by Yehuda Veld, Director-General of the Religious-Zionism Party & leading Channel 13 journalist Ro'i Yanovsky, translated by Hillel Fendel.
"A day or two after we finished the battle in Kfar Aza in the wake of the Hamas massacre, amid the terrible chaos that everyone had just gone through, a woman resident threw a pointed accusation at us: 'You failed us, you weren't here when we needed you.'" So writes Yehuda Vald, Director-General of the Religious-Zionism party, in his summation of his 100 days in the reserves training in the north and fighting in Gaza.
"At first I didn't get it. After all, on the morning of Simchat Torah (Oct. 7), I ran home from the festive synagogue prayers to get into my IDF uniform, give a quick kiss to my children, and within a few hours I was already with my paratrooper battalion in Kfar Aza battling the terrorists. But then I understood that she wasn't criticizing me personally, but rather the IDF and the State of Israel altogether – of which we, with our uniforms, were the representatives. It cannot be denied that the IDF and the State failed, we all failed; we did not guarantee the safety of our brethren in the face of evil. Our uniforms that day reflected despair and not hope – and that is something that for the next 100 days, we all set out to rectify.
"The scenes of Oct. 7th in and around the communities adjacent to Gaza are something I'll never forget – neither the horrors, nor the valor and heroism. Both of these simply sharpened for me the great responsibility lying heavily on the shoulders of our nation, our army, and each individual soldier, to restore our national honor, our spirit, and our bonds of mutual accountability.
"Throughout these long weeks of combat in the streets of Gaza, it is the scenes of that Oct. 7th Shabbat that were the burning fire pushing us forward. The tradition of courage and valor that the IDF fighters continue to write every day is what illuminates for us the military operations that we have to execute. The spirit of dedication and self-sacrifice, and the strengths of the beloved families that remained back on the home front – all these obligate us to ensure the victory of light over darkness, to destroy Hamas, and to return home the captives that the forces of evil continue to cruelly hold in unbearable conditions.
"It is no exaggeration to say that in nearly every single house in Gaza appear pictures of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount – together, in most cases, with weapons, ammunition, and tunnel openings. We have to remember that Hamas wants to conquer not only Be'eri and Nir Oz; they would happily continue their murderous rampage all the way up to the gates of Jerusalem. They call this war the "Al-Aqsa Campaign," because the Dome of the Rock is their ultimate objective; let us make no mistake. What they teach their children, toddlers, and babies is the unparalleled value of hating Jews and of capturing Jerusalem.
"Remembering that this war is for Jerusalem, our national heart, puts things into a different perspective. Our Sages taught us that Yerushalayim is the city that "chubra la yachdav," renders all of us chaverim, friends. How much friendship and comradery is coming to the fore in this war! Who has not seen the tremendous wellsprings of unity and caring and generosity that continue to gush forth. Jerusalem reveals the depth our nation, and teaches us who we really are.
"Despite the differences among us, which most definitely exist and which we must learn to live with and manage, we know that there is a true inner point stronger than all the differences and that genuinely keeps us together. The same guy who right before Simchat Torah we argued with on the streets of Tel Aviv over some 'critical' issue – now you've been living with him for months in the same house in Gaza, and you both find that you need each other and count on each other for the common higher goal. "Yerushalayim renders us all friends."
"The fighters of Division 55 liberated Jerusalem in the Six Day War; they were those who stood before the Western Wall with tears in their eyes. And now we, the fighters of today's Division 55, stand in the streets of Gaza with the same spirit, the same heroic resolve, and the same steadfast faith in our path. During one of our missions to clear out terrorists from a compound of houses in Gaza, suddenly on our transistor radio we hear a song playing from decades ago: "Who could have dreamt, when we recited the verse 'On thy ramparts, O Jerusalem, I have placed watchmen' – that one day, we would be those watchmen." At that minute, in that house in Khan Yunis, we sensed that we were all united, standing together with the warriors of the Six Day War, as one man with one heart.
"One hundred days of valor have passed thus far. May we, with G-d's help, be worthy and grow from them, nationally and individually – as a nation that will rise up as a great lion, and raise himself as a young lion" (Bamidbar 23,24).
Veteran journalist Ro'i Yanovsky sums up his 100 days from a more political standpoint:
"Gaza is thought of as a failed, crowded, besieged area – but there is no greater lie than this. Gaza City is a modern, beautiful and developed city, with large and well-stocked houses, broad streets, public areas, and a beautiful seafront. It looks much nicer than any other Arab city from the Jordan [River] to the sea.
"If what they were living under was a siege, then let me live in a siege. The houses are bursting with goods and food from all over the Middle East, the furniture is the most modern, and their electric appliances are top-notch. There are fancy estates that would not shame Savyon. Wealth is not lacking in Gaza.
"The sentence 'They were never given a chance for a good life, that's why they have to fight Israel' has nothing at all to do with Gaza."
Yanovsky adds that every house seems to have a map of the Land of Israel, "but it is called Palestine, without a mention of the State of Israel or its towns and cities. It is found in every home, every school, and every public building. The goal of erasing Israel is seen and taught everywhere, and this is the warped perception that the Gazans grow up with."
"The ideology of Hamas is found everywhere. Hamas is as beloved in Gaza as Messi is in Argentina."
"The strongest ammunition Hamas has is deception and propaganda; this is their fuel. This is how they maintained for years the lie of the 'siege,' and this what they're doing now with the pictures of the 'innocent' victims, and the killing of 'journalists' who turn out to be terrorists. Gaza is the only place in the world where they report 500 deaths a half-hour after an explosion. Everywhere else it takes days to count the dead, but in Gaza, the 'health ministry' already knows after one minute the exact extent of the damage. The fact that the international media quotes these ridiculous numbers is pathetic."