Understanding "Idée Fix" and Ridding the IDF of its Misconceptions

Abridged from an article by journalist Dr. Tzvi Sadan in Israel National News, translated by Hillel Fendel.

One can read on the website of the IDF Intelligence Wing quotes from top army officials at a recent "Intelligence Wing Day" gathering. It was held this year, just 25 days before this past Oct. 7th, and the topic was "50 Years Since the Yom Kippur War" – the war that Israel almost lost because of major intelligence failures. Leading Israeli military figures spoke of the lessons that had been learned since then: 

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said there, "Even today, 50 years later, the lessons we learned then are seared deep into our flesh. We must be ready for war, even if it comes by surprise." 

Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Hertzy Levy said, "The past 50 years have brought us inestimably strong and precise Israeli intelligence."  

Intelligence Chief Maj.-Gen. Aharon Haliwa said, "In order to prevent another intelligence failure, IDF Intelligence has turned Yom Kippur into a professional and profound day of reckoning." 

These three men, those who were responsible for fulfilling the words "Never Again!" for the State of Israel, were, simply put, totally blinded. Their remarks proved, just 25 days later, to be totally inaccurate and detached from reality. 

Some explain this colossal failure as rooted in "hubris," arrogance that leads to catastrophe.  

But the inclination to place total blame on one body (Intelligence) and on one person (the head of Intelligence) is actually very dangerous. This is because it is liable to overlook and free of responsibility all those others who were party and partners to the formation and acceptance of the false intelligence evaluation. But neither can the responsibility borne by the Intelligence Wing be made light of: The Intelligence Wing and its head serve as a type of military oracle, whose evaluations are accepted as a form of prophecy. 

In truth, blame for the colossal failure of Oct. 7th can be placed upon the idea known as idée fixe, i.e, described correctly by Wikipedia as follows: "A preoccupation of mind believed to be firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it."  

Wikipedia in Hebrew adds: "This refers to a sickly condition in which one is not aware of his blindness, rejects all criticism, and even blames his critics." This is not the same thing as a misconception or being entrapped in the conception of a particular ideology or outlook. The problem of a wrong "conception" becomes an idée fixe when people insist on retaining their conception even after it has been proven wrong.  

The IDF's conception of reality before Oct. 7, which unfortunately seems not to have changed since then, is based on a twisted ideology. Inter alia, it sees the murderers of Jews as normative people deserving of all civil rights based on the foundation of "Human Dignity and Liberty." 

How did this IDF ideology begin? It began when philosopher Prof. Asa Kasher wrote the IDF Code of Ethics, a dogmatic document of principles of faith that, apparently, are never to be doubted or questioned. One of the ideals promoted by this Code of Ethics – unparalleled in any other army in the world – is that the IDF "and its soldiers… must maintain and preserve human dignity of every person" – even if that person was captured after having murdered, raped, burnt, and captured Jews from ages 10 months to over 80 years.  

The Code instructs IDF soldiers "never to use their weapons or strength to harm people who are not warriors or who are prisoners, and to do everything possible [emphasis added] to prevent harm to their lives, bodies, dignity, and property." 

In short, the IDF Code of Ethics with its emphasis on "the supreme importance of human life," instructs our soldiers to do precisely the opposite of what an army is supposed to do: to kill the enemy and harm his health and property. The Code tells the soldier that he must "endanger himself and his comrades to the extent necessary to fulfill this mission." Again, this includes those who claim to be "innocent bystanders" yet actually supported, in many ways, the above crimes of murder, rape, kidnapping and the like.  

It was apparently this Code of Ethics that led to the hospitalization in Israel of the very terrorists who carried out the massacre, adjacent to several of those who were wounded there! This happened within days of the massacre, and a stop was put to it only after an outburst of public outrage. 

Returning to the military idée fixe, we must recall the many times over the years that IDF experts reassured us that Hamas was "deterred" from starting up with us. In fact, after every one of the 16 operations or mini-operations that the IDF carried out in Gaza since 2005, the General Staff boasted, "We have succeeded once again, and Hamas is deterred." [Translator's note: Precise quotes are provided in the original Hebrew article.] 

The famous unparalleled-ethical spirit of the IDF, and its adherence to the idee fixe that its approach to Hamas is the absolute truth, especially after the "Holocaust in the Negev," is now seen to be a spirit of evil that needs to be expelled and eradicated. Until this happens, someone - perhaps the Minister of Defense - should demand that someone - perhaps the Chief of Staff – finally wake up and realize that what it thought was the unbridled and unchallengeable veritable truth, might not be quite that.

Why Not Just Bomb the Building

by MK Tzvi Sukkot a member of the Religious Zionism party, translated by Hillel Fendel.

MK Tzvi Sukkot – a member of the Religious Zionism party and former Director-General of the Jewish Power party – was tremendously concerned, as were many, by the fact that nine IDF officers and soldiers were killed last week in a military operation to clear out terrorists from a building. "Why were instructions not given to the Air Force to bomb the building instead of having our infantry endanger themselves?" was a frequent question. MK Sukkot investigated the matter, and wrote the following summation as to what he learned.

First, however, it must be made clear that in this specific case, the entire battle was initiated based on intelligence that Israeli hostages were in the building – in which case, aerial bombing was clearly not an option. Regarding the aerial bombing policy in general, Sukkot wrote: 

One of the main jobs of Knesset Members is to oversee the activities of the various arms of government. The overseeing of the IDF is done in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, of which I am privileged to be a member.

When I heard of the terrible incident in which a large number of Golani Brigade soldiers were killed, my first thoughts too were: "How could it be that the building wasn't taken down beforehand from the air? Why would we endanger our soldiers in this way?" The parts of me that have trouble trusting some of our institutions immediately woke up, and I and a few colleagues conducted a mini-investigation.  

I spoke with senior army people, soldiers in the field, earth-works contractors, bulldozer operators, people with experience in both the military and in razing buildings, officers in charge of heavy equipment in Gaza, and more. Not including the material that I am not at liberty to share, here are my conclusions: 

1. There are approximately a quarter of a million buildings in Gaza. Even if we wanted to raze all of them, there are simply not enough armaments in the entire world to do so. Thus that this is clearly not an option. 
2. In the US, houses are built with wood, in Israel we build with layers of concrete blocks, and in Gaza they build with concrete. This means that the Israel Air Force (IAF) requires very specific armaments to raze a building of several floors. True, a half-destroyed building that is cannot be used for housing, but terrorists can certainly use it as a hideout, as they have done many times – and especially if the building is atop a tunnel opening. It is therefore not always beneficial to bomb buildings from the air. It is thus regrettable that a report originated in the U.S. this week saying that it takes only 20 minutes to bring down a building. That might be true for wooden houses, but certainly not for concrete ones. 
3. What about using a D9 bulldozer? The answer is that though it is quite large and powerful, it cannot bring down a building of several stories without gravely endangering the driver. Other giant bulldozers with long reaches are simply not in sufficient supply. In addition, securing an operation to demolish a four-story house takes more time and resources – and risks – than does checking it over by foot. Anyone who has ever seen the demolition of a building knows how long it takes.
4. The heavy equipment owned by the IDF is used practically 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for both combat activity and leveling out areas.
5. Buildings can be demolished with the help of explosives – but to this end, soldiers must arrive physically at the building and place the explosive at critical points of the building. Such that the explosives don’t spare us the need to endanger our soldiers.
6. Our previous rounds of battle with the terrorists of Gaza were based almost totally on IAF air raids – and we saw the sorry results these led to. Most fortunately, this time the IDF and the decision-makers understood that the methodology must be changed and that the areas must really be cleaned out. But this can only be done if we are able to get physically to the buildings, where we can find and destroy the underground bases and positions - and terrorists. When it is possible to bomb from the air, the IAF does so, but if it is not the strategically correct thing to do, then not. When the planes do not bomb, it is not because we're worried about harming innocent lives – and certainly not in a terrorist-infested neighborhood like Sajaiye. 

The pain at losing our soldiers is tremendous, and we must constantly be on the alert that progressive agendas do not infiltrate the IDF, as has happened in the past. I am the last person to call for placing blind trust in everything that the IDF or our government does. But it must be said, based on soldiers' testimonies from the battlefield, that the combat in Gaza is increasingly being waged the way we always wanted: minimum risk to soldiers, maximum aggressiveness in liquidating the enemy.

And why is it important to write this? Because when we are in wartime and fighting constant heavy daily battles, we may not give our soldiers the sense that they are dying in vain. That would be the most dangerous threat of all. No one – no mother, no wife, and no soldier – should have to think that we are sending our best boys to die in vain, especially when it is totally untrue.

Now is the time to give full backing to our heroic soldiers!

Gaza and Israel: The Fantasy of the Day After

by veteran Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman, translated by Hillel Fendel.

One of the questions occupying the thoughts and "expert" opinions of many in the Israeli media, the Government of Israel, and the Biden Administration is what to do with Gaza when the current war ends. 

One of the more bizarre ideas being considered is that the Palestinian Authority, led by Fatah chief Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), must make certain changes and then take over the control of the Gaza Strip. These changes include: 

• stopping all PA activity against Israel in international bodies such as The Hague
• stopping all incitement against Israel in its media, textbooks, et al
• stopping all salaries and payments to terrorists sitting in Israeli prisons for their crimes
• and of course doing away with all internal PA corruption.

This idea is the fruit of the thinking not only of leading Biden Administration clerks, but also, and perhaps even more so, of the Israeli left.  And so I would like to address my dear fantasizing brethren here at home: Please wake up and return to solid ground! The chance that these changes will be made is approximately equivalent to the chance that Iran will announce a unilateral disarmament of its nuclear capabilities, that Nasrallah will destroy the many thousands of Hizbullah rockets he is pointing at Israel, and that the Hamas murderers now hiding for their lives in tunnels will give up their weapons this afternoon and announce that they are immigrating en-masse to Indonesia.

One would have thought that after the total collapse of so many clichés that have supported the peace camp over the years, it would finally come to its senses over the true intentions of our enemies. For instance, they long enthusiastically promoted the concept of "territories in exchange for peace" – which led directly to what has happened in Gaza since October 7th (Simchat Torah). It is now clear to all, or should be, that their dream of peace with the Palestinians, as they envisioned it, will not happen. 

Another left-wing cliché that has lost its vitality is "Israel cannot exist as a Jewish and democratic state if a Palestinian state is not established alongside it." Everyone now sees what came of the Palestinian entity that has existed in Gaza since the infamous Disengagement 18 years ago.

How can we be so sure that the Palestinian Authority will not make the necessary changes and become the civilized neighbor for which we have pined all these many years? Because those changes would negate the PA's essential existence. It has not made these changes in the 30 years of its existence not because they are lazy, but because teaching their children to hate Israel, the important value of martyrdom, and supporting terrorist murderers and their families are the fundamental elements of the very foundations of their societal existence and of what they hold dear. 

Ever since its establishment as a result of the Oslo Accords of the early 1990's, the PA's media and textbooks have been replete with incitement and hatred against Israel – despite all the many promises of its leaders to change this. For 30 years it has been supporting terrorists and their families with monthly salaries, while all this time its leaders have corruptly shaved off monies for their own personal use. Whoever believes that the PA will suddenly change its stripes, even to receive control over Gaza, is simply floating in outer space.

Another claim that has been heard in Israel these past weeks is this: The Government of Israel must decide right now the future of the Gaza Strip not only because Biden demands it, but also because the IDF cannot continue onto the next stages of its combat in Gaza without knowing the overall national strategy and plans for the area.

The logic of this claim escapes me. The IDF has a clear objective: to destroy the military capabilities of Hamas. This mission has nothing to do with who or what will control Gaza after Hamas is out of the picture. It has only to do with destroying the entire Hamas tunnels network, as large as it is, as well as all of its rockets, and killing as many terrorists as possible, including of course its leaders such as Yichye Sinwar and Muhammed Def. Though these goals might take a while, the IDF can definitely accomplish them, despite the accompanying difficulties, even without knowing what will happen afterwards.

It is nice to know that at least on one point even the Israeli left agrees: the fact that the security control of Gaza must remain exclusively in Israeli hands. No military entity other than the Israel Defense Forces can be entrusted with the responsibility of protecting Israel. 

Administrative and civilian control is another story. The questions are many: What civilian entity will run the lives of the Arab populace in Gaza? How much of the area will be under its control? How many Arabs will remain altogether in Gaza? What will be the future borders of the Gaza Strip? How much of the area will serve as a buffer zone between it and Israel? 

The plethora of question marks means that it would be a total waste of time and energy to try to predict such a cloudy and unstable future. First let us win – and afterwards we will already know what to do.

In Exchange for Hostages: "The Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Me – Lives Next Door Once Again"

by Hagit Rosenbaum, Besheva newspaper, translated by Hillel Fendel.

 

In exchange for the dozens of Israeli hostages cruelly captured and held by Hamas, Israel released three times that number of terrorists – women and minors (as if it makes a difference to their victims). While none of them actually murdered Jews, some of them came quite close to doing so, and only miraculously are their victims still alive. 

Hagit Rosenbaum of the BeSheva weekly interviewed a Jewish mother of the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood in Jerusalem, in light of the release of a female terrorist who tried to stab her to death before the eyes of her four children. The attacker, 16-year-old Nafouz Jez Aref Hamed, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, but served only two of them before the hostage-terrorist deal came along.  

"When they originally told me that she was on the list of terrorists to be released," Moriah Cohen said, "I refused to believe it. Even now, I still can't believe that she has returned and is living right here in the neighborhood. It is terribly frustrating, as well as scary. I had to sit with my children and try to calm them down. I had to find a way to help them overcome their fear, even though there is really no way, since she's no longer in jail and is right here. Today they refused to go outside to the car even for a minute unless I went with them. They were with me during the attack and they saw everything." 

Cohen asks: "Why couldn't they at least have demanded that she not return to her home? Why can't they nullify her citizenship? To return her to her home right opposite the children whom she almost murdered – it's insane!" 

With the help of the Honenu civil rights organization, Moriah Cohen has begun a campaign to bring about the distancing of the would-be murderer from her home forever. "We will do everything we can so that we will not have to see her and that she should not frighten us and disrupt our routine," said Moriah.  

The campaign has been partially successful thus far. Following a request/demand by Honenu, the Jerusalem Magistrates Court issued a temporary restraining order forbidding the young terrorist from coming near Mrs. Cohen or children, and from making any contact with them. Another hearing will soon be held on permanent restrictions.  

Honenu continues to demand that this small step be expanded, and that the police do whatever necessary to ensure the security of the Cohen family. 

Two other Jews - shot at and injured moderately-to-seriously by a young Palestinian terrorist almost a year ago – asked that "their" terrorist not be freed. Yaakov Moses and Moshe Hass, who are still undergoing procedures for their full recovery, asked PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant to remove his name from their lists of terrorists to be released. They were unsuccessful, however, and the terrorist – whose legal proceedings had not yet even begun – was released. Atty. Chaim Bleicher of Honenu demands that the authorities give more consideration to the victims of terrorist crimes when deciding whom to release – and how to release them. 

Wrong, Blinken: Settler Violence is Minor

adapted from articles by Shilo Fried, Makor Rishon newspaper, translated by Hillel Fendel. 

It has been widely reported that the Biden Administration, perhaps most vocally represented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has placed a heavy emphasis on stopping "settler violence" against Arabs of Judea and Samaria. The U.S. has even announced that it will restrict the entry of some Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria into its borders. 

But the facts actually indicate that there is no such phenomenon as "settler violence." Even IDF Central District Commander Gen. Yehuda Fuchs - in many ways no friend of the Jewish settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria – has said, "99% of the hilltop youth do nothing wrong to anyone, not to the army and not to others. There is no such concept as 'settler violence.' There are incidents of violence in all kinds of places." 

Left-wing organizations have initiated a campaign of late against a supposed increase in settler violence, which has had international success. Belgium, for instance, has announced that it will forbid entry into the country of "extremist settlers."  

However, Shiloh Fried of the Makor Rishon newspaper has reported, based on law-enforcement sources, that there is actually a significant decrease in violent incidents in general between Jewish residents and Arabs in Judea and Samaria.  

The data show that in the month beginning Oct. 7, there were 20 violent incidents – as compared to 53 in the same period last year. Similarly, the number of cases in which property was damaged during this period was down from 19 last year to 10 this year.  

Prime Minister Netanyahu has addressed the issue, minimizing its extent while at the same time seemingly trying to appease the White House. He has said that only "a handful of extremists who do not represent the public take the law into their hands and cause great damage to Israel. We are unwilling to tolerate this and we will act against it." General Security Service (Shabak) head Ronen Barr said that the number of these "extremists" is not more than 40, of whom some do not even live in Judea and Samaria.  

In response to strong accusations and even sanctions against Yesha extremists – which often leave the impression that the entire Yesha public is guilty – Yesha Council head Shlomo Ne'eman said: "We were surprised to see that the President of the United States, who from the beginning of the war has been on the side of truth and justice, has chosen to fall into the trap of the deceptive campaign by [left-wing organizations] B'Tzelem and Breaking the Silence. Mr. President, please understand that 'settler violence' is the fruit of the imagination of fringe left-wing propaganda." 

Strong punitive measures have been taken against Jews of Yesha, at least some of which have been found to be unjustified. For instance, just last month an IDF soldier was returned to his army unit, after having been under arrest for five days on suspicion of having killed an Arab in the Shomron. Ultimately, the IDF Military Court ordered him released after finding that a small Arab mob had approached, threw rocks and dangerous objects, and threatened the lives of his family, leading the soldier to shoot in self-defense and kill one of the Arabs.   

Just today, a youth named Elisha Yered, who resides in southern Shomron, was placed under administrative arrest for at least 24 hours, with no explanation. He has been living in the Jordan Valley for the last several months because of a restraining order signed by Gen. Fuchs. An IDF military court shortened the order, such that it was to end three weeks from now. In the meanwhile, however, Fuchs submitted an appeal of this decision – and Yered suddenly found himself under arrest. 

Approximately six other Jews are currently being held in administrative detention. Just this past Friday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signed a four-month order against one youth, leading to strong criticism by the Honenu civil rights organization: "Gallant is acting like the representative of the US in the Israeli government. There seem to be no laws, no government – just orders from Biden, the result of a campaign to blacken the settlers by anti-Semitic organizations abroad. Israel deserves its own Minister of Defense, not one acting on behalf of the U.S." 

Fried further reported that MK Tzvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism), Chairman of the Knesset Subcommittee on Judea/Samaria Affairs, turned to the IDF Spokesman and asked that an announcement be issued denying the phenomenon of "settler violence." Sukkot said today, however, that no official announcement to this effect has yet been issued. 

Also just recently, the IDF Prosecution announced that because of a "lack of evidence," it will not indict axe-wielding Arab attackers of a Jew. The reason is that the Israel Police refuse to question the Jew, for two reasons: He is still undergoing operations after having been seriously wounded in the attack, including a loss of consciousness, and also because of the message it would give over. "This was a nationalist attack of Arab terrorism against a Jewish victim, and we will not cooperate with placing the blame on the latter," Fried was told in the name of the police. Thus, just a month after the nearly fatal attack, the perpetrators have been set free.  

In short, it may be justifiably said that the "settler violence" being bandied about in high-level negotiating rooms and in the media should more correctly be applied to the violence perpetrated upon the settlers.

Terrorists Who "Give Up" Must Still be Shot

by Michael Puah in INN, translated by Hillel Fendel. 

This past Thursday, Yuval Kestelman shot and killed a terrorist who had just murdered three Jews, then raised his hands and showed that he had no bomb on him – and was shot and killed by a reserves soldier who thought he was a terrorist. Was the soldier wrong?  

The death of the hero Yuval Kestelman was very shocking and tragic – but it must not confuse us: Terrorists who commit, or try to commit, murderous attacks must be killed. 

Yuval was a true hero. This past Thursday morning, he ran towards two Hamas terrorists who were in the midst of gunning down Jews at the entrance to Jerusalem. He was practically on top of one of them when he, together with two IDF reserves soldiers, shot and killed him and the other terrorist. He thus saved many people. However, in the midst of the raging battle, and specifically because he was so close to the terrorists, the soldiers thought he was one of the attackers. Yuval raised his hands, and even his shirt, but it didn't help him: The soldiers figured that terrorists can also raise their hands and shirt. At least one of them fired, and Yuval was taken to the hospital with wounds from which he would not recover. 

This terrible incident is hard to swallow and raises strong emotions from all angles. The heart of the question is: Should terrorists engaged in an attack, but who appear to present no threat at the moment, be shot? 

The raising of hands during warfare is a universally agreed-upon signal by which to signal surrender. According to Article 3 of the Third Geneva Convention, armed forces that lay down their arms must be treated humanely. The idea is that when armies battle against each other, a soldier who lays down his arms and raises his hands thus leaves the circle of combat and becomes a prisoner of war, whose rights are clear and defined by the Convention. 

However, Article 4 of the same Convention states that these principles apply only to parties that are bound to the Convention and who bear an identifying mark that can be identified from afar. Clearly, terrorists who murder civilians do not operate according to the laws of war and do not identify themselves in advance. Their claim to protection by virtue of their raising hands and laying down weapons does therefore not apply to them.  

For years, the judicial establishment and the Israeli left operated in opposition to this principle and sought to imbue us with the deception that it is forbidden to kill a terrorist after he raises his hands or is wounded. [Translator's note: This phenomenon continues even as this is being translated: IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Hertzi HaLevy said this afternoon that terrorists with their hands up should not be shot…] This undermines our ability to protect ourselves. It has led terrorists to take advantage and continue to shoot even after they had "given up."  

Even worse, citizens and soldiers who endangered their lives to liquidate terrorists have found themselves under interrogation, even being punished, for their courageous actions. We all remember the trial and imprisonment of El'or Azariah, whose case brought the issue to the heart of the headlines. 

Of late, the understanding was beginning to take root that a terrorist who even merely attempted murder, and all the more so if he succeeded, must not come out of the attack alive. This, even though the Shabak would then be unable to interrogate him and obtain important information. On the other hand, the deterrence factor is invaluable, and in addition, we will also be saved from having to hold him in luxurious prison conditions throughout his life – or at least until the next prisoner exchange… 

A dead terrorist will not be able to serve as a bargaining chip for the release of Israeli hostages, will never be released in any deal, and will certainly not return to terrorist activity, as many prisoners who were freed did – including Hamas chieftain Yichye Sinwar. In short, a dead terrorist will never kill again. Killing terrorists under these conditions is the appropriate way to act, morally and justly – even though it can also be painfully dangerous, as unfortunately happened in the death of Yuval Kestelman. 

We can sum up and say that whoever shoots, even when seemingly justifiably, must be very cautious and focused. But as a society that desires to exist, we must support and back even soldiers who make a mistake.  

The IDF announcement that no one whose hands are raised may be shot, and the interrogation "under caution" and the arrest of the soldier in the Kestelman shooting, endanger all of us. It returns the State of Israel to the old and dangerous conceptions that brought us to the horrific events of this past Simchat Torah. To liken the terrorists of Hamas in any way to soldiers protected by the Geneva Convention is simply an unethical comparison. It grants preference to the cruel perpetrators of atrocities over Israeli citizens and soldiers who endanger their lives in battle with them. This mistaken "morality" sometimes even enables the terrorists to continue their cruel attacks – whether immediately in the same attack, or later after they are released. 

The killing of the courageous Yuval Kestelman is truly heart-rending – but we must not allow harm to befall soldiers who made a mistake, no matter how grave the results. The soldiers involved must be questioned at length, so that we can learn from their mistakes. But they must not be questioned under caution, i.e., with the express suspicion that they have committed a crime. Nor must they be taken to task for the way they acted under the pressure of a hopefully life-saving mission that lasted for mere seconds. Similarly, confiscating their weapons and imposing other disciplinary measures against these heroic soldiers is liable to cost us immediate responses in future attacks.  

We don't want to castrate ourselves as a society that desires life, and we don't want further murders. 

To be Continued – or Else

by Emmanuel Shiloh, editor of the Besheva newspaper, translated by Hillel Fendel. 

The release of some of the hostages is a sacred goal, achieved in the merit of the successful military campaign – but the destruction of Hamas is absolutely critical to the very existence of the State of Israel.  

1. The release of some 60 of our brothers and sisters from Hamas captivity is primarily a clear sign of the great success of our forces' successful ground operation in Gaza City and throughout the northern Gaza Strip. 

Each of our hostages comes at the price of three freed Palestinian terrorist prisoners, not including – for now – those who actually murdered Jews. This is a very problematic price ethically, as well as a security danger – but it is still a low price compared to other exchanges in the past. Most notably, our soldier Gilad Shalit's freedom was achieved after over five years at the price of more than 1,000 (!) terrorist prisoners. Among them, incidentally or not, was current Hamas PalestiNazi chieftain arch-murderer Yihye Sinwar. He clearly would not have agreed to such a low price in the current deal if his military situation were not so desperate, threatening not only his own life but also that of the entire Hamas regime in Gaza. 

2. The ground attack in Gaza, with great Divine help, support from the Israel Air Force, and cooperation from many different IDF units, has dealt Hamas a decisive blow. We have killed thousands of terrorists and destroyed weapons and arms production facilities on a huge scale. We have conquered fortified strongholds and large areas, and taken over symbols of government such as the Gaza parliament building, the main court, and the particularly problematic Shifa Hospital. Yes, dozens of wonderful young soldiers and commanders have paid with their lives – each of whom was an entire world unto himself – but the number of casualties is significantly lower than what we feared and what our enemies hoped.  

The cruel Sinwar and his henchmen also understand that even the elaborate tunnels enterprise that they have built up for years so that they can hide out like rats [keep in mind that Hizbullah chief Nasrallah has reportedly not left his bunker in Beirut since 2006, for fear of Israeli assassination] will not last long. It has been severely damaged over the weeks of war, and with G-d's help our forces will soon totally destroy it. And so, just days before Israel was to complete its conquest of above-ground Gaza and begin dealing in earnest with the underground Gaza, suddenly Hamas showed its willingness to release hostages at bargain prices. This is because what most interests Sinwar is not the release of his Hamas comrades, but a ceasefire.  

3. Israel set for itself two major objectives in the current war: the destruction of Hamas, both militarily and politically, and the release of all the 240 or so Israelis and others taken hostage on Simchat Torah, October 7th. Israel has made good progress in both these areas, showing that the military pressure helps advance the goal of freeing our hostages.  

Sinwar is hoping that the ceasefire will extricate him from his hopeless predicament. Now that he has achieved a ceasefire of five or six days, he is hoping for a permanent ceasefire and an end to the war altogether. Reports are that he has offered to free every single last hostage to that end. But as Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich has said, such a deal would mean the end of Israel – for it would put Israel's weakest points on display for the entire Arab world to see. 

At present, Sinwar is hoping to offer ten additional hostages for each extra day of ceasefire. The Israeli government has already approved up to ten ceasefire days for this purpose; more than that would require another Cabinet meeting and vote. It will not be easy for the Netanyahu government to reject a proposal for the release of additional hostages, even at the cost of more ceasefire days. And then, the longer the ceasefire lasts, the international pressure to make it permanent and final will only increase. 

At the same time, it comes as no surprise that Hamas is utilizing this ceasefire period to reorganize and rearm its battered and scattered forces. This is liable to be no small threat to the IDF when the fighting resumes.  

4. No one disputes the fact that by agreeing to these days of ceasefire, Israel has taken upon itself a heavy risk, on behalf of the sacred goal of the release of some of the hostages and their return to their families. It can hopefully be assumed that before the IDF leaders encouraged the government to agree to this deal, they checked carefully and found that we have the ability to avoid harm to our soldiers - both during the ceasefire and also after Hamas has had the chance to reorganize before the fighting resumes.  

As far as Israel is concerned, the greatest danger we face is that the ceasefire will in fact be extended and that the war will end without a decisive defeat and destruction of Hamas. We simply cannot tolerate a situation in which Hamas continues to present a security danger to the communities of the Gaza envelope that were so cruelly targeted on Oct. 7th – and thus to Israel in general. Sinwar entered into the current agreement with the hope that it would lead to a permanent ceasefire, and the Israeli government promised that this would not happen. The upcoming days will tell which side was smarter.  

5. Let us present the current dilemma in the most biting and painful manner: If Hamas would actually offer us the immediate return of all the captives in exchange for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a years-long ceasefire, should Israel accept it? Keep in mind, as noted, that hints to this effect have already been received.  

This would present a head-on clash between the war's two objectives, because in such a case, the hostages would be released, but Hamas would be far from destroyed. 

There are those who hold that the goal of freeing the hostages must take priority over all else. Yet, despite the pain and difficulty in saying this, they are wrong – bitterly so. The terrible blow that Israel suffered that black Shabbat of Simchat Torah leaves us with absolutely no option of leaving this ruthless Palestinazi Amalekite in the region as a viable entity.  

Our own viability as a state is nil if we do not engrave in the consciousness of all our many enemies that whoever attacks us so cruelly, directly decrees upon himself death and destruction.  

Every Arab country in the wider region, from Yemen to Lebanon to Iran, as well as those who have signed peace treaties with us, will be looking closely at our reaction. They will want to know if, though we were caught by surprise, we still know how to act as the regional superpower we claim to be - or if we are truly only a paper tiger and they can start planning our destruction, Heaven forbid.  

There is no greater Torah ideal and commandment than the redemption of captives – except for the redemption of the entire State of Israel from an existential threat.  

6. These days, as we receive dozens of our captives with both joy and tears, our military commanders and forces in Gaza will require every last ounce of patience and restraint, in order to hold back at present but still retain total readiness for whatever might come – as well as preparedness to resume their brave and successful fight on short notice. They can take comfort in the knowledge that the return of the women and children to their families was achieved only in the merit of their dedication, courage, and prowess. They know that the entire Nation of Israel stands behind them in prayer and with support and admiration, and eagerly awaits the resumption of the successful offensive as soon as possible. 

We are all of the hope and prayer that all of the captives, including the soldiers, be released quickly and without the need to pay dangerous prices. We similarly hope and pray that the supreme goal of the campaign will soon be realized: the obliteration of the memory of the Hamas Amalekite enemy from under the heavens and from under the earth.

Not the PA and Not Egypt

by Emmanuel Shiloh, editor of the Besheva newspaper, translated by Hillel Fendel. 

Post-war Gaza must be under the total security control of Israel. Control over the residents must not be in the hands of unfriendly foreigners –
but the best solution is consensual immigration.

1. The entire nation is supporting our soldiers – logistically, motivationally, and in other ways – as they successfully battle in Gaza and inflict ever-increasing damage on Hamas-ISIS. The latter, for its part, is trying very hard to achieve a ceasefire while cynically and cruelly using the 240-or-so hostages as a pressure point. Most of our attention is focused on the two major goals of the campaign: the destruction of Hamas and its government organs, and the rescue of the hostages and their safe return home. There is an unshakable and welcome national consensus around these two goals, and unity of opinion and hearts is particularly important at this time. At the same time, however, we are not exempt from dealing with "the day after." Prime Minister Netanyahu and other government ministers have made some bombastic but unspecific announcements regarding what will be in Gaza when the IDF completes its missions there, and the Americans seem to have strong opinions on the matter as well. While position papers are quietly beginning to be prepared, we must not be taken by surprise. If we want to influence these plans, we must be ready and prepared. It will be a true tragedy if the ones who frame the political and security situation in newly liberated-from-Hamas Gaza come from the same school of thought and mindset that brought upon us the past years' series of catastrophes and various diplomatic and security failures. The list begins with the Oslo Accords, followed by the Disengagement, the Gilad Shalit terrorists exchange, and the conception that Hamas terrorism could be "contained" with bi-annual "rounds" of battles, the Iron Dome, and the border fence that ultimately was so tragically and easily scaled. 2. On the security front, Israel learned in the most painful way that what it has to do from now on is to prevent, at all costs, its Arab enemy from arming itself and building its military force. The Oslo Accords designers promised us that in the areas given over to PA control, the only weapons PA men would bear would be the light arms necessary for routine, or routine-plus, police work. But this concept broke down within a few years, and the security situation in Judea and Samaria – and especially in Gaza – has deteriorated severely ever since. Even the thought that we can function for years alongside a cruel enemy that wishes to destroy us and actively builds himself a military force for this purpose, has proven to be an illusion. We made a bitter mistake when we thought that we were safe and protected, that our intelligence always knows how to read the enemy's intentions, and that we would always be strong enough to deter them from realizing their dream of "itbah al-Yahud [slaughter the Jew]" that is so central to their religion and culture. We thought we learned this lesson 50 years ago after the Yom Kippur War – but no. It took another 1,200-plus dead Israelis, and some 240 abductees, to teach it to us once again. Once again, our intelligence misread the map, underestimated the enemy's capabilities and intentions, and trusted our fortified border which proved to be insufferably weak. The conclusion is clear: Our intelligence must always be improved, but even more important is to ensure that future mistakes will not have such catastrophic consequences. This can be done by ensuring that the enemy is never again able to build up his military capabilities to the point that he can harm us. This is true regarding Hamas, regarding Hizbullah – and regarding Iran as well. 3. And yet another lesson must be learned: We can never trust anyone else to do our work for us. When Peres and Rabin gave up Gaza to the control of arch-murderer Arafat, they promised that Arafat would be able to fight Hamas "without the constraints of the Supreme Court and [civil rights org] B'Tselem." But in practice, Arafat had no desire to do this, and Hamas built up its terrorist structures that not only inflicted painful losses upon us, but also led Ariel Sharon and his government to quit Gaza with our tail between our legs. The ideological right-wing and the religious-nationalist public, which fought mightily against the withdrawal from Gush Katif and expulsion of its 9,000 Jews, warned desperately that Gaza would become a center of terror targeting Ashkelon and Ashdod. But even they never really considered the eventuality of an arsenal of thousands of rockets that would reach Tel Aviv and further. Within just two years after Gaza became Jew-free, Hamas violently wrested control of the region from the PA and Fatah. The Jihadistic Hamas terrorist organization thus found itself with the resources of a small country, which it chose not to use these for its citizens' welfare, but to enrich its leaders and prepare militarily to attack Israel however possible. It increased its rocket capabilities, built thousands of launchers, dug an amazing array of underground tunnels, and developed a trained commando force. This past Simchat Torah, it succeeded beyond our worst fears, with cruelty, sadism, and military prowess that caught the IDF by total surprise. 4. It is therefore 100% clear: The Disengagement and the Oslo Accords must be nullified, at least militarily. The IDF must retain, and not just for a short period of time, the ability to act anywhere within Gaza and to nip in the bud any attempt there to build up terrorist and military capabilities. This cannot happen unless we maintain a permanent and massive military presence in various places throughout Gaza. Obviously we have to keep our American friends in mind as well. We must explain to them that it would be totally irresponsible to put our trust in Abu Mazen – PA chief Mahmoud Abbas – in this matter. Aside from the fact that he is aging and will not be around forever, he himself supports and encourages terrorism. Under his leadership, the PA has centered itself around a culture of adulation of terrorists and murderers, and educates its young children to hate Jews. The only reasons why Judea/Samaria is not a headquarters for Gaza-like rockets and terrorists are a) the IDF presence and b) the half-million Jewish "settlers." Can Egypt be considered for the task of policing Gaza? No. Egypt is not a true friend of Israel, and is liable to turn again into a bitter enemy at any time. The relative stability of our peace agreement with Egypt leans heavily on the ban on significant military forces in the vast expanses of the Sinai Desert buffer between us and them. Bringing the Egyptians to Gaza would create a new temptation for them to try to harm Israel – dangerous not only in and of itself, but also a threat to the Camp David agreements that are somehow still holding up. The idea of an international peacekeeping force is a non-starter. This is because the motivation of a hodge-podge group of soldiers to do an effective job far from their own homes, in a dangerous situation, is basically nil. We have seen this in other areas on Israeli borders and around the world. No foreign army, and certainly not a UN force, can do our work for us. 5. So who then will run the lives of the Gazans when the war ends? The most practical answer to this question might be to return to the format of an IDF Military Administration, as existed before the Oslo Accords of 1993 and 1995. Other methods have been tried, but this one seems to have been the safest and most effective not only for Israel, but also for the Arabs of Gaza. But it could be that this idea will not go over well even within the Israeli populace. Another solution, then, is to divide Gaza into separate cantons, in which representatives of the local family clans [hamulot] will reign. This will prevent the development of a central government in Gaza that will be able to translate its economic power into military force. The Gazan regional "governments," with their authority dependent upon Israel, will be obligated to prevent incitement and terrorism. It will be up to us to ensure that the destruction that Hamas brought upon the Arabs of Gaza always be remembered by those who will rule and live there from now on. And after this canton system proves itself in Gaza, and after Abu Mazen leaves the scene, we can replicate it in Judea and Samaria as well.

Return to Gush Katif?

In truth, we can and should strive for even more. After Gaza City becomes uninhabitable, maybe we can convince the international community that, instead of chipping in to rebuild it once again, a more correct solution would be to spread the population of the Arab terror capital among various countries of the world. When Rehavam Ze'evi raised the idea of an agreed-upon transfer as a solution to the Palestinian problem, he was ostracized and denounced as a racist extremist. But now, after the horrific pogrom committed by the Gazans, a "transfer" of some sort doesn't seem as outlandish as it did. Even in the left-wing kibbutzim just east of Gaza, people are saying that they won't return home until Gaza is erased and they can see the Mediterranean from their homes. So why should Gaza remain desolate? Let's make sure that what the kibbutz members see from their homes will be good Jews, including soldiers who fought to liberate Gaza, living in beautiful new Jewish neighborhoods built on the beachfront of Israeli Gaza. Amen!

From Hebron to Be'eri: The Last Morph?

by Yossi Achimeir, former senior advisor to Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir and Director of the Jabotinsky Institute, translated by Hillel Fendel. 

The day before Shmini Atzeret, October 6th one month ago, was the last day of the "previous" version of the State of Israel. The headlines of that day dealt with the infighting regarding how to celebrate Simchat Torah in public – with or without partitions, or whether to do so at all. And the next thing we knew, instead of dancing joyfully with the Torah, we found ourselves in the worst of calamities.

Our days are now spent seeking to wipe out Hamas-ISIS and counting our dead. A new and wretched chapter has begun in our country's history, featuring a very difficult war, as well as quiet anxiety regarding the major domestic changes that are sure to follow.

The ongoing war in Gaza made some major changes to our expected calendar of events for October, which by all accounts was to feature more anti-government protest demonstrations, stronger societal fissures, ever-increasing internal Arab violence, and even the opening of the new Philharmonic season. But two other important dates were also all but deleted from the public consciousness: the memorial days for Lt .-Gen. (res.) and Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, who was murdered on Nov. 4, 1995, and that of Maj.-Gen. (res.) and Tourism Minister Rehavam (Gandi) Ze'evi, who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 17, 2001. 

Who this month had time or energy to commune with the memory of these two, when so many hundreds of Israelis were just murdered on one terrible day? After hundreds were abducted to Gaza, after entire communities were reduced to ruins, and more than 350 IDF soldiers fell at once?

But let us focus momentarily on Ze'evi and his legacy for our times. He was murdered in his hotel room, before the eyes of his wife Yael, as he was preparing for a morning media interview. He was a great warrior, a son of the Land, quite familiar with the extremist Arab elements and their deep murderous hatred and dreams of driving the Jews out of the Holy Land. Gandi, as he was known, paid with his life at the hands of three terrorists who specifically sought him out because of his promotion of the idea of "voluntary transfer." His conception of the solution of the bloody ongoing conflict between the Jewish Nation and the Arabs living here was the relocation of the latter to the east, past the Jordan River. He understood that only total separation would do the job. 

He was spared from seeing how the idea of transfer was actually forced upon a different population – the Jews of Gush Katif, by his colleague Ariel Sharon in 2005. And both of them were spared from seeing the disastrous consequences of this expulsion 18 years later that turned our lives upside down and brought upon us our greatest catastrophic blow since the Holocaust.

Gandi was a man of books. No one was a greater lover of the homeland than him, as attested by his rich home library of books on everything about the Land of Israel. Whenever he had time off from his political work, he translated into Hebrew and edited the travel diaries of 19th-century European voyagers to the Land. These, of course, spoke of a desolate, primal, largely empty land, dotted with Arab villages, and a few Jewish residents(translators note: In 1844, Jews comprised the largest population group in Jerusalem, and by 1896 had an absolute majority), and many Biblical place names. 

Seven years before his murder, Ze'evi published a treatise on the Hebron massacre of 1929, in which 67 Jews were cruelly butchered by their Arab neighbors. The survivors of the travesty were then relocated out of the city, ending the Jewish presence in the City of the Patriarchs, until it was once again renewed following the Six-Day War.

That slaughter, too, like the one a month ago, took place on a Sabbath. Ze'evi wrote in his introduction: "The Arabs of Hebron beat, stabbed, cut off limbs, pierced stomachs, raped women, murdered and slaughtered every Jew they could find – children, women, men, the elderly. The Arabs burnt the ancient synagogues, destroyed the Hadassah medical clinic, and looted the homes of the Jews… The holy city of Hebron became a city of killing. Pogroms, slaughter and massacres had been a part of Jewish history throughout our history, but here they were being repeated in all their horror in the Holy Land as well." 

This was a book designed to shock. Its photos spared barely any of the sickening details: a baby with its skull split open, a hand with its fingers chopped off, a severed arm, many corpses, burnt Torah scrolls – and even a photo of 13-month-old Shloimeleh Slonim whose parents had been murdered. The look in his frightened eyes tells the whole story – though he, Shlomo, survived and lived to reach the age of 86.

Some 65 years after the Hebron massacre, in the 46th year of the State of Israel, Gandi wished to present, as he put it, a "monument to the memory of those who were slaughtered, and a reminder to the living. The murderous riots of 1929 in Hebron and elsewhere in the Holy Land teach us that we cannot deposit our security in the hands of foreign elements. They further teach that the Arabs will take advantage of every opportunity to cut us off from our homeland and from the Land of Life – and will then even deny our accounts and will call them 'Jewish lies and propaganda.'" 

Just like the Kishinev pogrom of 1903, the Hebron massacre of 1929 has been imprinted strongly upon our national consciousness. Both were the result of unbridled anti-Semitic hatred and chiefly of Jewish helplessness. Rehavam Ze'evi presented us with a warning sign – in his military career, in his political activity, in his Knesset speeches that angered many, and in this booklet – so that we would free ourselves of distorted ideas about living in peace with murderous enemies before they cost us in blood. 

As Commander of Israel's IDF Central Command, Gandi was well aware of the terrible attacks carried out by terrorists in his time. He pursued the terrorist organizations in full force, and in most cases, the long arm of the IDF caught the wretched murderers and prevented more disasters. But I doubt whether even he ever contemplated the possibility of the calamitous failure that happened to us last month on Simchat Torah.

Now, after it has happened, will the lessons he wanted to teach us be learned? Will we make the necessary changes? 

And to those who wish to spare us the horrors of exactly what happened in southern Israel a month ago, is there any point in doing so? Gandi, in his hard-to-read book, did not spare us; is there in fact any reason to hide the horrors of our day, those that show the essence of our enemies, so that we may finally give up our illusions?

Transcript of Translation For Captain Dande Video - There are no innocents in the Gaza Strip

The following are the words of a young Israeli reserves soldier who calls himself Captain Dande:

I don't have to explain what is going on in Israel; everyone sees the news and knows what's happening. We are undergoing the most difficult period of the Jewish Nation in the State of Israel, without a shadow of a doubt.

During this entire period, there are two points that don't leave me, things I have been discussing nonstop with my friends. Let me begin with this, which I will state very starkly and dramatically: There are no "innocents" in Gaza.

And to understand this, we have to know the second point: The group of Arabs living in Judea, Samaria and Gaza – it is a fiction to call them the "Palestinian people." Until 1964 when the PLO was founded [even before we liberated Judea and Samaria…], no one ever thought there was a Palestinian nation. Over the course of many centuries, Muslim Arabs and Jews lived here in the area of the Land of Israel, known then as Palestine [a name that has absolutely no connection at all to the "Palestinians" of today; it was given by the Romans in honor of the ancient Philistines.] The Muslim Arabs who lived here were part of the Muslim Arab world, not an independent nation or people, not even a "wannabe" people. The term "Palestinian people" was invented in the 60's, simply in order to try to brand and market the Jews as "colonialists" – the bad guys coming to take away their nation – a nation that never existed.

They themselves, the Arabs living here, had no nationalist aims! How do I know? Because of this simple fact: They never tried to be a nation or build a state! No matter how many programs and plans we [Israel] offered them, or even how much land we [Prime Ministers Barak, Olmert and Sharon] were willing to cede to them – it made no difference, because they don't want! Why is that?

Because the absolute only ethos that unites them is this: There must be no Jews in this area. No Jewish State, no Zionist entity. They have no common culture, and no customs that unite them – nothing other than hatred of Jews. That's it. That is the "Palestinian nation" on one foot.

This brings us back to the fact that there are no "innocent civilians," as the media likes to talk about, in Gaza. If there were, how is it that for the past 20 years, in which so many Arab youths have grown up to become suicide killers and bombers, and after so many deaths among them, and with such poverty – there was never an uprising to overthrow the people of the Hamas regime behind this culture?  After all, we know from history – and even in just the past two decades, such as in Sudan, Ethiopia, even Iran and China to some extent, and the countries of the Arab Spring in general – that when a sufficiently large group of citizens does not like what the regime is doing, they rise up in opposition! The people say, "We've had it, no more, we are not willing to suffer any longer." When does this not happen? Obviously, when the people like what the regime is doing, or at least do not object. And that is the case in Gaza!

No matter how many billions of US and EU dollars stream in to Gaza for the purpose of feeding families and building hospitals and schools, yet get stolen by Hamas leaders simply to sustain themselves and attack Israel – still and all, the residents do not rise up! They live, and often die, in abject poverty and suffering, and yet continue to support their Hamas leaders – by not rising up against them, and also by cooperating with, actively encouraging, and raising and teaching their children to take part in the Hamas goal of killing Jews. Except for the relatively small amount of Arabs who have gotten up and left, there are no "innocents" in Gaza!

We must change our entire conception as to how to deal with Gaza. Even if we kill all the terrorists – 50, 60, 70,000 of them – we still have to ask: Who will be in charge afterwards? In whose hands will we be leaving the keys? In the hands of those who have been taught to shoot rifles and put on plays about slitting the throats of Jews and scream Itbah al Yahud since they were four years old?!

The only way we can ever live here in peace and security is for this area of Gaza to undergo a complete depopulation – because there is no one in any future Gaza leadership who can change the mindset. The future leadership is the children of the many thousands of terrorists who are right now being justly killed. Does anyone think that they will suddenly come to love or admire Israel or stop hating us? Of course not. More hatred and poverty and crime will sprout up to take the place of Hamas, so what will we have accomplished?

We must recognize once and for all that they do not share the values of Western culture. We can offer them a higher standard of living, and education, and technology – but all this simply doesn't interest them! They have a different narrative – and that is to murder and rid the entire region of Jews, period.

I believe that once we, collectively, understand with whom we are dealing, and that they do not think like us, everything will change here for the better – in politics and in other areas. But we absolutely must change the way we think about them, and understand that a populace that celebrates the cruel murder of babies and entire families with candies and sweets and cries of joy is simply not "innocent."

I am of course not calling to wipe them out, because we are Jews who simply do not act the way that Hamas acts, and I am proud of this. But – they simply cannot be allowed to remain there. We must understand this, vote for politicians who understand this, and act accordingly. And I have absolutely no doubt that, just as we see now our beautiful nation, helping and supporting each other with no restraints and no politics and in total unity, we will emerge victorious and know great days once again.

Not as Innocent as They Seem

by Nadav Shragai, Israeli author and journalist, Yisrael Hayom newspaper, translated by Hillel Fendel. 

With all the media talk of the suffering of "innocent Palestinians in Gaza," it is important to know that many or most of them are not all that innocent. Hamas and the general populace of Gaza are one and the same - in the elections that Hamas won handily, in their hearts, and in actually keeping secret and helping out in the preparations for the mass attack.

The media coverage of what is happening in Gaza invariably mentions that the Gazans currently under attack are mostly the "non-involved" – i.e., not involved in the horrific attack on Jewish families two weeks ago. Let us take a look how "non-involved" they actually were.

Twenty thousand of them used to leave Gaza every day, before the massacre, to work in Israel. They worked in the Jewish villages near the border, as well as in larger towns such as Sderot and Ofakim, in the fields and elsewhere. Some of them had an extra assignment as well – assigned by Hamas: They wrote down details of their Jewish employers, such as number and locations of houses in a village, the locations of the living rooms and safe rooms, how many people live in each house, whether they have a dog, where they park their cars, and more. Everything was documented, and everything was handed over to Hamas. This was part of the infrastructure of the barbaric atrocity – the contribution of the "un-involved."

Many thousands of "non-involved" held "demonstrations" in the days before the massacre alongside the fence, where they apparently planted explosive devices and marked its weak points. They took active part in the great camouflage operation that succeeded for Hamas beyond all its expectations.

Salah Arouri, a top Hamas leader who generally hides out in Gaza, attempted to speak up for his fighters and say that it wasn't they who carried out the massacre, but rather the residents of Gaza. He said that many of the latter entered through the border fence and fought with Jewish settlers, and "as a result, people were killed." 

In addition, myriads of "non-involved" – the IDF says it was "hundreds of thousands" – have participated over the years in the "Marches of Return" along the fence. Over the course of these events, they threw explosives and Molotov cocktails over to our side, sent explosive balloons, and burned our fields. With their hearts filled with hatred, they know only their dreams of taking our place in Ashkelon, Lod, Acco and Ashdod.  How do we know this? Because they say it outright – just like, incidentally, their brothers in Judea and Samaria and even some of them in Israel. Hopefully, many of us now will take them seriously and actually believe them. 

It's true that our true friend in the White House, President Biden, is not yet convinced, but this will come as well – for the Palestinians have creative ways to explain themselves.

What else can we say about the "non-involved?" They danced with wild joy around the vans holding the kidnapped children, elderly, women and young boys. They chanted "Death to the Jews!" and helped Hamas hide them. They also helped Hamas move their rockets to hiding places. "Non-involved" mothers declared how proud they were to send their children to the campaign so that they would become martyrs, and "non-involved" teachers taught Gazan children that it is a religious duty to kill Jews.

In many funerals over the years of arch-terrorists that Israel managed to liquidate, hundreds of thousands of "non-involved" took part. For those who want to know exactly what happened there, Google and important tracking organizations such as MEMRI and Palestinian Media Watch can supply the precise wording of the horrific chants heard at those funerals, which received hate-filled roars of approval from the masses.

And who voted Hamas into power in the first place? Hundreds of thousands of Gazans voted in 2006 for Hamas, the organization whose charter calls openly for the destruction of Israel and the Jews. Hamas thus received 18 out of the 24 seats on the legislative council in Gaza. While Fatah received only 33% of the vote at the time, Hamas received 43%. It also won in eastern Jerusalem, and did well in Shechem (Nablus), Hevron, and elsewhere. Uncommonly for the PA, these were actually democratic elections, run according to law; the 250 EU observers who were on hand confirmed this. Thus, the results mirrored precisely the preferences of the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Today, 17 years later, all indications are that support for Hamas has grown, not weakened.

In short: Hamas and Gazan residents are one – in elections, in heart, and in deed. Many of them knew of the preparations for the massacre, helped facilitate it, and certainly did not reveal it. The IDF is a moral army and does not purposely target civilians – but in case civilians are hurt, we need to know who they are and what they stand for.

Held Captive in Wrong Conceptions

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?

The Gaza Fence is Just an Excuse

by Ahikam Himmelfarb, originally published in Hebrew in B'sheva magazine, translated by Hillel Fendel

The Hamas Arab riots against Israel at the Gaza border fence have started up again. Many interests are at play there, beginning with internal Gazan politics and all the way up to regional and national scheming involving even Qatar. Israel's largely passive containment policy is liable to lead to a worsening of the situation, including possibly a major military offensive.

Between 2018 and 2021, the Hamas leadership that controls the Gaza Strip was behind the violent riots at the border fence. Thousands of Gazan Arabs took part in those events, demanding to return to the villages they abandoned in 1948. The riots were often violent, and included the hurling of explosive charges and Molotov cocktails at IDF soldiers; hundreds of Arab attackers were killed or injured in response. The protests originally broke out in protest of the move by US President Trump of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and against the blockade imposed by both Egypt and Israel on the Gaza Strip. Now in 2023, with the aim of blackmailing Israel and attaining achievements that will be detailed below, the Hamas leadership is trying to reenact those demonstrations.

The first to initiate the 2018 protests were grassroots groups in Gaza, and not Hamas. As the protests gathered support, however, the Hamas leadership began to fear that the residents' anger would soon be turned against Hamas itself, in light of their long-standing criticism of Hamas. This was a time when the Badna Naish (We Want to Live) movement was gaining steam on social media, protesting against the generally poor living conditions in Gaza. Hamas thus decided, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em – and better yet, lead 'em." And so Hamas, together with other extremist groups, spread its sponsorship over the fence events. The violence intensified, and on one day in May 2018, 62 Arabs were killed when they made a full-blown attempt, with weapons and gunfire, to break through the fence and swarm into Israel. 

After a two-year hiatus, near-riots have now started up again, though currently on a much lower scale than the previous ones. 

Prof. Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the National Security Research Institute, says that Hamas often begins to incite hatred against Israel whenever it begins to feel internal opposition intensifying. But beyond that, he says, "there are another four primary reasons for [the Hamas-motivated protests and riots against Israel]. One of them is that they serve as a lever by which to pressure Israel for additional economic benefits, such as an increase in permits for work in Israel, more gas, or more raw materials allowed to be brought in to Gaza. In general this system works for them: By allowing this to happen, we pave the way for them to seemingly legitimately challenge us again and again - and each time more gravely."

"Another reason for Hamas to support the protests is that they also put pressure on Qatar. The Qataris are very angry at the Hamas leadership, and especially the Gaza leadership, because of its increasingly close relations with Syria, a great enemy of Syria. Qatar is one of the few Arab nations that did not renew its diplomatic ties with Syria. Qatar is interested, like Israel and Egypt, in retaining calm and peace, of which these border protests are the antithesis." That is, in a sense, Hamas is seeking to blackmail the Qataris into renewing their monthly cash handouts, by causing trouble and instability on the border. 

The third reason, according to Prof. Michael, is to prove to the Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria that the Gazans are also contributing to the effort against Israel – even though a full-scale conflict with Israel is not a Hamas interest at this point. And the fourth reason that Hamas is organizing the violence on the Gaza border, such as by clearing areas in which to riot and organizing buses to the "front," has to do with conflicts within the Hamas leadership itself. Although the official leader is Yichye Sinwar, Salah al-Aghrouri is a very dominant figure there, and his interests lie with Iran, Hizbullah, and the Islamic Jihad, all of which seek to increase violence against Israel on all fronts. 

The number of participants in the protests is relatively small, something like a few hundred. However, the quality of the weapons and explosives used is high, and Prof. Michael assumes that either Iranian equipment or knowhow, or both, have made their way into Gaza. 

"Hamas can feel quite comfortable with the current situation," he says, "because it estimates that Israel will simply contain it and not respond more sharply than with an occasional attack on empty Hamas positions along the border. Hamas assumes that Israel, together with its current internal crisis, is addicted to the relative quiet in Gaza and is willing to absorb the occasional hostilities without reacting too strongly."

"Over the years, Israel has formed for Hamas a comfort zone in which it can act freely and challenge Israel a bit more each time. So Israel closes the Erez Crossing and doesn't allow workers to cross over, thus causing more economic pressure and incentivizing Hamas to increase its fence violence. As long as Hamas' operative assumption is that Israel will contain these events, Hamas will continue to challenge us at the fence. This will lead either to an event that spirals out of control into a much broader battle, or to a decision by Israel that the time has come to change the rules and respond much more strongly."

The View from the Other Side

We also spoke with L., an Arab journalist living in Gaza, who requested that we not specify his name to avoid the danger of Hamas learning that he spoke with an Israeli media outlet. Asked what the general populace feels about the border fence violence, he said, "There are different approaches. Some people support them because they are truly poor, and they hope that Israel will grant them several benefits and reliefs as a result of the protests. UNRWA used to give food to [grandchildren and great-grandchildren of] refugees, but this has partially stopped of late, and some people really need it. Aside from this most indigent class, there are also public servants of the Hamas government that support the protests because the financial crisis has led to their receiving only 55% of their salaries. They, too, hope that the pressure on Israel will work and that some of the economic penalties will be withdrawn."

Q. Why are they receiving only 55% of their salaries?

A. "Qatar used to give Hamas in Gaza $30 million in cash every month, but this amount has now dropped to $10 million, leaving much less for salaries. This is a recipe for catastrophe. If until now, the average civil servant received 2,000 shekels a month, and now he's left with about 1,000, what can he live on? He has to pay for electricity, water, services, internet, and rent, and of course food for himself and his family. What remains is simply not enough. This is why many in Gaza hope that these demonstrations will bear fruit and cause Israel to relieve some tensions."    

Q. You implied that there are those who oppose the violence at the border fence.

A. "Yes, there are many who have been harmed by it. There are some 18,000 workers working in Israel, about 8,000 of whom returned home for the Jewish holidays – and now won't be allowed back in to Israel. These workers brought in $1.5 million into Gaza. The people who were counting on this money also have families to feed and bills to pay, and naturally want to avoid political tensions. Of course, they can't come and say straight out that they're against the protests, because they live in Gaza. They can only say that they want to stay away from political disputes - and even this they direct only at Israel, not to elements in Gaza."

Just two days ago, after a round of negotiations regarding a possible halt to the border violence, Hamas announced that it would either renew or not stop the protests "because of Jews visiting the Temple Mount."