by Emmanuel Shilo, editor of the Besheva weekly, translated by Hillel Fendel.
1. We hadn't even quite
digested the wondrous miracle of our successes against the cruel Hezbollah
terrorist organization, when suddenly, we merited to see another amazing series
of events: the collapse of the evil regime of our bitter Syrian enemy and the
destruction of nearly its entire army.
The work of toppling the
Assad dictatorship was done for us by others, leaving us with the job of making
the courageous decisions to reap the fruits thereof. Thus, the humongous and
costly war machine that Assad's Alawites built, with the help of Russia and
Iran, was liquidated in a matter of days with no opposition, in an
unprecedented blitz carried out by our air and naval forces.
These are amazingly
great days, in which we are privileged to see the fulfillment of the verse, "Gladden
us in accordance with the days You afflicted us" (Psalms 90,15). After
the calamitous strike we suffered on Simchat Torah over a year ago, when our
rejoicing turned into such grief, we now see that G-d has given our enemies
into the hands of our armed forces in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.
Our joy is far from
complete, however. The formidable missions before us have not yet been
completed. On all fronts the situation is quite sensitive, and the war rages on
as we continue to pay high prices with the loss of additional holy and pure
soldiers. But there is no doubt that our situation on Oct. 7th has turned around
most concretely. No longer are we beaten and bruised, but are rather carrying
out that which King David prayed for: "I will pursue my enemies and
overtake them, never turning back until they are consumed" (18,38). We
began the year 5785 with the unbelievable beeper attack, continued with the
liquidation of the evil Nasrallah, and from there have climbed from one success
to the next, from the lowly tunnels of Gaza to the summit of what has long been
the Syrian Mt. Hermon – and which is now ours. If until now the Hermon has been
"the eyes of Israel," now, with the capture of the higher, Syrian
summit, these eyes can see much further.
2. Now that Syria and Hezbollah
have fallen and will apparently not be threatening us any time soon, the three
remaining great challenges that face us are these: putting an end to Iran's
nuclear program, defeating Hamas decisively, and freeing our 100 captives, about
a third of whom are known to be dead, from Hamas captivity.
These challenges are not
at all simple. But now is not the time to tire, nor may we allow ourselves to
suffice with less than the achievement of all three. The major changes that
have already happened, and those that can be expected in the near future, enable
and obligate us to think big and carry them out.
In less than five weeks,
Joe Biden and his administration will finally leave the world stage, and Donald
Trump – a friend of Israel in deed, not just in heart – will replace him. Though
Biden has long supported Israel, it must be emphasized that his stubborn insistence
on more and more humanitarian aid to Gaza – well beyond that which was needed
for the Gazan population to survive – was that which allowed Hamas to survive
throughout these 14 months of war.
Our own government also
failed in this area, in enabling Hamas to take control of the humanitarian
supplies, providing for themselves in greater quantities than what they left
over for the populace.
The objective of the
IDF's continued fighting in the Gaza Strip has been to create a sterile zone
clean of Hamas terrorists, in which only those who have been carefully examined
will be allowed to enter and receive the necessary supplies directly from our
hands without Hamas intervention. This will greatly weaken Hamas, and is thus
important for Israel.
Hamas is willing to make
a deal now to release our hostages because it knows that when Trump becomes
President again, the terms for any deal will be much worse for the terrorists
than they are now. Still, we are far from guaranteed that Hamas will agree to
release all the hostages, for it wishes to continue to torture at least some of
them and the entire Israeli society. But even if Hamas does agree, it will be
at a terribly high price for Israel, including the release of hundreds of
dangerous terrorists from Israeli prison who will try to carry out the next
wave of kidnappings. Israel may also be forced to end the war now, which itself
will be a victory for Hamas. If this is the endnote of our 14 months of war and
casualties, our accomplishments on the other fronts are likely to be
endangered, as it will provide encouragement to the Shiites in Lebanon, the Houthis
in Yemen, and our other enemies to continue their war against us.
3. We must therefore try
to hold on and hold out until Trump takes over, when we will be able to see our
hostages come home without suffering the defeat described above. If there are
those who see the current weakening of Hamas as an "opportunity" to
reach a terrible agreement with Hamas, they would be advised to remember those
who saw the weakening of the PLO as a reason to sign the Oslo Accords – which
brought us tens of thousands of uniformed terrorists and the establishment of
the Palestinian Terrorist Authority.
True, it is hard to
continue to stand strong in the face of the suffering of the hostages, the
anguish of their families, and the pressure of the media, who are once again emotionally
and shortsightedly trying to push us into a disastrous deal like that which
freed Gilad Shalit. But now is the time for the government to show leadership, exercise
reason, think about the nation and not just individuals, and focus on the long
term beyond today and tomorrow.
We, the
religious-Zionist public, must also behave responsibly. The left-wingers who
have always wanted "Peace Now" and now want "Hostages Now,"
are looking to us to help them swing the pendulum. We must remember our
commitment to true victory, and not lend our voices to capitulation. Similarly,
we must not be tempted to fight for Hareidi recruitment, which is liable to
lead – as the left-wingers’ hope – to the downfall of the only government that
is striving for Israel's true victory.
Another challenge that we must overcome is the judicial establishment, ensconced in its ivory tower and unable to rise to the greatness and importance of the occasion. We know that there is no one else in the Israeli political establishment who can wage the war as well as Netanyahu – and yet they insist that he spend hours every day testifying about champagne and cigars. It is truly too bad that even those who hate him cannot realize that we need him to run our multi-front war for the entire country much more than we need him trying to defend himself from trivial accusations.