Israel's difficult choices

For Israel, more delays in invading Gaza and destroying Hamas' ability to commit new acts of terror against the Jewish state is only one of several considerations faced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his military leaders.

Israel is at a moral disadvantage because it cares about preserving human life, while its enemies celebrate death in the pursuit of eliminating the Jewish state and ultimately the best-case scenario for them, which is martyrdom.

Here are just some of the difficult choices Israel must make, none of them good.

– Invade now and risk the deaths of more than an estimated 200 hostages, along with considerable Israeli troop casualties.

• Invade now and risk opening a new front on Israel's northern border with Lebanon, potentially facing a barrage of missiles from that terrorist group's large stockpile.

• Invade at a future date, possibly losing troop readiness and lowered morale, but also losing support from nations that initially condemned the terrorist attack.

• Pay a ransom for t he release of hostages in money or in a terrorist prisoner exchange (or both), which in the past has done nothing to quench the thirst for more blood by its enemies.

Israel faces continued threats from its many enemies, which include much of the world's media that almost always faults Israel for anything bad that occurs in the region. The New York Times' reporting on the supposed Israeli attack on a Gaza hospital that allegedly killed hundreds of people was taken directly from the Palestinians and not fact-checked. When Israel proved the report a lie, the Times felt it necessary to print an "editor's note" which said its false report " left readers with an incorrect impression about what was known and how credible the account was." Who would have thought that a false report might leave an incorrect impression? The Times' bogus report and screaming headline also added fuel to the fire, causing worldwide demonstrations against Israel before the truth was revealed that a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket was to blame.

Hamas and its terrorist allies appear to have studied at the Josef Goebbels school of propaganda. His most famous line has been appropriated, not only by Hamas, but also by many in the media: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

And not just the State, but even terrorist organizations that manipulate the media and many of our once- great universities that suppress the truth about many things.

Whatever Israel decides to do – or not do – it will almost certainly be condemned. If it goes into Gaza, it will be blamed for killing civilians. No matter that Hamas uses them as human shields and has prevented many from leaving Gaza for that purpose. If Israel fails to go in, it risks repeated attacks in the future, as it has in the past. It is almost a no-win situation.

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Cal Thomas, America's most-syndicated columnist, is the author of 10 books.