Kettle's Boyled: Where is Solomon when we need his wisdom?

Back in biblical times, we are told that God gave King Solomon wisdom and great insight, a level of understanding ‘as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’ I’m sure his reputation improved with the telling, but he was, I suppose, something of a combination of a modern-day influencer and Michael D Higgins, with an answer for everything and a solution to every problem.

That the conflict in Israel has spread back to its source in Gaza is a matter of concern to everybody, and not only because of the victims. If not contained, this war has the potential to spill over and have global impact. It already diverts attention away from Russia’s war in Ukraine, unsurprising when you consider that Russia’s FSB is one of the supporters of Hamas. For the same reasons that Russian money was channelled to Basque Separatists, to the IRA via Libya, and indeed to the Brexit campaign and various US elections, an attack on Israel by Hamas is a useful distraction to take the focus off what Russia is doing in Ukraine. Anything that damages western democracies is a good investment for Putin and his local puppets like Iran.

Unlike the thousands of protestors who have made the judgement that Israel alone is responsible for all the troubles in Gaza, and who dust down their Hamas scarves to scream for their simplistic solution, I am no expert on the Middle East. I do however differ from these marchers in that I have at least been to Israel, to Egypt and to the West Bank, and I have friends on both sides of the conflict. My humble view, one that is open to correction, is that the invasion of Israel in early October was a deliberate attack on all Jews, everywhere. Roasting babies in ovens in their own homes was an horrific, shocking allusion to Nazi concentration camps.

And of course, Hamas leaders are well away from the conflict. Herman Melville (Author of Moby Dick) once penned a poem about the American Civil War that said ‘Age finds place in the rear / all wars are boyish, and are fought by boys.’ The sports journalist Grantland Rice echoed that sentiment when he said ‘all wars are planned by older men / in council rooms apart / who plan for greater armament / and map the battle chart.’ Useful idiots, as always, die for the dreams of older men.

If Israel did not respond, this attack would be repeated again and again. Between proxy funding from rogue states like Iran and Russia, and the diversion of almost unlimited aid money from well-meaning people across the world, they have the resources to keep doing it. As an Israeli friend said to me recently, ‘what are we supposed to do? Just wait for the next attack?’ I don’t know, and there is no modern-day Solomon to give us the answers either.