Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told the Herzliya Conference, “It is absurd to try to say that the terrorism in Florida, California, Paris, Brussels and many other places around the world is the result of radical Islamic ideology and incitement and radicalization online and in mosques – but that the terrorism in Tel Aviv is the result of the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria. This terrorism [in Israel] is the exact same kind of terrorism….The democratic world is in a war against an extremist group of people who are trying to create a new world order based on radical Islam and contradicting the basic values of the enlightened world.”
Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz told the conference: “Iran continues to be the state that poses the main threat to Israel, even after the nuclear deal. This is largely because of its ongoing military support of terrorist organizations that focus on Israel as a target, especially Hizbullah in Lebanon….Hizbullah is not capable of posing an existential threat to Israel, but it is capable of attacking civilians and national infrastructure. The safest way to prevent a conflict tomorrow is to weaken Hizbullah today by imposing crippling economic and legal sanctions and applying pressure on Iran to stop providing weapons and funding. Weakening Hizbullah is an Israeli, Lebanese, regional and global interest.”
David Steger – Matzav.com Israel
“This terrorism [in Israel] is the exact same kind of terrorism…”
He’s wrong, of course.
– Terror attacks in Israel are committed by “gunmen” or “militants”. Terror attacks elsewhere are committed by “terrorists”.
– Terror attacks in Israel are condemned by the U.S. (often accompanied by calls for restraint by “both sides”), Canada and possibly a handful of other countries. Terror attacks elsewhere are roundly and unequivocally condemned by the world and the U.N.
– Terror attacks in Israel are expected to elicit “proportionate” and “restrained” responses while not endangering “innocent lives”. Terror attacks elsewhere trigger whatever response in deemed necessary, with civilian lives at most an afterthought.
– Terror attacks targeting a Chabad House in India or a kosher supermarket in France are not given special mention of the reason they are targeted (see President Obama’s “…randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a deli …” comment about the Hyper Cacher attack). A Terror attack on a gay club is commemorated and mourned worldwide with landmarks illuminated in rainbow colors.
No, Minister Erdan, they clearly are not the same. At least not in the eyes of the world, which shamefully makes the above distinctions.