Avi Benlolo: Hamas needs outright eradication, not gentle diplomacy

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As someone who has devoted their life to advocating for peace and promoting interfaith unity, I recognize the imperative of eliminating threats to our way of life. There undeniably exist individuals who endanger our liberty and happiness, seeking to undermine freedom and democracy.

Similar to the United States’ assassination of Iranian terror mastermind Qasem Soleimani in 2020, Tuesday’s alleged assassination of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri by Israel was deemed necessary. Israeli and U.S. officials believed al-Arouri had been involved in training and financing the terrorists who attacked Israel on Oct. 7, resulting in the tragic loss of 1,200 innocent lives. Israeli intelligence also suspected him of planning the kidnapping and murder of three teens from the country in 2014.

As leaders of Hamas, Al-Arouri and others among the top ranks of the terrorist group such as Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif are purportedly responsible for committing a crime against humanity on Oct. 7 and the days that followed, par with the Holocaust, Rwanda and Bosnia. Disturbing acts, such as executions, beheadings, point-blank shootings and burning entire families alive, were videotaped by Hamas. The terror group cowardly refers to this murderous rampage of unarmed civilians as a successful “operation.”

The gravity of rape as a heinous crime cannot be overstated, and the reported details surrounding the events on Oct. 7 are beyond words. Women endured horrific acts of violence, including shootings in sensitive areas, mutilations and stabbings while being sexually assaulted. This weaponization of sexual violence was purportedly ordered by the Hamas leadership.

At this week’s funeral of former Mossad chief Zvi Zamir, the current head of Mossad, David Barnea, reminded those in attendance about Zamir’s relentless pursuit of the Palestinian killers who murdered two Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics and took another nine as hostages. It took years to hunt them down one by one. Some Mossad agents were hurt and even killed in the effort, but the pursuit lasted more than 20 years.

Zamir believed that Jews have a right to safety and security, too. Any precedent that left a single terrorist alive would greenlight future terror attacks. At Zamir’s funeral, Barnea would repeat these same words and warned that anyone involved in the Oct. 7 massacre was in trouble: “Let every Arab mother know that if her son took part in the massacre — he signed his own death warrant.”

For our freedom to prevail, there can be no space for evil to exist. Today, no one regrets Adolf Hitler’s forced suicide in 1945 (well, except white supremacists and some of today’s anti-Israel protesters). No one questioned the United States’ assassination of Osama Bin Laden for the killing of the nearly 3,000 innocent people on 9/11. Except for the nasty Iranians who are funding all bad things around the world, everyone agrees that Soleimani’s death has made the world a safer place.

Our western lens, often inclined towards politics and diplomacy, may sometimes hinder us from recognizing true evil. Instances like the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Yasser Arafat, a former Palestinian leader notorious for his involvement in terrorist activities, underscore the necessity of hard choices. Despite being given a second chance by the international community, Arafat went on to deploy suicide terrorists against Israeli civilians.

While the aspiration for peace is universal, the acknowledgment that true peace requires addressing and eliminating evil from our midst is crucial. Standing on the grounds of Auschwitz, where the echoes of 1.2 million innocent souls still resonate, reinforces the understanding that the path to peace necessitates the eradication of evil for the sake of a brighter future for all of our children, including the Palestinians who deserve to be free of Hamas.

National Post