In "Spate of shootings against Israelis puts region on high alert" (1/28/23), the Washington Post blamed the recent acts of violence in Israel over the last few days on a "cycle of violence."  Israeli security have a 24/7 role to thwart Palestinian terrorist attacks.  Their successes are rarely covered, but they occur almost daily.  Palestinians are nonstop either plotting terrorist attacks or perpetrating terrorism against Israeli civilians.  Whatever part of that is a cycle is in the imagination of the Washington Post.  Israel is trying to protect its citizens, and the Palestinians are trying to kill them.  That's the whole story.  Downplaying the culpability of the Palestinians may seem politically correct to the Post reporters, but it is far from the truth.

If not for Israeli military incursions into Palestinian areas, the number of deaths of Israeli citizens would be far greater.  The Washington Post says, "[A]t least 30 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank this year," but what the Post doesn't tell you is that the majority of those killed were either plotting terror attacks or attacking Israeli military.

Image: Palestinian militants.  YouTube screen grab.

The Washington Post states that "Israeli responses to Palestinian attacks have been criticized by rights groups as 'collective punishment.'"  These so-called rights groups are nothing but wrong.  It's the Palestinians who are guilty of collective punishment of Israeli civilians.  Israeli security forces are merely attempting to stop it.

To its credit, the Post reported that the terrorist attack that killed seven Israelis outside a synagogue this past weekend cynically spurred "celebrations by Palestinians."  It is this militant mindset that Israel is up against and necessitates Israeli security to be proactive.  Israel doesn't need to apologize for thwarting Palestinian terrorists — all countries have that responsibility — to protect its citizens.  Would we expect our military to act differently?

Dr. Michael Berenhaus is a freelance watchdog activist who works tirelessly to combat anti-Israel bias in the media.  He has been widely published in news sources such as The Economist, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.