Dan Senor defends Israel after war crimes accusations: No war has been more ‘scrutinized’

Firing Line with Margaret Hoover

Following a U.N. report accusing Israel of war crimes, Margaret Hoover sits down with Dan Senor, a former foreign policy aide to Mitt Romney and the host of the podcast “Call Me Back,” to the daring rescue of four Israeli hostages in Gaza, prospects for a cease-fire, and the new U.N. report accusing both Hamas and Israel of war crimes.

Senor defends how Israel has conducted the war, arguing that while civilian deaths are inevitable in any conflict, the Israel Defense Forces have done all they can to protect innocent lives in Gaza. He says that while individual Israeli soldiers may have done “stupid things,” Israel is “fighting war” that was inflicted upon it by Hamas. Senor also notes that Hamas hides its fighters amid Palestinian civilians in an effort to maximize the suffering inflicted on the people of Gaza — an attempt, he says, to put Israel in an “impossible position” and make the Jewish State an international pariah.

Senor is the author of “The Genius of Israel,” a book that looks at the resilience of Israeli society despite its internal conflicts and the numerous wars it has fought with neighboring states and terrorist groups. An outspoken defender of Israel, Senor discusses whether it’s just a matter of time before the IDF is sent to fight Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanon-based militant group backed by Iran. He also discusses why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been reluctant to discuss postwar plans for Gaza, and whether criticism of Israel’s war effort is driven primarily by antisemitism.

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