[Opinion] Dead End for Europe
[Excerpts]
After the unspeakable atrocities of last week, Israel will never be the same, and this also holds for Gaza and the Palestinians. An emotionally shattered Israel is united in the determination to destroy the terror infrastructure constructed over 17 years (following the violent Hamas takeover from the PLO in 2007), regardless of criticism. Meanwhile, Hamas is blocking escape routes and using Israeli survivors as hostages in order to retain the missiles and underground terror network.
The response from the Americans to this horror was immediate, including deploying a naval carrier group, supported by additional vessels from the UK. Washington made it clear that if Iran and its Hezbollah terror proxy joins in murdering Israelis, they are prepared to intervene.
Europe, which has no significant security capabilities to add, sent some leaders to demonstrate relevance, including EU President von der Leyen. But the strong statements condemning Hamas and pledging support for Israeli self-defense were largely drowned out by her opponents, led by Vice President Josep Borrell who called for increasing aid to the Palestinians. But the brutal Hamas attack exposed the abject failure of this European approach and the door to expanding or even continuing this policy has been slammed shut.
