Sherman was half right: War is hell, but healthy for Netanyahu - opinion

War is hell, as William Tecumseh Sherman proved on his March through Georgia a century and a half ago. This is especially true if you are a soldier or a civilian who gets in the way – but it is not true for everyone.

Not for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at least not this time.

When Palestinian Islamic Jihad began firing rockets to avenge the May 2 death of one of their own, resulting from his 86-day hunger strike, Netanyahu’s ultra-hawkish coalition partners demanded a brutal response. They would have preferred carpet bombing Gaza with B-52s but appeared to be mollified by a highly focused assassination campaign that killed six top PIJ leaders.

The risk-averse Israeli prime minister went to war with PIJ and emerged victorious on all fronts. He got to burnish his “Mr. Security” credentials without a major land war and – at least for the time being – saved his coalition and stopped the plunge in his polling numbers.

By firing more than 1,400 rockets and mortars across the southern half of Israel – even targeting Tel Aviv – PIJ gave Netanyahu a temporary respite from the massive public demonstrations against his attempted overthrow of the nation’s independent judiciary.  Only tens of thousands of protesters, instead of the usual hundreds of thousands, turned out last weekend.

This latest conflict may also have dealt a body blow to the Israeli far Right’s judicial coup. Former senior Mossad official Yossi Alpha pointed out that “the fight against PIJ was led by the very IAF pilots and IDF Unit 8200 cyber experts who have spearheaded the public protest and been labeled by the far Right as ‘traitors.’”

With the international media focused on the spectacular footage of Israel’s anti-missile systems intercepting rockets fired from Gaza, Finland expressed an interest in these defensive weapons.

Finland joins Singapore, Canada, South Korea, India, Slovakia and the Czech Republic in wishing to acquire the life-saving Iron Dome and David’s Sling. Israel’s new friends in the Gulf are also interested, as they face threats from Iran. 

The US helped finance their development, and US defense contractor Raytheon partnered with the Israeli developer, Rafael, to build the systems.

War is good for business and for Netanyahu

War is good for business. Just look at the defense plants across the US and Western Europe working overtime to keep the Russian bear from restoring its old empire.

There is, however, a country that wants and needs Israel’s advanced missile defense, but is off limits – Ukraine – because Bibi doesn’t want to anger Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Nevertheless, Israel and Ukraine have a common enemy, Iran, which provides most of PIJ’s missiles aimed at Israel, and Russia’s drones targeting Ukraine.

The IDF reported that Iron Dome intercepted 95% of PIJ rockets targeting populated areas. Hundreds more landed in open fields.  An estimated 290 PIJ rockets launched toward Israel landed in Gaza, killing at least four Palestinians, including children.

PIJ rockets killed an 82-year-old Jewish Israeli woman in Rehovot and wounded five people.  Another PIJ rocket killed a Palestinian man from Gaza working legally in Israel on Moshav Shokeda, while his brother and a Bedouin Israeli were wounded in the strike, i24 News reported.

Many of Israel’s critics point to the disproportionate casualty rate on the two sides. Not enough dead Jews, apparently. Health officials in Gaza said 33 people were killed in the latest round, including 18 terrorists and six children.  At least four uninvolved Gazans were killed in failed rocket launches, Times of Israel reported.  

PIJ, it turns out, killed more Gaza civilians than it did Israelis, and it wasn’t for lack of trying.  PIJ, like Hamas, fires its rockets, missiles and mortars indiscriminately toward populated areas in Israel for the undeniable purpose of creating terror and death. PIJ and Hamas are both US State Department-designated Foreign Terror Organizations and the EU terror organizations list. Hamas dominates Gaza but decided to sit out this round of fighting.

 The Israeli Air Force insists its aim is precise and targeted only terrorists, to avoid civilian casualties – but terrorist leadership headquarters and many launch sites are intentionally located in populated urban areas.

There’s a brief respite in the latest round of war – thanks once again to an Egyptian-negotiated ceasefire – while Iran rearms its proxies (and arms Russia as well). PIJ brags about the damage it inflicted on Israel, and vows new revenge for the six martyred leaders lost to the hated Zionists. Meanwhile, Rafael and Raytheon are taking orders for Iron Domes and David’s Slings. And Netanyahu has appeased his uber-hawks.

And just as sure as God made little green apples, there will be another round of killing because the leaders on both sides seem to know of no other way to settle their differences.

If there is one thing today’s Israeli and Palestinian leaders appear to have in common, it is a lack of interest in finding a political solution.

There will be more Shield and Arrow-type operations, each a bit longer and more lethal until there is new leadership that does not see peaceful coexistence as an existential threat.

Until then, you can dust off that old Vietnam-era poster with the slogan, “War is not healthy for children and other living things” and add: “except for politicians’ poll numbers and arms makers’ order books.”

The writer is a Washington-based journalist, consultant and lobbyist, and the former American Israel Public Affairs Committee legislative director.