Reading Liza Rozovsky’s account in Haaretz of sexual violence on 7 October it’s easy to understand the level of Israeli rage that resulted., but not the opportunism that followed the initial pain.

When Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli response to the attacks of would “reverberate for generations” a sense of collective dread settled over the West. It isn’t that the Netanyahu camp doesn’t know what collective retribution is it’s that they don’t care.

The Israeli right has always had a special talent for turning world empathy for genuine Jewish suffering into outrage over Israeli abbesses against Palestinians. Something Hamas is well aware of. In fact, they bank on it and it was a core objective in the planning of the 7 October attacks.

How do you turn world opinion against the Israelis? Slaughter and rape Jewish men women and children and wait for the Israeli militarists alienate humanity with an even more brutal and barbaric response.

But it isn’t just righteous rage fueling the Israeli heavy handed tactics in Gaza. There is a an ever present opportunism, a desire for expansion and control that drives the decision making of the Israeli war-hawks.

To their credit the Biden Administration read these instincts and has tried to steer the Netanyahu government away from the path self defeat and ruin. But it hasn’t stopped the flow of US arms to Israel and it seems at times that nothing ever will.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was asked recently if the deaths of 10,000 innocent Gazans was worth starting a war with Israel he responded, “Even 100,000 is worth it.”

It’s not enough to say to the Israeli militarists and the Hamas terrorists, “stop the killing, reject the violence and adopt better ways of addressing your problems.” Those who admonish must be willing to resist the temptation to take sides and fuel the fire with their own passions.

The Holy Land has always inspired dreams and inflamed passions. The people who live there need to give peace a chance, but so do all of us who join the battle from afar without ever stopping to consider the consequences.