ISRAEL IS NOT INDIA. I would join with Jonah Goldberg‘s criticism of today’s Sebastian Mallaby column. That India has shown impressive restraint in responding to its rival Pakistan doesn’t necessarily offer a template or commentary on the Israel-Hezbollah situation. Israel’s calculus in attacking a non-nuclear, largely diffuse enemy that’s incapable of matching their military strength is rather different than India’s decision to refrain from courting nuclear war against a large state. That’s not to say Israel’s actions are right or wrong, but it’s a specific situation with its own history and context that deserves to be analyzed as such. The situation is complicated enough on its own merits that our nation’s op-ed columnists needn’t be muddying the waters.
–Ezra Klein
