Israel?

[FunkyDexter]

Oh, I think I'm getting you. You're saying that the Israel's response is a manifestation of their need to "do something" in response to October 7th. Just as the American invasion of Afghanistan (and Iraq, I think) post 9/11 was a manifestation of their need to "do something" in response to a similarly awful terrorist attack. (I guess I could go back through history and find lots of similar examples.) That when a society is attacked it feels a need to respond and the response doesn't necessarily need to be rational, it just needs to be... something. Have I got you right?

If so, yeah, that's exactly what I see happening in this situation. The public's response is based in raw emotion and, while I may not agree with the response, I find it hard to assign them blame for having it and I don't feel there's much they can do to either push or reign in the response between elections beyond protesting and/or speaking out individually - both of which I've seen.

The leadership, on the other hand, has agency. They get to decide where to send the bombs and the soldiers so, for me, the blame lies wholly on their shoulders.