During an appearance on Fox News on Monday, Geraldo Rivera erupted at fellow commentator Andrea Tantaros after she questioned the self-described “dyed-in-the-wool Zionist” on his criticism of Israel’s defense tactics.
Over the last several week’s Rivera has openly hammered Israel for the number of civilian deaths in Gaza since the start of the conflict. Most recently, Rivera took issue with the rocket strike that hit a United Nations school where people had been seeking refuge.
Tantaros pointed out Hamas has a record of using its civilians as a human shield by storing weapons and firing rockets from apartment buildings and hospitals. Rivera refused to acknowledge that fact, instead telling Tantaros she “should be ashamed” of herself for talking to a “dyed-in-the wool Zionist” with a Star of David tattoo in such a way.
Watch the exchange below (applicable video begins around the 2:20 mark):
On radio this morning, Glenn took issue with Rivera’s reasoning. Given the circumstances Israel currently finds itself in, Glenn questioned what Rivera would like to see the country do to defend itself.
“So Israel only has itself to blame? Not the people who are claiming they are going to wipe out all of the Jews off the face of the earth,” Glenn asked. “May I ask you: If somebody has… written letters that they're going to kill you, but they have a sheave, then do you only get a sheave yourself? Could you only defend your family with a sheave? That doesn't make any sense at all.”
Using Rivera’s logic, Israel has essentially forfeited the right to defend itself because of the capability – or lack thereof – of its enemy. Looking at the nature of wars historically, it is difficult to find a time in which one group of people willingly leveled the playing field with its opponent.
“Should we have given the emperor of Japan the bomb and said, ‘Okay, we're going to blow you up. But… here's a bomb,’” Glenn asked “We want peace. We've dropped pamphlets out. We have a horrible, horrible weapon. Don't make us use it. Please stop the madness… We don't want a war with you, but if we drop that because you still won't stop, am I supposed to say, ‘Well, I'm the bad guy because I should have given you the atomic bomb to drop on us’?”