Countering Lies About Israel and Palestinian Casualties—the Debate About “Proportionality”

The lies about Israel have already started. Having conveniently forgotten that just eleven days ago Israel was subjected to the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust—with over 1,300 men, women, and children hunted down and executed merely for being Jews—everyone is asking the Israelis, “But what about Palestinian casualties”? The wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Israeli response to the atrocities visited upon Israel on October 7 has begun in earnest. The actions of Hamas remind me of the story of the young man on trial for killing his parents, who has the chutzpah to plead for mercy from the judge because he is an orphan.

You know, "War is hell." It is not a pleasant experience for anyone. Unfortunately, innocent bystanders are killed and injured in war. Why do reporters only ask about the Palestinians and their suffering? It was not Israelis who went on a killing spree. It was not Israelis who rounded up hostages. It was the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas that did such things! Israel is responding to attacks by Palestinian terrorists, not the other way around.

Why are there so few questions “about the Israeli victims”? In one sense, it may in fact be a backhanded compliment to Israel. People just don’t expect Palestinian terrorists to act rationally, to act as normal human beings should. So, they are often given a pass on issues of morality because their moral compass simply does not jibe with Judeo-Christian morality. Not only did Palestinian terrorists commit the vicious crimes alleged, they proudly filmed themselves doing so and posted everything on social media for all to see. They reveled when they killed people. They even revel when their own countrymen die, so long as Israel can be charged with allegations of war crimes. So, when deaths and atrocities like this occur, everyone goes to Israel for answers—Israel, the rational people; Israel, the adult in the room; Israel, the nation of laws and ethics; Israel, the nation that values life—not to the Palestinian terrorists and their allies who value death over life, who train their children to hate the Jews and to aspire to be martyrs by fighting Jews. So, even in situations as evil as this and even as Israelis mourn the deaths of loved ones and friends, Israel reacts rationally, with a strong ethic of life.

It is notable that, just hours after the horrendous Hamas attacks on Israeli men, women, and children, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) warned Palestinian civilians in Gaza to vacate where they would be attacking. Israel did this even knowing that such warnings would also save lives of Hamas terrorists. Israel values life—even Palestinian life; Israel values Palestinian life even after the Palestinian terrorist attack on innocent Israelis simply going about their daily lives. That’s what sets Israel apart—their ethic of life, knowing that men and women are created in the image of God and that God’s image in mankind is to be respected to the greatest extent possible—even toward an enemy that does not recognize that truth.

One of the biggest problems Israel has to deal with on the Public Relations (PR) front is the misuse of terms referring to warfare to say what they weren’t meant to say. For example, you are now hearing—and will hear throughout Israel’s campaign against Hamas—that Israel is using “disproportionate” force against the Palestinians, which, if true, would constitute a war crime. But, it isn’t true.

The so-called “proof” that will be offered will be the disparity of numbers of casualties on both sides. Yet, a comparison of numbers of casualties is a false measure. Proportionality is not measured by comparing casualty numbers. Proportionality means that a military may use only the force necessary to achieve its objective. To use an extreme example, it would be disproportionate to use an atomic bomb to kill a fly, when a fly swatter would be sufficient.

Proportionality is not measured by the numbers of casualties; it is measured by the use of force applied. Virtually all military operations result in collateral damage to property and injury to civilians. That’s a sad fact of war. The chances of damage to property and injury to civilians increase in fights in urban areas (like the cities in the Gaza Strip), especially where an enemy intentionally places its military sites (like headquarters, ammunition caches, storage sites, etc.) in civilian neighborhoods and in otherwise protected structures (like homes, schools, mosques, hospitals, etc.). That is exactly what Hamas has done. By doing so, Hamas has placed Palestinian civilians in harm’s way and made it impossible for Israeli armed forces to defeat Hamas without damage to structures and injury to civilians. I say again, because of what Hamas has done, it is impossible for Israel to avoid injuring civilians, but . . . BUT, the world will nonetheless pile on Israel as the wrongdoer even though it is responding in self-defense.

Because understanding the meanings of terms is important when one throws around allegations of war crimes—and such allegations are already coming at Israel—we have sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, laying out what the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) requires of both sides, so that the United States does not fall for the false narrative comparing numbers of casualties and instead stands up for what the LOAC really means and requires.

Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East. Both of our countries were founded on Judeo-Christian principles of right and wrong, and both countries value life. That constrains what we do in warfare. Hamas was founded on different principles of right and wrong and engages in killing of civilians as a way to spread terror. There is absolutely no equivalency in what Israel does and what Hamas does. Unless Israel destroys Hamas, Hamas will not hesitate to slaughter more Jews whenever it gets the chance.

Join the ACLJ in standing with Israel!