Israel and the Hamas terrorists that make the Gaza strip their home are at war. It is not a new war, as the Jews and the Palestinians have been at war for over 70 years, ever since the state of Israel was officially established in 1948. This new Jewish homeland was the result of a mass exodus of Jews from their homes in Eastern Europe that began following World War I when frequent pogroms and official repression spurred their often-illegal migration to their ancestral homeland in the Middle East. This continued after the Holocaust of the Second World War, when those Jews that survived the Nazi genocide, sought a home where they could be safe and masters in their own house.
Unfortunately, the creation of the new state of Israel caused the displacement of millions of Palestinian Arabs, who were pushed off their lands and into large refugee settlements in the Gaza strip and the West Bank, where they have been ever since. Neighbouring Arab states resisted absorbing their displaced Palestinian kinsmen, and over the decades helped arm Palestinian terrorist groups that sprang up with the intention of recapturing their former lands. For many decades there has been a simmering ongoing conflict between the Arabs and the Jews, breaking out every now and then into open warfare. So far, Israel, armed and supported by the U.S. and other western allies, has had the upper hand. Its military is one of the most powerful and well-equipped in the world, making Hamas’ latest attack a folly of the highest order.
There have been countless efforts to try and negotiate a reasonable compromise to end this almost century-long conflict, but all have failed. Both sides remain inflexible – Israel proclaiming its right to exist within their ancestral lands, and the militant Palestinians, supported by their Arab brethren, determined to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. As Golda Meir, a former prime minister of Israel once said “You cannot negotiate peace with someone who has come to kill you!”
This latest outbreak of fighting resonates with Ukrainians in many ways. Most obvious of course is the fact that the terrorist tactics of Hamas in brutally massacring innocent civilians, echoes similar tactics employed by the Russians in their invasion of Ukraine. We must not also forget that the Russians have strong ties to Hamas and have supported it in the past together with Hamas’ most prominent sponsor Iran. No doubt, Putin’s fingerprints are all over this latest Hamas attack, as he tries to shift the world’s focus elsewhere from what is going on in Ukraine.
Then too, there is a broader historical association between Israel and Ukraine. A significant proportion of Israeli citizens have ancestral roots in Ukraine and Russia. Many of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents came from the “Pale of Settlement” of the Russian empire, most of which is now part of the territory of Ukraine. The aforementioned Golda Meir was born and raised in Kyiv. Several other Israeli prime ministers such as Moshe Sharett and Levi Eshkol also came from Ukraine. Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidic Judaism was born and lived in Ukraine. Many prominent literary, musical and artistic figures such as Sholem Aleichem, Vladimir Horowitz, Isaac Stern, Lee Strasberg and Leonard Bernstein have Ukrainian roots. As most people are now aware, Ukraine’s current President is of Jewish ethnicity. Ukrainian and Jewish history are closely intertwined, creating a complex relationship, that though problematic at times, nonetheless, continues to tie their destinies together.
So far in Russia’s war on Ukraine, Israel has remained somewhat aloof or neutral in terms of aiding Ukraine either financially or militarily. Perhaps now, with Russia’s shadow looming in the background of Hamas’ vicious attack, the Israelis may be a little more inclined to take a more prominent and overt role in supporting Ukraine.
In particular, Israel’s “Iron Dome” air defense technology would be of inestimable help in protecting Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure which is being constantly bombarded by Russian artillery, missiles and drones. Israel claims that the system has a 90% effectiveness rate in intercepting and destroying missiles and rockets within a 70 km range. The system was funded and developed jointly by the Israelis and the U.S. and sets the state-of-the-art standard for air defense systems. Ukraine would dearly love to have such technology.
It is hard to predict the ultimate consequences of Hamas’ foolish attack on Israeli, but conceivably it just might help Ukraine in its own struggles with a terrorist foe.
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