On Oct. 7 — 50 years and one day since the surprise attack against Israel that launched the Yom Kippur War — Israel found itself again the victim of a surprise attack from Hamas, the terrorist organization that rules Gaza.
But this wasn’t a military attack by a national army.
Rather, it was a barbaric assault by murderous thugs directed against civilians in their homes and young adults at a “peace concert.”
The heartbreaking results are now well documented: decapitated babies; the ruthless slaughter of entire families; the kidnapping of more than 100 people; including Holocaust survivors’ and the rape, murder and dismemberment of young women.
This was the worst campaign of murder, torture and abuse of the Jewish People since the Holocaust.
In the past decades, there have been numerous conflicts initiated by Hamas against Israel.
They were marked primarily by indiscriminate rocket fire into Jewish population centers.
While the toll on human life and mental health was significant — thanks to Israel’s “Iron Dome,” many casualties were avoided.
Israel would respond by degrading Hamas’ capabilities until the world got tired of the Gazan casualties and coerced Israel into a cease-fire.
Things would then be quiet for a few years until Hamas launched another assault, then bigger and stronger.
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With the unprecedented and barbaric assaults of Oct. 7, Israel has now moved from the objective of managing its conflict with Hamas to that of winning its war.
Hamas has proven itself to be so callous, hateful and barbaric, that nothing short of its complete annihilation is a fitting end to this battle.
There will never be peace as long as Hamas rules Gaza.
Israel does not threaten Gaza, there is not a single Jew living there, and all Israel wants from Gaza is a quiet border.
Gaza could be a peaceful and prosperous place — indeed its beaches are some of the most beautiful along the Mediterranean Sea.
But as long as Hamas is in charge, Gaza will be a dark, repressive bastion of Islamist extremism — a cancer for which there is no cure short of excision.
We live freely today because our grandparents had the courage to confront and defeat the Nazis.
More recently, the world stood up against ISIS and its savagery is no longer.
The fight against Hamas is such a battle.
Israel will be judged by its resolve to defeat Hamas and the world will be judged by whether it gave Israel the support to do so.
Ever since the atrocities of the Holocaust came to light, the world has embraced the phrase “Never Again.”
We will soon see whether “Never Again” is an empty promise or if there is international conviction behind these words.
Either way, the State of Israel cannot and will not accept the existence of a terrorist cult on its border committed to exterminating the Jewish Nation.
May God help them in their holy efforts and may Israel emerge victorious.
David M. Friedman served as United States ambassador to Israel from 2017 to 2021.