The war that is being fought today in the Middle East is not only with guns and bullets. There is also a communication conflict between propaganda and narratives that is ongoing. Much of the entire left-wing Western press and many of its governments, although they would also be victims of Islamic fundamentalism, have come out to condemn Israel for its legitimate right to defense and its search for justice.
To clarify a little about everything they accuse Israel of, we spoke with captain Roni Kaplan, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces.
We asked him directly: is there a genocide underway in Gaza? To which he responded: "Behind those who say we are committing genocide there is clear anti-Semitism."
Of course, Palestinian civilians have died due to the conflict, but as he explains, it is inevitable, especially when death is part of the enemy's strategy.
"There is no war in which there is no collateral damage or injuries to civilians. We do everything in our power to minimize it."
"There is no war in modern history where collateral damage has been limited as much as this one," Kaplan insisted.
The captain explained that Israel has not only avoided collateral damage because it is not its intention to kill civilians because it hurts and it has principles but also because it is subject to international law.
Remember that Israel has sacrificed great resources in the war, such as the element of surprise, in addition to allowing Palestinian civilians to protect themselves from bombs and bullets.
"We have been asking civilians in the Gaza Strip for weeks to evacuate to the south. Today, we opened an evacuation corridor. We sent them nearly 10 million requests. We have thrown banners, everything. Because that is a combat zone and of danger. And 800 thousand people left there, even though the Hamas spokesperson asks them to stay for the cause."
Roni Kaplan knows that Hamas understands well that their war is also propaganda and that, surprisingly, they are not doing badly. In fact, in some places, the terrorist group is winning because "it uses our sensitivities, as children of the West, with the aim of committing crimes."
Since, unlike them, in the West, life matters and children and women are sacred, they use them as human shields so that the world buys their story.
"They ride on people's prejudices," Roni Kaplan said.
It is incredible, of course, that Hamas sells its propaganda. In the end, it seems obvious on the surface: it is the State of Israel, which is the only democracy in the Middle East, against a terrorist group that kills children and rapes women. And yet, it sells its propaganda. In that sense, the spokesperson for the Defense Forces recognizes that Israel has much to learn to explain itself better.
"We do not fully understand—and we are not being able to communicate it—that religion, in some cases, has transformed these young people into murderers."
"What these groups want, and they say it openly, is to impose a caliphate on the rubble of Israel," he said.
Roni Kaplan also explained what Israel's military objectives are in Gaza and why they decided to enter the territory dominated by the terrorist group.
"We are not carrying out revenge for October 7. We are carrying out the understanding, according to security doctrine, that what happened on October 7 can never happen again in history." "
He is aware, of course, that the war does not end by destroying Hamas. Still, he explained that Israel has the responsibility of guaranteeing that Gaza never again becomes a territory from which missiles fly against Tel Aviv on a daily basis.
"We can dismantle its military structure and the regime, the structure of the Government, but here there is an issue of Islam against the West," he explained.
Kaplan emphatically insisted on the importance of the campaign that the people of Israel are undertaking today: "We are the front line of the fight against terror against the West and if Hamas surpasses that barrier, they are not going to warn where they are going to attack."
The other great myth is that Israel is an apartheid state. And although it is something that also seems obvious, it must be explained. In Israel, Muslim Arabs live their lives without problems. Many, in fact, prefer to live in Israel rather than in Arab countries because of the freedoms they enjoy.
"It is a demonization to say that we are a segregationist state," said Roni Kaplan.
" In Israel, there are 21% Arabs, 92% of them are Muslims, an Arab judge on the Supreme Court of Justice put a 'white' president in jail. There is freedom to vote," he explained.
Today, Israeli society is in mourning, but it is also more alive and united than ever. The desire unites them for peace and freedom so that future generations do not have to fight the wars that today's generation fights.
Captain Roni Kaplan said: "I don't want to pass this war on to my son. I'm here, dressed in green, so that my son doesn't have to wear green."
To watch the full interview, click here.
