On Tuesday's Glenn Beck Program, TheBlaze's national security editor Buck Sexton spoke to retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General William "Jerry" Boykin about the rising tensions in Israel. General Boykin explained that in the aftermath of the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers last month, Israel is getting to the "end of the line" with Hamas and the growing violence is a "serious" and "dangerous" situation.
As TheBlaze reported, Israel has launched a new round of airstrikes and is considering a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip to stop Hamas from launching even more rocket attacks. According to reports, the Israeli military has hit at least 100 sites, while Hamas launched 80 rockets into Israel on Tuesday alone. Based on what he saw on the ground in Israel, he believes a ground campaign in Gaza is more and more likely each day.
"I think that the Israelis in general are getting to the point where they are at the end of the line with regards to Hamas," Gen. Boykin said. "[T]his is a very serious situation, and I believe that there is a very strong probability that there will be a ground campaign in Gaza which the Israelis do not want to do. But when they make the kind of announcements and espouse the kind of rhetoric that we are hearing now… that is very serious."
What makes Hamas unique is it is not simply a paramilitary organization or terrorist group. It is a political movement that has won free elections in the Gaza Strip. With that in mind, Gen. Boykin believes Israel will try to go after as much of the Hamas leadership as possible.
"I think the Israelis will try to do is they will try to deal a lethal blow to the paramilitary capabilities of Hamas," he said. "I think they’ll try to take out as much of the leadership of the, again, the paramilitary ranks as they can… They’ll go after anything that enhances their abilities to fire rockets and missiles or to conduct direct attacks on Israel."
Ultimately, Israel understands the United States will not be a trusted ally in this fight that Gen. Boykin believes will spread across the already unstable Middle East region. While the Obama Administration is averse to lending support to the country, Gen. Boykin believes the majority of Congress is still pro-Israel, which could lead to a clash at some point in the near future.
"If the situation continues to deteriorate there you could have a Congress that is pushing for support of Israel, and I think you could have an Administration that is trying to hold back," he concluded. "And ultimately, to be honest with you, I think the Congress wins that fight. So I think that there would be a higher level of support than the Administration’s comfortable with."