Israel will make its own decisions about how to defend itself, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, as Western countries pleaded for restraint in responding to a volley of attacks from Iran.
The United States, European Union and G7 group of industrialised nations all announced plans to consider tighter sanctions on Iran, seen as aimed at mollifying Israel and persuading it to rein in its retaliation for the first ever direct Iranian strikes after decades of confrontation by proxy.
Netanyahu met the German and British foreign ministers, who both travelled to Israel as part of a coordinated push to keep confrontation between Israel and Iran from escalating into a regional conflict fueled by the Gaza war.
Netanyahu’s office said he thanked David Cameron and Annalena Baerbock for their support, while telling them: “I want to make it clear - we will make our own decisions, and the State of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself.”
Well, you see, those children were going to grow up to be terrorists. You know, because of all the stuff you just said. They’re defending themselves from the potential consequences of their genocide by preemptively genociding harder. Plus they get to shoot things and blow stuff up; and by things and stuff I of course mean people, including and especially children.
Wow, that explanation actually clicks for me in a totally fucked up way. In the past when Israel has used disproportionate violence against Palestinians, they’ve used rhetoric like “mowing the lawn” (look it up, you’ll be disgusted) to try to rationalize this kind of preemptive defense.