Robert Harris is a news editor who has worked in television and newspapers in the
United States, Asia and the Middle East.
In Gaza, and possibly soon in Lebanon, Israel will be again forced to wage war according to Iran’s schedule and deadly playbook.
In Tehran, the Iranians created Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia. The Iranians also armed them, trained them, command them and now decide when the next war with Israel will begin.
Iran also will decide that Arab civilians must die, as Israel is purposely drawn into combat inside Lebanese villages and cities.
Additionally, Tehran pulls the strings on the armies of Jew-hating Moslem and Christian demonstrators on the streets of Europe and America.
In Lebanon, Iran will seek to kill Israeli soldiers using underground tunnels, well-prepared defensive positions, anti-tank emplacements and booby-trapped buildings and roads.
These cross-border battles have become the forever-wars that Israel seems condemned to fight, losing hundreds of soldiers during each round, in exchange for a hurried ceasefire which the non-Jewish world never intends to enforce.
So perhaps it is time for Israel to get off the Iranian merry-go-round of endless wars and find ways to act swiftly and decisively to end the threats from Lebanon and surrounding countries.
How might Israel fight a different type of war?
By no longer doing Iran’s bidding of targeting Lebanese villages, but instead waging war by utterly destroying the government of Lebanon.
And in attacking the Lebanese government, our goal should be to end a Lebanese war in days, not months, and with a minimal loss of Israeli soldiers and Arab civilians.
Since October 7, Lebanon has allowed 5,000 missiles to be fired from its territory into Israel. If war breaks out, let Israel focus not on terrorists hiding among civilians, but on destroying the Lebanese government in a measured, daily campaign.
For instance:
On Day 1 of the war let Israel destroy the Lebanese government’s 17 ministry buildings.
And after this day’s destruction, let us call upon Lebanon to end the war by stopping the firing of missiles aimed at Israel.
On Day 2, perhaps let Israel target the Lebanese parliament.
On Day 3 destroy the presidential palace and prime minister’s residence.
On Day 4, turn Beirut’s international airport into rubble. Other targets might include all smaller airports in Lebanon and all coastal ports.
And at the conclusion of each day, let the Israeli government call upon Lebanon to end the war, as well as upon the world to force Lebanon to stop shooting missiles at Israel.
Changing how we fight the war will also demonstrate to Moslem countries that if they allow Iran to fire missiles at Israel from their territories, they risk the very real chance that Israel will attack and they will no longer have a functioning government to rule their countries.
Of course, as the world seeks to destroy Israel they will say Lebanon is not responsible for the missiles being fired at Israel. It is independent militias firing rockets. But you cannot have it both ways. You cannot be a sovereign nation and then turn over part of your country to Iran.
So in attacking the government in Beirut, Israel will loudly declare that it is not Hezbollah launching rockets at Israel. It is Lebanon launching missiles.
In other words, Israel will not be so quick to send our soldiers to fight these Iranian militias, instead we will change the rules and destroy the governments of those countries that allow Iran to use their territories to launch attacks on us.
By destroying their governmental buildings, the day-to-day legitimacy of the Lebanese government will in large part be ended, as they no longer have the symbols of their government, that which gives them validity, meaning their big, powerful-looking government buildings.
And for goodness sakes, if Israel wages this war with Lebanon, stop answering the damned phone when the cowards and appeasers who lead western nations call with their limp-wristed demands for Israel to surrender.
In short, swift strikes which threaten the continued existence of enemy governments might be an alternative to sending our precious soldiers to fight.
And have no doubt that if this proves effective, the world--especially our allies--will loudly oppose Israel.
Clearly, we have seen since October 7 that anything that is good for the Jews will be wildly opposed by most countries.
Moving forward, we must acknowledge how different our values and actions are from the self-destructing west. For instance, I know a young Israeli who fought in a special unit in Gaza. He was completing his three-year service when the war broke out on October 7. Only recently, has he at last been discharged.
But just this week he sent a message to his family from Thailand, where he and members of his unit are enjoying some rest, that after three-and-a-half-years in uniform he will immediately return home if war breaks out and rejoin his unit in Lebanon.
And I know of another young man. He is a member of a combat unit and has been fighting house-to-house in Gaza for months.
Predictably, his luck recently ran out and he was inside a building when a hidden bomb detonated.
While he survived, he has broken ribs and suffered burns on half of his body.
When I asked his parents if their son’s war was at last over, they said he hopes to return to the fighting as soon as his ribs heal a bit.
Israel is a nation made up of such selfless and extraordinary young men and women. They feel an obligation to protect Israel, and so we must also have an obligation to look for every alternative way of waging war that will prevent sending such soldiers into battle.
These young men are our best. For the sake of our past, our present and our future, we must look for every option to guarantee these soldiers will live long and happy lives.
However, if war comes in Lebanon we must not flinch in our obligations or our ferocity.
But let us look for new ways to wage war, different from in our recent past, that will allow us to be victorious and bring peace to all of Israel.
This is the least we can do for our soldiers and sons.
Iran clearly did not fear Israel when they placed 150,000 missiles, weapons of mass destruction, in Lebanon and pointed them at Israel.
And because they saw there was little to fear, now Israel is threatened by Iranian missiles fired from Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iran.
There is a time for Israel to enjoy peace, but there is also a time for the use of great violence.
The miracle that is Israel, the miracle of the return of the Jewish people, these miracles merit being protected by using the greatest of violence.
And saving the life of a single Israeli soldier, of a single Jewish family in their home, of a single Jewish child on a school bus, all merit the use of even greater violence against our enemies.
This is one of the most unique moments in our 3,500 year history. For unlike in the past, we Jews have the choice as to whether we will live or die.
So let our enemies know that their very governments will cease to exist if they allow their countries to be used by Iran to strike Israel.
Our soldiers deserve no less, our families deserve no less and the blessed people of Israel deserve no less.