I don't think this is entirely fair. It was an egregious miscalculation that these plans, which they had wind of, were like all the previous plans that they had wind of that didn't materialize (ignoring reports from their own monitors that the buzz around this one seemed different).

That's somewhat different that "letting it happen" and "not stopping it". An arrogant ineptness is not the same thing as willful permission.

Furthermore, one of the first things Israel did in response was drop a bunch of bombs on Beit Hanoun, which they at least stated was which they (thought) Hamas was using as a staging ground for attacks. So I'm not sure there's a good argument that they weren't doing exactly what you call for.

It is true that Israel has billions of dollars in aid, and billions more dollars internally spent on the military. That should add up into some pretty impressive capabilities. But you are implying a lot about the specific capabilities that they have right now. If you provide evidence for that, sure! But if your critique is actually that the Netanyahu government has been making poor choices for outfitting and training the IDF over the past decade, you shouldn't make it sound like they just have to pick the way that saves all the civilians instead of the way that kills huge numbers of them.

You say my comments may diminish the efforts that people like you are working hard for. But what are those efforts? I've been explaining why I think you are undermining your own stated efforts by failing to take a realistic enough view of the situation, and instead are just adding to the mass of anti-Israel clamor that encourages the Israeli government to dig in its heels. "Israel's enemies want Israel to stop using its military to defend itself from terrorists" is a much harder sell than "Israel's potential allies are deeply concerned by the amount of civilian death and suffering".

Regarding my comments endangering you in any way, I think you have that backwards. It is completely wrong for anyone to try to harm you, and I'm sorry that Medium users have taken it upon themselves to threaten you. It would also be wrong if you actually held the views that you superficially appear to, and which attract positive comments from people who have a curiously strong aversion to vehemently condemning Hamas ("yes, of course I don't support Hamas, but never mind that, here are 15 more reasons to hate Israel"). However, if we believe the thoughtful comments that you make when queried, there's much less reason why that would provoke any hostile response.

One should think twice about shirking from doing what is right out of fear of one's safety. It is a balance even in that case (because one's own life is obviously also precious), but one needs to weigh the balance. But my point is that if you're trying to do what you claim, you're diminishing your effectiveness with the same actions that people are threatening you for.

What is the downside of being consistently thoughtful, and heading off the charges of simply hating Israel, or giving Hamas a pass, by consistently expressing that you do neither?

I can think of only one: reduced support from people who want to be in an outraged, noble fight on the side of pure good against pure evil.