As the ongoing war in Israel approaches its one-year anniversary, the fighting in the North, a constant stream of tit-for-tat rocket and missile fire, is escalating. With Israel’s northernmost towns evacuated and 80,000 Israelis displaced for close to a year, it seems Israeli leaders decided to turn more of their attention to Hezbollah’s ongoing attacks.

But in a departure from Israel’s usual approach to Hezbollah — a massive bombardment of Hezbollah positions that the terrorist group, the Israeli population and the rest of the world were expecting — Israel recently shocked the world with an innovative and precise attack on Hezbollah operatives.

First, booby-trapped pagers and walkie talkies manufactured and sold to Hezbollah through the use of shell companies created by Israeli intelligence operatives were detonated in coordinated waves of explosions over multiple days last week. A number of civilians were among those injured or killed by the explosions, but they were a small minority among the dozens killed and thousands injured in a sophisticated attack that was clearly intended to target Hezbollah members.

Next, when Hezbollah’s top leadership met in person to avoid communicating via electronic devices, Israel fired missiles at the meeting place, eliminating an entire tier of the organization. Finally, Israel employed its massive arsenal to strike over 150 Hezbollah sites. 

Israel’s achievements ignited a debate over how to react to Israel’s destruction of its enemies, a conversation as old as the Bible itself. Rabbis, pundits and laypeople all over the world argued whether expressions of public joy or something more subdued was more appropriate for the moment. While Israel’s enemies and opponents tried demonizing Israel by claiming the pager detonations were indiscriminate, honest people knew the attacks couldn’t be more precise than detonating devices given specifically to terrorists. Israel’s Channel 12 even reported that each pager was individually detonated, the attack designed so only the person carrying the pager would be hurt by the blast.

The debate over the appropriate reaction to the Israeli success over Hezbollah has centered around three areas: morality, strategy and Jewish power. 

The first subject of debate is whether it is moral to celebrate the death or suffering of other human beings. This debate first appeared in Jewish teachings in a Midrash about God chastising the angels when they celebrate the drowning of the Egyptians after the splitting of the sea. “My creations sink to the bottom of the sea, and you sing praise?” God asks rhetorically. It doesn’t escape notice that at that same moment, the Jews were singing praise to God on the shores of the very same sea. Echoing a teaching from the Talmud about Mordechai kicking Haman during the Purim story, many scholars conclude that while there is little reason to celebrate death, it isn’t immoral to celebrate Jewish salvation — even, and maybe especially, if it comes by way of the elimination of enemies of the Jewish people. 

A second issue raised in response to the attacks on Hezbollah — and this came from people who didn’t feel there was something immoral about celebrating the blow against an enemy — is the wisdom of behaving like Palestinian celebrants who hand out candy after events like terror attacks in Israel or 9/11 in America. As Rabbi Efrem Goldberg wrote yesterday, expanding on a conversation he started on the social media platform X, “I think all would agree handing out candies at the local mall to celebrate would be a mistake and inappropriate. They could and would easily be perceived (and gleefully covered by the media) as Jews celebrating and glorifying death, as being no different than our enemies.” Rabbi Goldberg and those who agree with him see nothing immoral about celebrating Israel’s victory, but the method matters. “Prayers of gratitude and appreciation in the community are appropriate and warranted,” he wrote. 

A third issue raised is the discomfort many Jews experience at the demonstration of Jewish power and strength. Conditioned by thousands of years of exile and victimhood, many Jews no longer relate to the idea of a strong Israel that vanquishes its enemies. Early Zionists denigrated this distress by calling it a “golut [exile] mentality.” They emphatically made the point that the objective of Zionism wasn’t only to create a place of refuge for persecuted Jews to flee for refuge, but a place that hosted a strong Jewish army that resembled the Jewish armies of the Tanach who conquered their enemies and celebrated their victories. Many Jews haven’t grown accustomed to a proud army and prefer a strong diplomatic corps that can negotiate settlements with Israel’s enemies. They Jews particularly struggle with a Jewish army killing its enemies instead of negotiating an end to hostilities. 

As Israeli President Isaac Herzog said this week, “We never said that we don’t want a diplomatic agreement. We don’t want war, but if it’s waged against us, we go all the way.” Peace is always Israel’s first and best option, but when Israel’s enemies won’t accept Israel’s outstretched hand, it is left with no choice but to eliminate its enemies. Jewish people shouldn’t be ashamed by their strength or feel that it is immoral. They shouldn’t be arrogant and boastful about their power, either; rather, they should modestly celebrate their victories. As in most areas of Jewish thought and practice, a moderate and balanced approach is probably best.   

Rabbi Uri Pilichowski is a Zionist educator at institutions around the world and is the author of the recently published book Zionism Today.