the apparent intelligence oversight. Israel is a nation of people who constantly feel under threat, surrounded by potential enemies.
Australians can find it difficult to fully appreciate the impact this has on the Israeli perspective.
Israel must not only defend itself, but also must deter future attacks. This necessitates a strong response, and predictably two elements will feature. A show of force to restore a sense of strength and project control to its adversaries, including Iran.
At the time of writing, this has already begun. What has also started is the second element: a precise and focused pursuit of those responsible, door to door, until every perpetrator is accounted for.
As a result, by the time this is read it is also predictable that media stories will paint Israel’s military action as excessive or causing collateral damage.
Maybe this will be true, but I ask you to consider their unique context before passing judgment as they fight back against a state-sponsored terrorist organisation that shows no regard for the rules of war, that exercises brutality with a lack of humanity that suggests this is less about territory or history and more about a ruthless blood sport using war as convenient excuse.
There have been (and will continue to be) civilian casualties. In Israel and in Palestine. This action by Hamas achieves nothing but a shared suffering, enemies ironically bonded through their mutual grief over needless death.
I expect Israel will do all it can to observe the rules of war, but there is context to consider. Hamas notably took many hostages and these hostages will be used as currency as a bargaining chip to prevent Israel’s inevitable retaliatory charge.
Hostages will be tortured or executed in response to Israeli action, with hostage treatment blamed on Israeli leadership for their failure to heed the Hamas warning.
Israel will therefore attempt to balance the equation, creating impossible conditions for Palestinians as it seeks to secure the release of hostages in exchange for relief to the impossible conditions it creates. While Israel’s detractors will attempt to use these actions to retrospectively justify Hamas’s original attack, it is challenging to see what choice Israel has.
Failure to create this rebalance means hostages will be used as a pawn to prevent further Israeli retaliation, and as covered above, Israel must show strength.
Once the hostages are secured, Israel will then hunt Hamas with tenacity.
This has reminded me of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche, who in 1886 published a book translated as Beyond Good and Evil.
There is a famous quote from that book, often subtly mistranslated, and one that writer Mark Conrad suggested should more accurately read:
“Whoever battles monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster himself.”
Nietzche has also philosophised about the concept of good versus evil, suggesting they are not absolute but rather a function of emotional and social pressures.
My natural instinct is to disagree, that my morals are unwavering, but in the Israeli context, there are no choices that present absolute morality.
Hostages must be freed to rebalance the terms of conflict. Hamas perpetrators cowardly hide among Palestinian civilians.
A desire to avenge the brutal attacks on children and innocent people is understandable, as is a desperate need to exhibit strength when surrounded by potential enemies.
What choices would you make? How would my absolute sense of morality justify or bend to meet the need? Can becoming the monster as Nietzche mentioned be avoided?
This is a brutal reminder that war can spark without warning. It further raises concerns about the impact of the distraction, as wars in Afghanistan and Iraq diverted attention from the rise of a militarised China.
In an Australian context, it’s a harsh reminder of the importance of our intelligence, diplomatic and defence capabilities, and the need to continue to invest in them.
Above all else, it’s a reminder that there are no winners in war, as I reflect with deep sadness on the suffering experienced and still to come for so many innocent civilians.
• Kristian Constantinides is the general manager of Airflite, and chairperson of AIDN-WA; the opinions expressed are purely his own
