Smoke billows from buildings following an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on July 31, 2014. Israel said they would stay in Gaza until the Palestinian tunnels were destroyed. . UPI/Ismael Mohamad | License Photo

TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A blogger for the Times of Israel published an op-ed piece Friday titled "When Genocide is Permissible," advocating for the "obliteration" of Gazans.

Yochanan Gordon, the author of the article suggested that "rooting out" the territory is the best way to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.


"What other way then is there to deal with an enemy of this nature other than obliterate them completely?" he asked.

The piece was quickly removed from the publication's site, but archived versions had already gone viral.

"Judging by the numbers of casualties on both sides in this almost one-month old war one would be led to the conclusion that Israel has resorted to disproportionate means in fighting a far less-capable enemy," the piece began.

Gordon, whose father founded the Five Towns Jewish Times, went on to condemn the United States, the United Nations and the international community for criticizing Israel's military tactics.

"It's now obvious that the U.S. and the U.N. are completely out of touch with the nature of this foe and are therefore not qualified to dictate or enforce the rules of this war," he wrote.

Gordon opines on the changing nature of war, longing for the days when war wasn't fought "to a draw," but was about defeating one's enemy.

"We are at war with an enemy whose charter calls for the annihilation of our people. Nothing, then, can be considered disproportionate when we are fighting for our very right to live," he said. "There's going to have to come a time where Israel feels threatened enough where it has no other choice but to defy international warnings -- because this is life or death."

Gordon concludes with a rhetorical question justifying genocide:

"We have already established that it is the responsibility of every government to ensure the safety and security of its people. If political leaders and military experts determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then permissible to achieve those responsible goals?"

The Times of Israel removed Gordon's post and put up a statement condemning the piece in its place.

The Times of Israel on Friday removed an unacceptable blog post, entitled 'When genocide is permissible.' This blog post, which was described by our Ops & Blogs editor as both damnable and ignorant, blatantly breached The Times of Israel's editorial guidelines. We have discontinued the writer's blog. The Times of Israel maintains an open blog platform: Once we have accepted bloggers, we allow them to post their own items. This trust has rarely been abused. We are angry and appalled that it was in this case, and will take steps to prevent a recurrence. We will not countenance blog posts that incite to violence or criminal acts.