We slipped past the anniversary of a massacre this week. A year ago, a throng of crazed, heavily armed young men crossed the border from Gaza on a mission to kill Jews.
They raped and murdered at will, posting videos of their carnage on social media. They returned to Gaza as heroes, having murdered 1,200 Jews. They dragged with them 251 hostages, including women, children and the elderly.
It was, for those who hate Jews, a glorious day.
A year later, I wonder if the leaders who set in motion that day of naked hatred would be surprised at the outcome.
Did Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the bloody invasion, foresee the death of Hamas’ then-leader Ismail Haniyeh? Did he know he would ascend to the leadership of the terrorist organization?
A year ago, the leadership of Hamas, most of whom lived in comfortable exile far from Gaza, understood that Hamas needed to at least appear to be interested in the difficult business of governing. They reportedly regarded Sinwar as a violent megalomaniac.
Now the megalomaniac is in charge. He stands on the crumbled remains of Gaza, his feet resting on the bodies of an estimated 41,000 casualties, the direct result of his massacre.
None of this is a shock to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is no stranger to terrorists.
Almost half a century ago, Netanyahu’s older brother, Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed in the attempt to free hostages held by terrorists at the Entebbe airport in Uganda. Benjamin understands the cost of fighting terrorism.
Netanyahu has been in and out of office in the complex world of Israeli politics for the better part of three decades, including 16 years as prime minister. Whatever his shortcomings, he is clear about the motives of Israel’s many enemies.
That insight was evident 20 years ago when Netanyahu resigned as finance minister over the ill-fated Gaza disengagement strategy.
Almost three decades ago, a friend was engaged as a campaign adviser to the Likud party. In that role, he spent many hours in conversation with Netanyahu. Always curious about the motivations of politicians, I asked him what drove Netanyahu.
He told me Netanyahu was certain that Israel’s enemies wanted nothing less than the destruction of the country.
According to my friend, Netanyahu believed that, while Israel’s enemies might ultimately prevail, it was his duty to protect his country as long as he could, no matter the personal cost.
It is no surprise that Israel responded to the Oct. 7 massacre by demolishing Hamas’ capacity to inflict terror and has recently taken the conflict to Iran, the sponsor of those committed to Israel’s demise.
Oddly, Netanyahu and Sinwar agree on one thing — a two-state solution is currently impossible. Sinwar believes the land occupied by Israel belongs to Muslims. He will not desist from killing Jews until the land, in its entirety, has been captured.
And that is the current state of the conflict. It is fundamentally unchanged since the inception of modern-day Israel in 1947.
This is the ancient conflict that has woven the ignorant and the antisemitic together in Canada to blather about colonialism, burn the Canadian flag and chant death to Canada.
The Oct. 7 massacre has been revealing. It has laid bare antisemitism in our institutions and spotlighted the vacuous nature of our government’s agenda to seek an end to hostilities without a resolution of the issue. Maybe next year we will do better.