If you’ve been following the events of the Gaza war closely, you’re probably familiar with John Spencer.
Spencer is a combat veteran and head of the Urban Combat Studies Department at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has appeared frequently on CNN and Fox News since the brutal Hamas insurrection on October 7 and has written articles for Time and Newsweek. While in Miami, Spencer spoke about what he learned during his recent visit to Israel.
We began by discussing the current news about the tragic attack, apparently perpetrated by Hezbollah, that left 12 Druze children dead on a soccer field in the Golan Heights. I asked Spencer if it was possible that it was an accident.
“I think all the evidence shows they knew exactly what they were doing. This was an advanced rocket,” Spencer said.
He further explained that both Hamas and Hezbollah are Iranian proxies, but Lebanon’s Hezbollah is far more powerful and dangerous.
“This is a treasure trove of Iranian proxy forces that Iran has spent years arming, training and equipping with the ability and intent to destroy Israel,” Spencer said.
He has visited Gaza three times since October 7, accompanying and observing Israeli military units and reporting what he sees.
“I think the IDF has done something that is almost unimaginable. First, they faced something that no military has ever faced in the history of warfare,” Spencer said.
Spencer said they were facing an enemy funded by Iran, which has built hundreds of miles of tunnels to hide its fighters and ammunition underground, does not wear uniforms and deliberately targets civilians with gunfire.
“And that was Hamas’ objective. Hamas’ objective was never to fight the IDF, but every time I visit I’ve been amazed at what Israel has been able to accomplish,” Spencer said.
I asked him what he would say to protesters who accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
“Get the facts right, because genocide means intent, it means it’s a purpose, it’s an action. I’ve been in Gaza many times and I’ve seen that Israel does everything possible to avoid harming civilians,” Spencer said, noting that by announcing its destinations, the IDF loses the element of surprise and often puts its own soldiers at risk to minimize civilian casualties.
Spencer says Israel must hold itself to a standard of military conduct that other militaries would not be held to. For example, he says, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza before Hamas is defeated and the hostages released plays into Hamas’s hands. Similarly, he says, asking world leaders to stop Israel from responding with force to Hezbollah’s constant rocket attacks is tantamount to appeasement. That doesn’t work in the Middle East, he says, nor under President Vladimir Putin.
I asked him if he connected the dots between the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
“You can call it an axis of evil, call it what you want, but you definitely see connections with people who want to change the world. Iran has a vision for the Middle East, Russia has a vision for Europe,” Spencer said.
In Spencer’s assessment, Ukraine has performed so well in the fighting that Russia has been forced to seek military assistance from Iran, China and North Korea. Spencer says this war is much more than a border dispute, and has global implications, much like the fighting between Israeli and Iranian proxies: Europe’s security is at stake.
