“Tit-for-tat” is the moral principle that tells you to respond to your partner’s action in the same way. It often leads to trust and cooperation between two partners, but there is also a devastating weakness: A conflict is very difficult to abort and the more a part hurts the other, the more it hurts itself. Israel and Gaza suffer from this Tit-for-tat weakness and we feel very sorry for them. Tit-for-tat is a standard moral principle in business, but in politics, it can lead to war.
The conflict calls for a shift into another moral principle, “The Golden Rule”. Israel’s Iron Dome is a promising approach in this direction. If Israel can defend itself against terrorists without killing people in Gaza they own the deepest respect. If Hamas also will start to practice “The Golden Rule” the conflict can eventually fade away.
A failure or success? 