The bitter harvest of then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s fateful 2004 decision to send 55,000 soldiers to remove 8,000 settlers from Gaza, Israel’s largest military operation since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, has achieved full bloom. The toll of Hamas’ deadly incursion into Israel amounts to some 700 dead (far exceeding America’s death-to-population ratio of 9/11), 2,300 injured and an estimated 100 kidnapped. Images of the invaders freely wreaking havoc for hours stunned the world, eliciting unprecedented sympathy and support for Israel from world leaders, including, thankfully, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
