One of the most colossally dumb things coming out of another tense week in the Middle East, regardless of how you feel about the politics involved, was the following statement from Israel Interior Minister Eli Yishai:

“The goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages. Only then will Israel be calm for forty years.”

Yishai is obviously unconcerned about the humanitarian crisis such a scenario would create, but why, even for selfish reasons, would you  want your neighbor to be living in Medieval times? Who would choose to live next door to such conditions? You know, communities destabilized, backwards, weak and with little to lose. How will this lead to Israelis feeling secure for decades? 

I suppose his contention is that Palestinians without rockets will mean Israel can’t be targeted from the air, but do you know what people in the Middle Ages were really, really good at? Killing. A Gaza Strip that is modern, developed and upwardly mobile would probably be a safer alternative for all involved. I know comfortable, tech-friendly nations can devastate militarily and not always for warranted reasons–I live in one of them–but there should be as much to lose as possible on all sides. That would be safer for everyone.•