It’s articles like these that make an Unherd subscription worthwhile. My compliments to the chef, by all means my compliments to the chef! 🙂
The young men march to war, while the old men (and women) plan, enact, and execute the actions of the battlefield. So it has ever been. If the leader in his comfortable armchair felt a small measure of the pain his people feel, he may not be so ready to send them off to die.
Nasrallah learnt this lesson, to his cost. Indeed, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, so I’ve heard …..
Israel has a local martial arts called ‘Krav Maga’, or ‘Close Combat’. It focuses on ending a fight in the shortest time, doing the unexpected, seeking an opponent’s weakness, and never giving up. I find it springs from the country’s character, which is formed by the people.
Jim Veenbaas
1 month ago
Thanks for this. Excellent essay!!
Martin M
1 month ago
Taking out the leader in isolation may not work as well as intended. I recently read a view on the merits of the Allies killing Hitler during WW2. The view expressed was that while it may have made sense early in the war, it didn’t make sense later, because Hitler was such a terrible military commander, and always meddled in military decisions he should have stayed out of (eg. Stalingrad). Had he been killed in (say) 1942, he might have been replaced by someone who was more competent militarily, which might have meant the war went longer.
replaced by someone who was more competent militarily, which might have meant the war went longer.
Only if they thought they might win and they believed in the cause. I believe the Wehrmacht officers who attempted to assassinate Hitler were planning to make peace with the allies.
They might have been planning that, but all indications were that Hitler would have been replaced by someone who was every bit as much of a fanatical Nazi as he was. Plus, I think most of the “peace” proposals were with the Western Allies. Hard to imagine Stalin (an equally fanatical dictator) wanting peace.
This is a Shia organisation. The Shia have a highly trained educated and trained elite cadre of leaders and the rest of the organisations comprises poorly educated trained people of low intelligence. Killing the top three levels makes sense. The Shia have four levels of clergy Grand Ayatollahs, Ayatollahs, Hojat al-islam va al-Moslemeen and Mullah. Think of the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages with no Pope but 6 Cardinals, 6 Archbishops/Bishops, Monsignors and Priests.
Harry Phillips
1 month ago
Whatever the thinking, the pager/radio strikes were spectacularly impressive.
Yes. All the more so because the (now deceased) Head Honcho of Hezbollah came up with the idea to use pagers for “security reasons”.
Martin Bollis
1 month ago
It’ll never catch on. Going for the top dogs invites retaliation in kind. Much more ego boosting to just send the cannon fodder.
Chris Whybrow
1 month ago
I feel like the author vastly downplays the scale of civilian casualties inflicted by Israel. They aren’t exactly winning hearts and minds. They can kill as many enemy leaders as they wish, the civilians they brutalise will simply raise up more to take their place.
TL/DR Mossad are exceptionally intelligent, the IDF are idiots.
By that logic, the USA shouldn’t have bombed Japan; the UK shouldn’t have bombed Germany. It would have “raised up” more people to take up Nazism and Japanese imperialism, per you. Instead, we need an “immediate ceasefire” and a “negotiated solution”. The Nazis would still be around today.
How do you win hearts and minds? The Palestinians raped, mutilated and murdered, took hostages, paraded victims around Gaza, tortured grandmothers, teenagers and men alike from October 7th onwards, and yet there are still thousands of people turning out every week to march in support of them. Seems like they managed to win hearts and minds by behaving like monsters. The Israelis have made efforts to avoid civilian casualties yet are vilified by students, left-wingers and Islamists.
Haters gonna hate, as the kids have it these days.
“The Palestinians raped, mutilated and murdered, took hostages, paraded victims around Gaza, tortured grandmothers, teenagers and men alike from October 7th onwards”
Correction: Palestinians murdered, took hostages and paraded victims around Gaza ( just what Israel does on the daily basis ). As it turns out all reports of rape and babies burnt alive were the product of informational warfare to put it mildly.
They provided the information, Within hours Hamas was broadcasting such things. I watched stunned as the body of a young Israel girl, clearly defiled, halt clothed, was driven around Gaza in a pickup truck with men women and children cheering and filming it on their phones. Maybe you need to read far more widely? Try youtube, I believe the Hamas videos are still there if you confirm you are an adult viewer.
Misunderstanding I think. I was referring to the idea that the atrocities committed by Hamas did not happen. As it turns out all reports of rape and babies burnt alive were the product of informational warfare
The Civilians in Gaza, filmed by their own, cheered the display of the body of a young Israeli girl that had been ‘defiled’ on Oct 7th Put bunkers under their houses and I’m amazed the Israelis even phoned to tell the occupants to get out before they hit the bunkers. Israel is fighting an existential war for them AND for us. It is the ignorant like you who risk us losing it. Iran’s Ayatollah’s with a nuclear bomb will one day use it in the name of their God. Better hope it isn’t in your neighbourhood. What manner of philosophy is it that targets and brutalises young girls? What woman (and there were many) cheers that? Even in the brutality of the Northern Ireland conflict, when two british soldiers were unfortunate enough to run into an IRA funeral march, and were beaten to death, Catholic mothers attempted to comfort those ‘boys’ in their final moments, they didn’t cheer!
If the Red Cross (no friend of Israel) says 90% of casualties in way are civilians, then even by the spurious figures coming out of Gaza, Israel has achieved a minor miracle keeping civilian casualties at this level. Then consider that civilian casualties in urban warfare are usually much higher than average, and that Hamas deliberately uses civilian human shields and places military targets in schools and hospitals, and it increasingly looks like a major miracle that civilian casualties are not many times higher.
Hamas could always release the hostages, or have you forgotten about them?
You may have forgotten, but many haven’t, that protests against Israel, and indeed celebrations of Hamas’ brutality, began on 7th October, long before Israel actually took any action. The indignation is nothing to do with Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Francis Turner
1 month ago
” The aristos never fight”? 20 percent of all VCs are Old Etonian and Old Harrovian, which is the senior SAS Squadron? ” G” as in Guards squadron.. who founded the SAS, The Commandos?
Correct ,and during WW1 the highest casualties as a % where amongst the junior officers, though even Generals died. The lake district is full of hotels that were former holiday homes, sold when the heir’s never returned from France etc. This ignorance is what happens when Black Adder and Oh What a Lovely War are viewed as history.
AC Harper
1 month ago
There is, I think, a subtle difference between hitting the leadership of the opponents’ fighting forces and the civilian political leadership.
Kill a political leader and another, possibly more resolute (or deranged) will sometimes step forward. Kill the military leadership or disable their communications and those changes are likely to ‘stick’.
Unfortunately there is even more nuance… sometimes the military leadership and the civilian leadership overlap to some degree.
Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas – these are not the normal civil societies. These are where armies, religion and politics form a lethal brew.
jeffrey herman
1 month ago
The enabling capability for targeting the leadership is deep rooted intelligence and the supporting technology. This is what distinguishes Israel from Iran and their proxy terrorists. It will be interesting to see with what and how they will strike the Iranians with in a way that they didn’t know what happened out how.
George K
1 month ago
Just in case, this is the definition of “terrorism” ( somehow, firing missiles and boobytrapping become acts of “terrorism” or “rightful response” depending on who’s reporting ). Is it effective though? Unless the endless cycle of violence is the goal.
For Islamist’s, the only end to the endless violence is the capitulation of all to Islam. Their entry as martyrs into paradise to collect their requisite number of virgins is simply another door to pass through, as they send their victims through the doors of hell. Israel is fighting our fight, they don’t win, then we’ll have to fight it sooner or later.
Bill Bailey
1 month ago
About time. The only problem in the context of say the West and the Ukraine conflict is this.
Is Putin more sinned against than sinned? Should the US Presidents and Heads of NATO be the ones who are eliminated rather than Putin?
From the moment Russia emerged from the defunct and breaking up Soviet Union, the US/NATO promises (even Der Spiegel admits it now) that NATO would not advance one inch East IF Russia peacefully withdrew from East Germany AND allowed re-unification were simply lies. Even Merkel admitted that the Minsk Peace talks were to buy time to arm and train Ukraine. SO, who is it to be? Putin’s leadership or the West’s? Ukraine disarmed and was promised dual protection on the grounds it was a neutral buffer state between NATO/West and Russia. A role the territory at least, had played for centuries. How many invasions of Russia from the West failed because of the 1000km or so of Ukraine’s scorched earth? Aiming to make it a part of the EU/NATO was stupidity par excellence, AND Putin and Russia repeatedly said so. So, who do you wipe out?
Also, when it comes to Nuclear Powers, maybe that tactic won’t work?
Fortunately for Israel (and the West) it is more clear cut. Their Foes are religious fanatics who often kill more of their own than anyone else when in power. Iran is classic. The Iranians in the main would happily consign the Ayatollah’s to hell or help them on their way to paradise and meeting their maker. Same probably in Lebanon. IF Israel doesn’t win this existential and ongoing war, then once Israel ceases to exist, perhaps even before, the West is the next target. Let Iran’s Ayatollahs obtain Nukes and the chances of a Nuclear war increase as does their desire for martyrdom.
But one thing you can discover very easily, is that wherever there is conflict and massacres around the globe, more often than not it is Islamic fundamentalists murdering Christians, Yardis, Hindus and any other group not willing to bow to Islam and it’s religious certainty that IT AND only it can rule the world and all in it. (The Greens have some similar ideas, but wouldn’t last 5 minutes if they tried bombing young girls in Manchester Concert venues.)
Oh Poor baby Putin, he has never done anything wrong!
Michael Clarke
1 month ago
Israel’s strategy hasn’t changed but it has been refined. They are trying to kill as many people as possible in Gaza and to destroy as much of the Strip as they can. They are doing the same thing in Lebanon but trying out a new tactic as well because it is a larger territory with a bigger population. They must be aware that it is a potentially double edged sword but they clearly believe their opponents can’t match them. Which is true in Gaza and Lebanon but I’m not sure about Iran or indeed if countries like Russia and China are not asking their general staffs to take a look at this new tactic.
Israel is not trying to “kill as many people as possible”. If that was the goal then there would be more than 40k dead from a population of 2M. This is precisely the point being made in the article. Far from being indiscriminate as Gutteres and Macron would have it, Israel is trying to kill as many enemy fighters and functionaries as possible, and as few civilians as possible.
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It’s articles like these that make an Unherd subscription worthwhile. My compliments to the chef, by all means my compliments to the chef! 🙂
The young men march to war, while the old men (and women) plan, enact, and execute the actions of the battlefield. So it has ever been. If the leader in his comfortable armchair felt a small measure of the pain his people feel, he may not be so ready to send them off to die.
Nasrallah learnt this lesson, to his cost. Indeed, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, so I’ve heard …..
Israel has a local martial arts called ‘Krav Maga’, or ‘Close Combat’. It focuses on ending a fight in the shortest time, doing the unexpected, seeking an opponent’s weakness, and never giving up. I find it springs from the country’s character, which is formed by the people.
Thanks for this. Excellent essay!!
Taking out the leader in isolation may not work as well as intended. I recently read a view on the merits of the Allies killing Hitler during WW2. The view expressed was that while it may have made sense early in the war, it didn’t make sense later, because Hitler was such a terrible military commander, and always meddled in military decisions he should have stayed out of (eg. Stalingrad). Had he been killed in (say) 1942, he might have been replaced by someone who was more competent militarily, which might have meant the war went longer.
replaced by someone who was more competent militarily, which might have meant the war went longer.
Only if they thought they might win and they believed in the cause. I believe the Wehrmacht officers who attempted to assassinate Hitler were planning to make peace with the allies.
They might have been planning that, but all indications were that Hitler would have been replaced by someone who was every bit as much of a fanatical Nazi as he was. Plus, I think most of the “peace” proposals were with the Western Allies. Hard to imagine Stalin (an equally fanatical dictator) wanting peace.
Interesting comment for sure.
This is a Shia organisation. The Shia have a highly trained educated and trained elite cadre of leaders and the rest of the organisations comprises poorly educated trained people of low intelligence. Killing the top three levels makes sense. The Shia have four levels of clergy Grand Ayatollahs, Ayatollahs, Hojat al-islam va al-Moslemeen and Mullah. Think of the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages with no Pope but 6 Cardinals, 6 Archbishops/Bishops, Monsignors and Priests.
Whatever the thinking, the pager/radio strikes were spectacularly impressive.
Yes. All the more so because the (now deceased) Head Honcho of Hezbollah came up with the idea to use pagers for “security reasons”.
It’ll never catch on. Going for the top dogs invites retaliation in kind. Much more ego boosting to just send the cannon fodder.
I feel like the author vastly downplays the scale of civilian casualties inflicted by Israel. They aren’t exactly winning hearts and minds. They can kill as many enemy leaders as they wish, the civilians they brutalise will simply raise up more to take their place.
TL/DR Mossad are exceptionally intelligent, the IDF are idiots.
Hamas and Hezbollah do make a practice of “hiding behind civilians” though.
They aren’t exactly winning hearts and minds.
Which hearts and minds?
By that logic, the USA shouldn’t have bombed Japan; the UK shouldn’t have bombed Germany. It would have “raised up” more people to take up Nazism and Japanese imperialism, per you. Instead, we need an “immediate ceasefire” and a “negotiated solution”. The Nazis would still be around today.
How do you win hearts and minds? The Palestinians raped, mutilated and murdered, took hostages, paraded victims around Gaza, tortured grandmothers, teenagers and men alike from October 7th onwards, and yet there are still thousands of people turning out every week to march in support of them. Seems like they managed to win hearts and minds by behaving like monsters. The Israelis have made efforts to avoid civilian casualties yet are vilified by students, left-wingers and Islamists.
Haters gonna hate, as the kids have it these days.
“The Palestinians raped, mutilated and murdered, took hostages, paraded victims around Gaza, tortured grandmothers, teenagers and men alike from October 7th onwards”
Correction: Palestinians murdered, took hostages and paraded victims around Gaza ( just what Israel does on the daily basis ). As it turns out all reports of rape and babies burnt alive were the product of informational warfare to put it mildly.
That’s a pretty big statement. You should be able to provide a reliable link for that information with no trouble.
They provided the information, Within hours Hamas was broadcasting such things. I watched stunned as the body of a young Israel girl, clearly defiled, halt clothed, was driven around Gaza in a pickup truck with men women and children cheering and filming it on their phones. Maybe you need to read far more widely? Try youtube, I believe the Hamas videos are still there if you confirm you are an adult viewer.
Misunderstanding I think. I was referring to the idea that the atrocities committed by Hamas did not happen.
As it turns out all reports of rape and babies burnt alive were the product of informational warfare
They filmed it themselves and published it. There is extensive video footage of the horrors Hamas enacted. How is it misinformation?
What is it with Islam that they hate women, and young girls in particular?
What is it with Islam that they hate women, and young girls in particular?
Yes, I think so. The question is why?
The Civilians in Gaza, filmed by their own, cheered the display of the body of a young Israeli girl that had been ‘defiled’ on Oct 7th Put bunkers under their houses and I’m amazed the Israelis even phoned to tell the occupants to get out before they hit the bunkers. Israel is fighting an existential war for them AND for us. It is the ignorant like you who risk us losing it. Iran’s Ayatollah’s with a nuclear bomb will one day use it in the name of their God. Better hope it isn’t in your neighbourhood. What manner of philosophy is it that targets and brutalises young girls? What woman (and there were many) cheers that? Even in the brutality of the Northern Ireland conflict, when two british soldiers were unfortunate enough to run into an IRA funeral march, and were beaten to death, Catholic mothers attempted to comfort those ‘boys’ in their final moments, they didn’t cheer!
If the Red Cross (no friend of Israel) says 90% of casualties in way are civilians, then even by the spurious figures coming out of Gaza, Israel has achieved a minor miracle keeping civilian casualties at this level. Then consider that civilian casualties in urban warfare are usually much higher than average, and that Hamas deliberately uses civilian human shields and places military targets in schools and hospitals, and it increasingly looks like a major miracle that civilian casualties are not many times higher.
Hamas could always release the hostages, or have you forgotten about them?
You may have forgotten, but many haven’t, that protests against Israel, and indeed celebrations of Hamas’ brutality, began on 7th October, long before Israel actually took any action. The indignation is nothing to do with Israel’s actions in Gaza.
” The aristos never fight”? 20 percent of all VCs are Old Etonian and Old Harrovian, which is the senior SAS Squadron? ” G” as in Guards squadron.. who founded the SAS, The Commandos?
Correct ,and during WW1 the highest casualties as a % where amongst the junior officers, though even Generals died. The lake district is full of hotels that were former holiday homes, sold when the heir’s never returned from France etc. This ignorance is what happens when Black Adder and Oh What a Lovely War are viewed as history.
There is, I think, a subtle difference between hitting the leadership of the opponents’ fighting forces and the civilian political leadership.
Kill a political leader and another, possibly more resolute (or deranged) will sometimes step forward. Kill the military leadership or disable their communications and those changes are likely to ‘stick’.
Unfortunately there is even more nuance… sometimes the military leadership and the civilian leadership overlap to some degree.
sometimes the military leadership and the civilian leadership overlap to some degree.
That’s interesting. Any examples?
Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas – these are not the normal civil societies. These are where armies, religion and politics form a lethal brew.
The enabling capability for targeting the leadership is deep rooted intelligence and the supporting technology. This is what distinguishes Israel from Iran and their proxy terrorists. It will be interesting to see with what and how they will strike the Iranians with in a way that they didn’t know what happened out how.
Just in case, this is the definition of “terrorism” ( somehow, firing missiles and boobytrapping become acts of “terrorism” or “rightful response” depending on who’s reporting ). Is it effective though? Unless the endless cycle of violence is the goal.
For Islamist’s, the only end to the endless violence is the capitulation of all to Islam. Their entry as martyrs into paradise to collect their requisite number of virgins is simply another door to pass through, as they send their victims through the doors of hell. Israel is fighting our fight, they don’t win, then we’ll have to fight it sooner or later.
About time. The only problem in the context of say the West and the Ukraine conflict is this.
Is Putin more sinned against than sinned? Should the US Presidents and Heads of NATO be the ones who are eliminated rather than Putin?
From the moment Russia emerged from the defunct and breaking up Soviet Union, the US/NATO promises (even Der Spiegel admits it now) that NATO would not advance one inch East IF Russia peacefully withdrew from East Germany AND allowed re-unification were simply lies. Even Merkel admitted that the Minsk Peace talks were to buy time to arm and train Ukraine. SO, who is it to be? Putin’s leadership or the West’s? Ukraine disarmed and was promised dual protection on the grounds it was a neutral buffer state between NATO/West and Russia. A role the territory at least, had played for centuries. How many invasions of Russia from the West failed because of the 1000km or so of Ukraine’s scorched earth? Aiming to make it a part of the EU/NATO was stupidity par excellence, AND Putin and Russia repeatedly said so. So, who do you wipe out?
Also, when it comes to Nuclear Powers, maybe that tactic won’t work?
Fortunately for Israel (and the West) it is more clear cut. Their Foes are religious fanatics who often kill more of their own than anyone else when in power. Iran is classic. The Iranians in the main would happily consign the Ayatollah’s to hell or help them on their way to paradise and meeting their maker. Same probably in Lebanon. IF Israel doesn’t win this existential and ongoing war, then once Israel ceases to exist, perhaps even before, the West is the next target. Let Iran’s Ayatollahs obtain Nukes and the chances of a Nuclear war increase as does their desire for martyrdom.
But one thing you can discover very easily, is that wherever there is conflict and massacres around the globe, more often than not it is Islamic fundamentalists murdering Christians, Yardis, Hindus and any other group not willing to bow to Islam and it’s religious certainty that IT AND only it can rule the world and all in it. (The Greens have some similar ideas, but wouldn’t last 5 minutes if they tried bombing young girls in Manchester Concert venues.)
Oh Poor baby Putin, he has never done anything wrong!
Israel’s strategy hasn’t changed but it has been refined. They are trying to kill as many people as possible in Gaza and to destroy as much of the Strip as they can. They are doing the same thing in Lebanon but trying out a new tactic as well because it is a larger territory with a bigger population. They must be aware that it is a potentially double edged sword but they clearly believe their opponents can’t match them. Which is true in Gaza and Lebanon but I’m not sure about Iran or indeed if countries like Russia and China are not asking their general staffs to take a look at this new tactic.
Israel is not trying to “kill as many people as possible”. If that was the goal then there would be more than 40k dead from a population of 2M. This is precisely the point being made in the article. Far from being indiscriminate as Gutteres and Macron would have it, Israel is trying to kill as many enemy fighters and functionaries as possible, and as few civilians as possible.