The US naval support for Israel is strategically and symbolically necessary - editorial

In his address to the nation on Monday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the numerous world leaders he has spoken to over the last few days for their “unprecedented” support.

He singled out US President Joe Biden for special mention.

“I am in constant contact with President Biden, and I want to thank him again, in the name of all citizens of Israel, for America’s commitment in words and deeds to Israel’s security,” he said.

Among those words were Biden’s unequivocal statement, in his own voice Saturday night, saying that the US supports Israel’s right to defend itself, “full stop,” as well as another statement he released Monday expressing sympathy to the families of the 11 American Israelis so far known to have been among those killed.

In addition, he joined a statement with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, and Britain in declaring “steadfast and united support” for Israel, and pledging to ensure Israel can defend itself.

Regarding the US actions, Netanyahu said: “A US aircraft carrier, among the biggest in the world, is on its way to our region. Our common enemies in the region know very well the significance of that move.”

If they don’t know the significance of moving an aircraft carrier strike force to the region, a US Defense Department senior official spelled it out during a press briefing.

The positioning of the carrier force, the official said, was “intended to serve as an unequivocal demonstration in deed, and not only in words, of US support for Israel’s defense, and serve as a deterrent signal to Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and any other proxy across the region who might be considering exploiting the current situation to escalate the conflict. Those adversaries should think twice.”

At a time when Israel is still cleansing the South of terrorist infiltrators and is only at the beginning of its offensive in Gaza, one of the main concerns is that Iran, through its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, will take advantage of the chaos and disarray and open up a second front. The strike force, which includes the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, is a welcome and important signal for them from Washington not to do so.

This show of US support is as heartwarming as it is strategically significant. But Jerusalem should not harbor any illusions. As collateral damage inside Gaza will inevitably rise from Israeli attacks on Hamas infrastructure there, voices will emerge both inside the US and elsewhere questioning Washington’s unstinting support.

"Hamas is ISIS"

For this reason, Netanyahu was wise in his speech to stress that what Israel experienced on Saturday was ISIS-level brutality.

“Hamas is ISIS,” Netanyahu said. “And we will defeat it just as the enlightened world defeated ISIS.”

The comparison is apt on a couple of levels. First, because the horrific savagery carried out by Hamas is indeed like that which the world witnessed with ISIS; and second, because the world realized when fighting ISIS that extremely harsh measures were both justified and necessary to destroy that genocidal organization.

This comparison was repeated several times in a US Department of Defense briefing, and not without reason. There are already questions about civilian casualties in Gaza, and the ISIS comparison drives home the justification Israel has for using its full power to destroy Hamas.

“The reason that I’m underscoring the ISIS-level style tactics and techniques here is because in some of the reactions, I think there’s been an instinct to see this as the same kind of tensions or conflicts that we’ve seen between Palestinians and Israelis or in Gaza with Israelis in general,” the Department of Defense official said.

“This is different. It’s unprecedented. Hamas militants [went] across Israel, murdering children in front of their parents, massacring with indiscriminate violence [at] music festivals, burning down entire houses while families sheltered in their bunkers. This is different, and we want to be very clear about what that is.”

The American clarity here and the concrete steps it has taken to bolster Israel’s position – both by positioning the strike force in the region and by rushing air defense capabilities and munitions to Israel – are welcome and appreciated.

After Saturday’s horror, there is some comfort in knowing we do not stand alone.