WSJ News Exclusive | Iran Helped Plot Attack on Israel Over Several Weeks
www.wsj.com
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gave the final go-ahead last Monday in Beirut.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gave the final go-ahead last Monday in Beirut

Iranian security officials helped plan Hamas’s Saturday surprise attack on Israel and gave the green light for the assault at a meeting in Beirut last Monday, according to senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah, another Iran-backed militant group.

Officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had worked with Hamas since August to devise the air, land and sea incursions—the most significant breach of Israel’s borders since the 1973 Yom Kippur War—those people said.

Details of the operation were refined during several meetings in Beirut attended by IRGC officers and representatives of four Iran-backed militant groups, including Hamas, which holds power in Gaza, and Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group and political faction in Lebanon, they said.

  • TechyDad
    8•1 year ago

    I’m Jewish and my take on the whole “criticizing Israel is antisemitic” thing is: Context Matters.

    Are you criticizing the Israeli government/military for an action they took? You’re not being antisemitic.

    Are you criticizing all Israelis for the actions of the Israeli government/military? You’re being antisemitic. (For an example here, would you blame all Americans for the actions of Trump even though over half of them voted against him?)

    Are you criticizing all Jews, regardless of where they live, for the actions of the Israeli government/military? You’re definitely being antisemitic. I’m an American Jew and have about as much pull in Israeli affairs as a random citizen of the UK has in US affairs.

    Time and empathy also matter. If you heard of the slaughter of 700 civilians and said “Israel is to blame for this” or “this is an appropriate response given what was done to the Palestinian people,” then - yes - I’d consider that antisemitic. Not because it’s not allowed to show support to the plight of the Palestinian people, but because responding in this way minimizes the suffering of one group (Israelis) because another group is suffering.

    To give an example in this case, imagine if you broke your leg and your friend said “you expect sympathy from me? People are dying of cancer and you only have a broken leg!” You’d probably be insulted that they were minimizing your pain and suffering. You could acknowledge that the people dying of cancer definitely have it worse and also warrant empathy, but empathy shouldn’t be reserved only for the group that has it worst.

    Neither should a group be denied empathy because their government/military takes actions that are repugnant. If this is the case, then the Palestinian people should be denied empathy because of this attack. (A statement which I don’t support, but am using to prove a point.)

    In short, context always matters. Criticizing Israel, like so many things in life and especially like the quagmire in the middle east, isn’t a black and white affair.