Sinwar, Gaza, and Israel — and the Vexing Dilemma of Kindness

Before the Israeli army killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Israeli doctors saved his life. Should they have? Confucius and Plato weigh in.

Before the Israeli army killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Israeli doctors saved his life. Should they have?

Hamas’s Sinwar was the mastermind behind the October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel that is widely regarded as the most tragic in Israel’s short modern history.

In 2004, the same Sinwar was a prisoner at Israel’s Nafcha Prison, where he was, unknowingly, about to die. He had an undiagnosed brain tumor. An Israeli dentist named Yuval Bitton diagnosed Sinwar and arranged for emergency surgery for him, which saved his life.

On October 7, 2023, Sinwar’s agents wounded Dr. Bitton’s nephew Tamir, then kidnapped him and dragged him to Gaza, where he died of his wounds.

Today, on October 17, 2024, Israel’s army killed Sinwar.

By odd coincidence, two days ago I was engaged in a conversation about kindness, and who deserves it. I have always maintained that I should be kind to everyone. Some friends of mine feel otherwise. So I turned to ancient sources, starting with Confucius, who, I was sure, would agree with me. But he didn’t:

或曰以德報怨何如子曰何以報德以直報怨以德報德。

Someone asked, What about using kindness to repay evil? Confucius said, How then would kindness be repaid? Use justice to repay evil; use kindness to repay kindness.¹

At least Plato seemed to be on my side:

Οὐδὲ ἀδικούμενον ἄρα ἀνταδικεῖν ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ οἴονται ἐπειδή γε οὐδαμῶς δεῖ ἀδικεῖν.

And we should not repay wrong with wrong, as many think, since we must do no wrong at all.²

But the Jewish Midrash also disagreed with me, offering perhaps the most intriguing take:

כָּל מִי שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה רַחְמָן בִּמְקוֹם אַכְזָרִי סוֹף שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה אַכְזָרִי בִּמְקוֹם רַחֲמָן

People who are kind when they should be cruel will ultimately be cruel when they should be kind.³

When I read that claim two days ago it struck me as absurd. I could understand Confucius, maybe, wanting to reserve kindness for the kind. But could being kind actually turn into cruelty itself? Impossible, I thought. Now I wonder though. Did the Israeli kindness showed to Sinwar turn into cruelty in the form of Israeli infants who are still held captive in Gaza?

Seneca was even more optimistic than Plato:

Vincit malos pertinax bonitas.

The wicked are conquered by persistent kindness.⁴

But it didn’t work. The wickedness prevailed.

Sophocles was also optimistic:

Χάρις χάριν γάρ ἐστιν ἡ τίκτουσ᾽ ἀεί.

Kindness always begets kindness.⁵

Sinwar apparently promised to repay Dr. Bitton’s kindness, but instead he ordered the death of his nephew.

So I don’t know. Maybe there is such a thing as too kind.

Questions:

Do you think Israeli doctors should have saved Yahya Sinwar’s life?

In your own life, how do you decide who merits your kindness?

Which of the ancient quotations speaks to you most? Why?

1. Analects, Book 14, Chapter 36, middle of the 1st millennium BCE.

2. Crito, 49c. 4th c. BCE.

3. Midrash, Kohelet Rabbah, 7:16, middle of the 1st millennium CE.

4. De Beneficiis, VII.31.1, 1st c. CE.

5. Ajax, 520, 5th c. BCE