What Eliot Cohen doesn’t understand is that Israel’s war with Gaza is not our war. Assad’s war with Sunni Islamist insurgents is not our war. We could make these our wars, but after watching how things unfolded in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, we have no good reason to want to expand our responsibilities.

When it comes to Israel, though, we do actually have to care what Israel does. That’s because they are using our weapons and in many cases our intelligence. And we protect them in the United Nations. We give them massive amounts of foreign aid. As a result, when Israel does things that enrage public opinion, it turns public opinion against us. It puts our people at risk. It puts our soldiers and diplomats at risk.

For these reasons, America should have the right to question both what Israel is doing and whether it makes any long-term strategic sense. By calling for a cease-fire prior to Israel being able to achieve even their most minimal goals, the administration is giving them a vote of no confidence on their strategic thinking. It’s clear that in the judgment of the Obama administration, Israel cannot reach its strategic goals in a way that is consistent with maintaining American support for their tactics.

This is why the Obama administration insisted that Israel engage in the peace process. It’s true that trying to force Israel into a premature cease fire is a hostile act. Walking away from John Kerry’s peace process was a hostile act by Israel.

Cohen wants the administration to react to this disrespect by giving Israel carte blanche to replicate General Sherman’s march to the sea in Gaza. That ain’t gonna happen.

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