How does a Jew mark the demise of an arch-enemy who was bent on his annihilation?
The news Wednesday morning that Hamas strongman Ismail Haniyeh had met his demise in an alleged precision attack while he slept in his room in Tehran certainly made the morning a little brighter.
But, there was no immediate impulse to head to the town square to pass out hard candy or freshly baked sweet treats, like we’ve seen our neighbors do time and time again after innocent Israelis are killed in terror attacks.
There was just the muted sense that Haniyeh, who was seen celebrating while watching the atrocities of October 7 unfold, was the justified recipient of righteous karma – he got his just desserts.
Even though Israel didn’t claim responsibility, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave orders (which weren’t honored) to his cabinet’s ministers to refrain from talking/tweeting/issuing statements about it, everyone knew Israel was behind it.
Just like Monday’s rubout of Nasrallah’s top Hezbollah crony, Fuad Shukr – for which Israel did take credit – the Haniyeh hit had all the earmarks of a secret operation, the kind which only the Israel the world knows from Fauda can pull off.
Together with the targeting last month of Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, it almost recalls the pivotal scene at the end of Francis Ford Coppola’s epic The Godfather, when Michael Corleone eliminates all of his rivals at one time.
Except, this isn’t the movies or TV – it’s real life that has serious implications for all of us.
Israel’s leaders, from the prime minister and defense minister to the chief of staff, have declared, from the war’s outset, that the leaders who perpetrated October 7 and who have aided and abetted since then, are all targets to be eliminated.
So, nobody should be surprised when it happens. Whether it will deter Hezbollah’s aggression against Israel or bring Hamas to its knees and lead to a ceasefire that will enable the remaining hostages to return home remains to be seen.
A day of temporary satisfaction
But, no peace-loving person should shed any tears because two fewer bloodthirsty killers are on the loose in the region. We can feel comforted knowing that Israel can reach far and wide to track down its enemies (although we had more trouble with defending our own borders on October 7).
The internet-sphere was full of 72-virgin memes mocking Haniyeh, and Iran for allowing its revered guest to be killed right under its eyes. Infantile but funny. But there were no parades in the streets, no fireworks in the sky and no dancing in office buildings. That’s not the Jewish way, to rejoice in death.
Although the goals of Haniyeh and Shukr were to kill as many Jews as possible, the aims of Israel and its fighting forces are to defend its citizens, and stop all those who mean it harm.
Wednesday was a day of temporary satisfaction, not of joy. That, we’ll save for the day the remaining hostages come home.