by Dr. Chaim Misgav, translated by Hillel Findel
With nightmarish photos all over, and with our blood boiling, it could be that now is not the right time – but I can't help bringing up some points that may have been forgotten.
Here it is, exactly 50 years later [after the Yom Kippur War], and it's happening to us yet again: Arrogance and overconfidence. Getting stuck in our misconceptions. Generals who talk and talk. Similar things happened then along the Suez Canal - and yet the lessons were not learned.
It appears that each and every mistake is being repeated in turn. The idiotic Bar-Lev line (a chain of Israeli fortifications along the eastern bank of the Suez Canal, designed to delay an Egyptian invasion by at least 24 hours; in the event, however, the Egyptians overran it in under two hours when they initiated the Yom Kippur War) collapsed almost as easily as the Gaza border fence was broken through ten days ago. The cries of despair of the soldiers who were captured in the Sinai outposts 50 years ago were very similar to the recent desperate pleas of our citizens – women and children, this time – in their emergency shelters, waiting, often in vain, for the arrival of the IDF rescue forces. The over 200 captives and 1,300 dead, and their families, paid and are paying the price of the conceptual blindness of those who were supposed to protect us.
The reason I'm bringing up that accursed war – which, it must be remembered, we ultimately won – is only because of the plague of "getting stuck in our misconceptions" that keeps on striking at us and dragging the State of Israel to the edge of the abyss. When Yasser Arafat, for instance, put on his "peacemaker" mask back in 1993 to sign the Oslo Accords, Israel's security establishment relied upon a totally hollow "conception." For some reason, our security leaders built up this idea in their heads that terrorist-mastermind Arafat had actually suddenly become a man of peace, and was willing to give up his dream of destroying Israel in exchange for a few slivers of land (large slivers, actually). But even when the streets of Israel were awash with the blood of the "sacrifices of peace" in the ensuing intifada, and another illusory conception collapsed, no one of its supporters apologized. Not then, and not since then.
And when "Gaza First" was implemented, and cities there were given over to PA control, and Gaza then became a nest of murderers – again, no one woke up. The security zone in southern Lebanon, the one that supposedly promised peace and security to the Israeli citizens living near the Lebanese border – was abruptly and wildly abandoned by the IDF, in the hope that our enemies would appreciate our generosity. But the consequences were too bitter to bear. The Hizbullah terrorist organization, which until then had been a mouse, became a lion of monstrous proportions. The shameful Israeli withdrawal that left our southern Lebanese allies helpless and vulnerable returned upon us like a boomerang. It seemed to be very difficult for Israel to learn this lesson: In the Middle East, those who give up on land are not viewed as very strong or threatening.
Not long afterwards, when the Disengagement from Gush Katif in Gaza was being considered by Ariel Sharon and his government, generals sat sternly in the TV studios and explained how the expulsion of thousands of families would strengthen our security. The PR agents of this move – politicians, journalists, academics, and many more – cast aspersions on anyone who dared raise the possibility that a retreat from Gush Katif might strengthen the Hamas terrorists running around in Gaza. Craziness seemed to be the name of the game.
Of course, there were many on the left who still continued, and continue, to believe that a similar withdrawal from Judea and Samaria was a good idea. Peace is just around the corner, they explained to us, if we just give in a little bit more...
And I haven't yet even mentioned the "gas agreement" with Lebanon of last year; the affidavits submitted to the Supreme Court tell the whole story.
The horrific events since the Simchat Torah holiday are truly blood-curdling, and our bitterness, confusion, fright and anger – all together – know no bounds. It could be that I am a bit too quick to bring up these points. But I felt that I had no choice. If we do not look directly and clearly at our situation, we will once again suffer the consequences. It is very sad to realize that even now, there are those in our midst who feel that the current circumstances are a good opportunity to renew the concept of a Palestinian state in the heart of our homeland.
I did mention the idea of "trapped in a misconception," did I not?