Higher Than Me

Over the last week, as details have emerged of the terrible tragedy of seven international aid workers killed by Israeli missiles as they attempted to distribute food to civilians in Gaza, I have been filled with horror.

My heart breaks for the families and friends of those seven aid workers.

John Chapman, James Henderson and James Kirby from the UK; Lalzawami Frankcom from Australia; Damian Soból from Poland; Saifeddin Issam Aydan Abutaha from Gaza; and Jacob Flickinger, a dual citizen of the US and Canada.

In a region already soaked with blood, these are lives that should not have been lost.

The Israeli military has taken responsibility for the terrible mistake and issued an apology.

Israel’s internal investigation found serious operational errors leading up to the strikes. Army officers suspected that a Hamas gunman was on board one of the vehicles, and, despite a low level of certainty, and contrary to army regulations, they gave the order to open fire.

Although World Central Kitchen had co-ordinated its activities with the IDF, information about its route had not been passed down to the officers on the ground. The two officers responsible for the strike believed they were shooting Hamas terrorists and not humanitarian workers.

There is no suggestion that the officers knowingly or deliberately opened fire on an aid convoy. It was a tragic accident. But it’s also one that could have been avoided.

As an Israeli citizen myself with an understanding of the multi-front existential threat that Israel is currently facing, it’s tempting to try to minimize this deadly catastrophe and defend Israel against the avalanche of negative world opinion.

But this is not the right thing to do.

The world has a right to be angry – as painful as this may be. The families of the seven aid workers have a right to be angry.

It’s not enough just to shrug our shoulders and say that such things happen in war. A highly trained and professional army like the IDF that holds itself to a strict moral code and has great experience carrying out finely tuned military operations in complex settings shouldn’t be making mistakes like this.

I was moved by the op-ed that José Andres (head of World Central Kitchen – the NGO whose seven workers were killed) wrote for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth after the fatal strikes.

This is a man who has spoken up for Israel and been a vocal critic of Hamas since the terrible attacks of 7th October. At the beginning of the war, he defended Israel’s right to take military action in Gaza. His humanitarian organisation brought hot meals to grieving Jewish families in the south. It delivered food to the hospitals where hostages were reunited with their families, as well as to Israeli families from the north, displaced by Hezbollah rockets.

This man has been a friend to Israel. He has also been a friend to the people of Gaza. He has put his own workers’ lives on the line delivering aid to those who really need it, rather than just giving money to Hamas, as some aid organisations do. Ultimately, those workers paid with their lives.

José Andres is a man who has a right to speak into the Israel-Gaza war. And he has a right to be heard.

I was moved that Andres chose to write a piece in a major Israeli newspaper and give interviews on Israeli TV. He didn’t just take his rage to the foreign media and add to the army of critics already denigrating Israel from afar.

He chose to reach out directly to the Israeli people. And, despite his personal pain and anger, and even in the midst of a very strong message, he chose to reach out to them as a friend.

“Israel is better than the way this war is being waged,” he said. “In the worst conditions, after the worst terrorist attack in its history, it’s time for the best of Israel to show up.”

Some may disagree with Andres’ view that the Israeli government is deliberately using food and medicine as weapons of war. I have read reports suggesting that there is currently more aid entering Gaza through official Israeli-controlled land routes than there are personnel on the Gazan side to distribute it.

But even if I don’t agree with all of Andres’ conclusions, he still brings an important message.

The civilian population of Gaza is suffering. Of this there is no doubt.

And the tragic deaths of the seven aid workers should never have happened. Of this there is also no doubt.

I know that the heartbeat of the IDF is the preservation of life. The army is renowned for going to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties. I personally know Israeli soldiers who sustained injuries in Gaza because they didn’t shoot back when they were shot at, believing that there were civilians present at the site where the terrorists were shooting from.

It is also widely known that Hamas conducts its military operations from densely populated civilian areas so as to maximise the loss of innocent life when Israel retaliates.

But even within these highly complex conditions, the aid convoy tragedy suggests that – at least on this occasion – Israel could have done more to protect civilian life.

If this is true, then José Andres is right. Israel is better than this.

I have lived in Israel for 15 years and seen the best and the worst of Israeli people – Jewish and Arab alike. Israeli people can be rude, rough, and abrasive. Within the population, there are pockets of racism and intolerance. It’s a disgrace that the current Israeli government includes far-right extremists within its ranks.

But the majority of the Israeli people are not like this.

Israeli people are warm and embracing. They are courageous, strong, and resilient. They are open and compassionate. They are grounded and wise. Israeli people are hard-wired to seek to make the world a better place. They take joy in bringing their insights and innovations in medicine, science, technology, and the arts to the rest of the world.

This is why it’s so painful for Israeli people now to see images of the humanitarian aid convey struck by IDF missiles in Gaza, its workers killed by Israeli weapons.

Israelis are normally the first responders when there is a disaster elsewhere in the world. They head up the humanitarian teams, set up world-class field hospitals in the blink of an eye, and bless the world with their quick thinking and creativity.

With every beat of their heart, Israeli people value life.

Yet now the land is enshrouded in death.

The people of Israel are hurting. They are still reeling from the shock of the unthinkable lapse in intelligence and security that allowed the 7th October massacres to happen in the first place. Many feel disillusioned and betrayed by their government.

For many months before the October attacks, Israelis were taking to the streets to protest against Benjamin Netanyahu and his policies. These protests are continuing now against the bitter backdrop of war.

This is, without a doubt, one of the lowest moments that the modern nation of Israel has ever faced. And it is being played out on the international stage for all to see.

The world has a right to be angry about the aid convoy strikes. And Israel needs to take serious action to ensure that such mistakes never happen again.

But amidst all the rage that’s being unleashed, I can’t help but wonder whether any other country in the world would do better than Israel if they were faced with the same realities.

Israel is in the middle of a fight for her life. She is surrounded by hostile nations that make no secret of their intentions to obliterate her from the face of the Earth. As these regimes become better armed and equipped, the threats become more plausible.

No one ever dreamt that an atrocity of the magnitude of 7th October could ever happen in Israel. The country prides itself on its intelligence and security. Now that Israelis have seen how easily the terrorists on their borders can overwhelm their defences and carry out a spree of murder, rape, and kidnap, no one feels safe.

Israelis also know that Hezbollah’s Radwan Unit is sitting just the other side of the Lebanese border, and that they have spent years planning a terrorist infiltration into the north of Israel on a scale even greater than October 7th in the south. It’s widely believed that Hamas got its inspiration from the Radwan Unit.

It is understandable that the world is angry about the aid convoy strikes. But it is also important to remember that the world was angry with Israel long before any civilian lives were lost in Gaza.

On 8th October, the day after the Hamas massacres, pro-Palestinian groups were already taking to the streets of New York, London and elsewhere to denounce Israel and justify the attacks. Before Israel even began its counter-offensive, while its forensic pathologists were still extracting bone fragments from burnt out vehicles in order to identify the dead, Palestinian flags were waving in cities across the civilized world.

At the first scent of Jewish blood, the sharks began to circle.

I understand why people around the world are angry right now, grieving the loss of innocent life in Gaza. I am in anguish too. But as the politicians and human rights groups pick up their rocks to throw at Israel, I wonder whether there is any nation in the world that has not made costly mistakes, or accidentally hurt innocent people, or reacted to great stress in ways that they later regret.

I am reminded of the words that a great Jewish man once spoke:

“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”