The explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip is another event that shows how deep is the fixation among much of the international media and certainly many intellectual elites in the Western world. The tendency, in the name of empathy with the weak, to accept every Palestinian report, especially from Hamas, as if it were divinely uttered, bespeaks the loss of a moral compass, cowardice, intellectual shallowness, and above all burning hatred toward Israel and the Jews – antisemitism at its best.
Even had the IDF Spokesperson succeeded in presenting the facts unequivocally minutes after the event, he would not have been able to stop the flow of reports, shockwaves, and condemnations in the international media, including the premier among them. Even after it was clarified and proved beyond any doubt that the hospital was hit by a failed rocket launched by Islamic Jihad from a cemetery adjacent to the hospital, no condemnations were heard against Islamic Jihad and Hamas. No sharp criticism was leveled at them for using civilian facilities and civilians as human shields. The fact that Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, serves as a headquarters for Hamas above and below ground does not particularly concern the international media.
The mandatory lesson is that alongside the IDF's adherence to the laws of war and alongside a supreme effort to avoid harming innocent civilians, Israel must fight the war in the international arena and against the international media. The hypocrisy, prejudices, and danger to the peace of the free world must be exposed and rebuffed. This will never be easy and the achievements will not necessarily be immediate, but we may not ignore such problematic and clearly unethical conduct. The latest event is nothing less than a wake-up call to the leaders of the state and the IDF regarding the nature and meaning of the cognitive war. Experience teaches the importance of the cognitive campaign – the war in Ukraine is a war of cognition on a grand scale, waged in parallel with the kinetic war. We need nothing else for us to regroup and learn to mobilize the best of our resources and talents for this important war – and the sooner the better.
The explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip is another event that shows how deep is the fixation among much of the international media and certainly many intellectual elites in the Western world. The tendency, in the name of empathy with the weak, to accept every Palestinian report, especially from Hamas, as if it were divinely uttered, bespeaks the loss of a moral compass, cowardice, intellectual shallowness, and above all burning hatred toward Israel and the Jews – antisemitism at its best.
Even had the IDF Spokesperson succeeded in presenting the facts unequivocally minutes after the event, he would not have been able to stop the flow of reports, shockwaves, and condemnations in the international media, including the premier among them. Even after it was clarified and proved beyond any doubt that the hospital was hit by a failed rocket launched by Islamic Jihad from a cemetery adjacent to the hospital, no condemnations were heard against Islamic Jihad and Hamas. No sharp criticism was leveled at them for using civilian facilities and civilians as human shields. The fact that Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, serves as a headquarters for Hamas above and below ground does not particularly concern the international media.
The mandatory lesson is that alongside the IDF's adherence to the laws of war and alongside a supreme effort to avoid harming innocent civilians, Israel must fight the war in the international arena and against the international media. The hypocrisy, prejudices, and danger to the peace of the free world must be exposed and rebuffed. This will never be easy and the achievements will not necessarily be immediate, but we may not ignore such problematic and clearly unethical conduct. The latest event is nothing less than a wake-up call to the leaders of the state and the IDF regarding the nature and meaning of the cognitive war. Experience teaches the importance of the cognitive campaign – the war in Ukraine is a war of cognition on a grand scale, waged in parallel with the kinetic war. We need nothing else for us to regroup and learn to mobilize the best of our resources and talents for this important war – and the sooner the better.