I really do get Israel’s plight in the face of sworn enemies who vow to wipe the country off the face of the planet.

A little more than three years ago, I had the high honor of touring that country with four of my best friends in the world. We were part of a Rotary International exchange. We spent four weeks visiting Israel from top to bottom, from the seashore to the Golan Heights. And one of the profound impressions one gets when visiting the country of roughly 8,000 square miles is just how close everyone lives to once- and still-hostile nations.

The tragedy of Gaza reminds me of that proximity. Hamas, the terrorist organization that governs the Gaza Strip, is launching missiles into Israel. They’re not targeting military installations. They’re aiming the missiles at innocent people. Israel is vowing to strike back, hard, unless the two sides can broker a cease-fire. That agreement appears to be closer as I write these words. I hope that is the case.

But I also understand fully Israel’s desire to take whatever measures are necessary to protect its citizens. Hamas is a sworn enemy of Israel. The Israelis cannot tolerate – nor should they – that kind of threat to their homeland. They must strike back and put down the terrorists.

I have never fully trusted the peace agreements Israel has signed with Jordan and Egypt, two former enemies that border Israel. I fear that in the event of another all-out war in the region that Egypt and Jordan will scrap the agreement while taking up arms with their Arab brethren. Would it happen? I pray it isn’t so.

Within our first week of touring Israel in the spring of 2009, we visited an air force museum in Bee’r Sheva. A young guide told us it takes less than 10 minutes to fly across Israel in a super-sonic fighter jet. As a result, any location in Israel is an easy target for a jet from, say, Iran – should that aircraft manage to penetrate Israel’s state-of-the-art air defense system.

And when you see first-hand how close the Israelis are to those who wish to harm them – such as those who’ve been shelled in Ashkelon and Sderot, which are a virtual shouting distance from the Gaza border – you understand why the Israelis have every right to use whatever means necessary to defend themselves.