Sometimes enemies remind us who we are, and what’s really important in our lives.

Israel has gotten many important reminders from Hamas in recent weeks. The rocket that was not intercepted and hit a house in Yehud, and the one that hit an empty nursery in Ashkalon were reminders. So was the rocket that landed a few miles from Ben-Gurion Airport, scaring off most foreign air traffic. The conversations with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry were also reminders.

Three especially important reminders are :

• Do not put all your hopes in one technology – even a good one like Iron Dome – but rely on several different layers of defense and offense;
• Do not pin all your hopes on America, because U.S. leaders – generally (recall 1967),  and the Obama Administration, in particular – are fickle friends;
• Do NOT treat Hamas like a rival football team: do NOT give them time-outs or political compromises. Destroy them. PERIOD.

Sometimes friends show us “what stuff they are made of,” and in time of war, Barack Obama and John Kerry showed us they are NOT made of the “right stuff.”

Mr. Obama tried to bully Israel into a unilateral ceasefire and into truce talks directed by Qatar and Turkey.

For several weeks, President Obama did not mention the kidnapping of three Israeli boys, even though one had U.S. citizenship. When the boys’ bodies were found, the White House issued a pro-forma statement. Compare this to the quick and emotional condemnation Mr. Obama and Mr. Kerry launched after the murder of an Arab boy.

Obama’s recent comments about the loss of life in Gaza – a community that chose the Hamas terror organization as its representative – speak much more eloquently about his concern for loss of life there than about loss of life in Israel, which has been attacked and asked to turn the other cheek for years.

“That’s a hell of a pinpoint operation,” said Secretary of State John Kerry in a moment of anger and peevishness in front of an open microphone. He was reacting to the level of casualties in Gaza. His tone and unrehearsed anger spoke volumes.

“A man is revealed by his pocket, his glass and his anger,” observes the Talmud (Hebrew: kiso, koso, ka’aso).

Kerry’s peevish words show that he is not very precise when talking about precise operations, because Israel has – by far – the best record in the world for precision. As a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry should be aware of the respective rates of precision for Israel, the U.S., the U.K., and other countries.

When U.S. drones kill suspected terrorists in Pakistan, Iraq, or Yemen, the Obama team classifies any male between teenage and 60 as a “terrorist.” Israel does much better than the U.S. in limiting civilian casualties.

Kerry’s unrehearsed burst of anger near the microphone came at a propitious  time, reminding us that this is the same man who, as a Senator, lobbied for U.S. support of the Assad regime in Syria and a slow response to bomb-making in Iran.

Kerry’s revealing moment also reminds us of President Obama’s revealing moment near an open microphone in 2012, when he promised Russia’s then-president and permanent stooge Dimitri Medvedev that he would act in Russia’s favor after being re-elected.

“I can be more flexible after the elections,” said Obama.

“I will tell Vladimir,” said Medvedev, the puppet, referring to Vladimir Putin, the man who pulls strings in Russia – and parts of the Ukraine etc.

And, speaking of Ukraine, sometimes people who pretend to be our friends and pretend to be peace-makers do things to remind us who they really are.

The Russian-made missile that destroyed a Malaysian airliner flying over the Ukraine, murdering about 270 people, reminded us what a peace-maker Vladimir Putin really is. The way Putin and his pro-Russian forces inUkraine have stymied an investigation also reminds us of his true peaceful intentions.

When Americans look at Putin and when Israelis look at Hamas, they can be proud they are so different.

Wars are not something to seek, but they grant us moments to learn from our enemies and to learn something about our friends.

Dr. Michael Widlanski is the author of Battle for Our Minds: Western Elites and the Terror Threat, published by Threshold/ Simon and Schuster.  He teaches at Bar-Ilan University , was strategic affairs advisor in Israel ‘s Ministry of Public Security, and was the Schusterman visiting professor at University of California, Irvine for 2013-14. Widlanski has been a reporter, correspondent and editor at The New York Times, Israeli Army Radio, Cox Newspapers/The Atlanta Constitution and The Jerusalem Post.

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