A Chance for Real Change in the South

by Elad Kalimi, Deputy Mayor of Sderot, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Motivation in Sderot is high, but the IDF must continue to press in northern Gaza and clean it out of terrorists in order to restore security to the residents of Sderot and environs.

With the re-election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, we find ourselves in an awkward position, to say the least. Precisely when a real opportunity is finally about to open up for Israel to act more freely against Hamas, and even vanquish it, the political pressure from the lame-duck Democratic administration against our government is intensifying. The Democrats are clearly seeking to register a political "achievement" in the name of the Trump-Harris administration before it fades limply away into history this coming January 20^th.

This past year of our relations with the United States have been very difficult. In the midst of our very costly war with ruthless Hamas and Hizbullah, the Biden Administration threatened to emplace an embargo and sanctions against Israel if it did not follow its advice to run the war the way the President and his staff wanted. Biden representatives constantly intervened in Israel's security cabinet meetings, and the Administration forced Israel to allow huge quantities of "humanitarian aid" into Gaza with the clear knowledge that Hamas was either selling it for astronomical profits or store-housing it for years to come.

And all this was taking place while the Israeli hostages remained starving in Hamas dungeons, on a diet of a slice of bread a day. Ever since the war started, the Americans have hindered our efforts and steps, reducing the chances for a strong blow against Hamas and exerting most of their pressure against us.

Dare we hope that in two months' time, the above will all be just a bad dream, and that we will finally get our hands around the terrorists' necks and bring about a real change in the military picture between Israel and those who wish to destroy us?

And this brings us to the city of Sderot, where I live. The need for a fundamental change in the way our military forces work in Gaza is directly connected to the fate of Sderot and the populace of the entire western Negev. The military maneuvers in northern Gaza, pushing myriads of Gazans southward in order to sift out the terrorists, are a welcome move – but hardly enough. Northern Gaza must be totally cleaned out so that Israel will be able to take full control of the region and thus restore a sense of genuine security to the Jewish residents. The scenes of hundreds of northern Gazans scouting out our homes from the windows of their homes just across the border is simply intolerable, and will greatly harm the process of rehabilitation that we are trying to undergo.

Sderot and environs lost 30 residents on or after Oct. 7, and a host of others were killed here since then in various battles and attacks. We are dealing with the fragments of the painful reality that this war has left us, working to rebuild our lives with strength and hope. But even in the midst of the rebuilding, we are suffering from delays and impediments in our daily lives. For one example, the Sderot-Tel Aviv train line is still not in operation, for fear of sniper fire from nearby Gaza. Only in the merit of the ongoing pressure of the mayors and local council heads, of the residents in general, and of the wise decision by Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich to refuse to allocate 800 million shekels to protect the railway tracks – did the IDF finally realize that the responsibility for safeguarding the area is not on the government's shoulders, but rather on theirs – and that this requires total military control of northern Gaza. Once they acted on this strategy, the number of shootings and attempted terrorist attacks dropped significantly. This proves, of course, that targeted action achieves its objectives, and that we must continue to press. There can be no compromise at the expense of the security of the residents of the south.

The catastrophic events of Oct. 7^th left deep scars upon every resident of Sderot. I personally lost close friends, such as Kobi Prienta and Shilo Cohen, as did many others, and the pain accompanies us every moment of the day. But it is precisely the difficulties, and the searing memories, that bring out from us the strengths to march this city forward. Our vision is to turn Sderot into the pearl of the country, a city that will produce a new generation of resilient residents, with personal and communal vitality, who strive and work for high-quality lives of vision, education, and community life. Thus we will turn Sderot into a city that not only survives, but flourishes.

But the most important thing is to continue forward militarily, without removing our foot from the gas. We must continue to fight firmly and confidently against both Hamas and Hizbullah. This is not only a military struggle, but one for the hopes of all of us – one that is based on our strong stances and desire to return to normal life. With all the challenges we face, I believe that it is possible, and imperative, to counter the threats that face us, and guarantee our residents that which they deserve: long-range security and quiet.

Needed: Israeli Strategic and Military Independence

by Rabbi Eliezer Shenvald, translated by Hillel Fendel.

The Patriarch Abraham had the right idea in purchasing the Machpelah Cave and not accepting it as a gift. This is an important lesson for the State of Israel to relearn today. 

Strategic alliances with other countries are an important component of any nation's overall national security. They are very necessary especially in today's era of globalization, with the frequent formation and collapse of international coalitions, and when even distant enemies must be faced and dealt with.

In the current war, Israel's alliances have certainly proved themselves. Our friendship with the United States saved us from the mistakes we made in allowing our supplies of armaments, weapons and combat equipment to dwindle. We were also helped by quiet arrangements with our neighbors, such as Jordan, to intercept the ballistic missiles and UAV aircraft/drones fired at Israel from Iran.

On the other hand, as is known, the U.S. embrace of Israel was actually a type of bear hug. It created a measure of Israeli dependency on the U.S. that actually left us vulnerable to demands that we not fulfill our military and strategic objectives along the way to defeating Hamas and returning our hostages.

There is a well-known principle that "countries don't have friends, only interests." Of late, there was most definitely a conflict of some of these interests between Israel and the U.S., particularly the then-upcoming elections. As a result, America threatened, more than once, to withhold arms shipments to Israel critical for the continuation of its campaign [to destroy, or at least subdue, terrorism in the Middle East]. This was a repeat of what happened 50 years earlier during the Yom Kippur War, when the Americans prevented us from preemptively attacking the Syrians and Egyptians; the ensuing war ultimately cost us over 2,650 soldiers' lives.

We must always remember the great difference between an alliance of friendship and goodwill, on the one hand, and a relationship that leads to one party's dependence on the other, rendering it a type of protectorate. For Israel, this is of course undesirable and undermines our sovereignty.

One of the fundamental principles in the security philosophy outlined by Ben-Gurion in the early days of the State was that Israel must always retain its independence in everything having to do with military strategy and armaments. "It is incumbent upon us to know and recognize," he said in 1951, "that when it comes to our security, we must always rely only on ourselves." We must ensure that given the tremendous threats upon us, we will always have the wherewithal to respond effectively and sufficiently without the need to resort to others' help.

We must always be able to make sure that the IDF has the weapons it needs, with production lines that can increase their output in times of emergency. The IDF must always have sufficient manpower for a number of highly-trained and battle-ready attack-force divisions that are prepared for every eventuality. It must also maintain supplies and spare parts that will last it for the duration of whatever battles are on the horizon, and beyond.

To our great sorrow, this was not at all the picture when the current war started. For many years, we enabled ourselves to develop a dependency on American defense aid money [which must, by the terms of the agreement with the Americans, be spent in the U.S.], leading to a degeneration of some of our own local defense industries. This of course creates the harmful dependency of which we are speaking. According to various reports, we permitted ourselves to reduce our supplies of equipment essential for an extended war, relying on our American friends to supply us when needed, as indeed they finally did – almost too late – in the Yom Kippur War.

Reports are that immediate steps are being taken to change our thinking in this regard and ensure that we will not be caught short-handed again. Still and all, if we ever again need weapons and armaments, we must know that it is better to purchase them than to receive them as "gifts."

It has been reported that on Trump's "Day One," right after his inauguration on Jan. 20, he has promised to remove all restrictions on the supply of military equipment and ammunition to Israel. This is certainly good news, but it must not cause us to revert to our dependency on the United States in areas of military goals and weapons. The Trump Administration will be a good test case to see if we have truly internalized the lessons of the current war in terms of relying on the goodwill of others.

Let us note that our Patriarch Abraham was a great strategist, with long-term vision. He forged a strategic alliance in Be'er Sheva with King Avimelekh for generations to come (see Genesis 21, 22-31), with the goal of ensuring their secure and lasting stronghold in the Land of Israel.

It was for this reason that Abraham, as we read in this week's Torah portion, refused to accept the Machpelah Cave and the field of Hebron as a gift from Ephron the Hittite. He insisted on paying full price, for various reasons according to the Medrash – and one of them was that when one receives a favor or gift from another, the former becomes a form of debtor to his benefactor.

"How much more so is this true," explained a venerable sage of the previous generation known as the Steipler Rov, "that one must not allow himself to enter into an unlimited agreement of subservience… and especially if the other is a wicked person…"

King Solomon writes in Proverbs, "One who hates gifts will live" (15,27). This is because he has not allowed himself to develop a dependency upon others. "There are no free lunches," the popular saying goes. 

Hebron and the Machpelah Cave were Avraham's first acquisitions in the Land to which G-d instructed him to go. Thus, these places ,are strategically critical for Jewish sovereignty here forever. Not for naught did all three Patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – establish their residence in Hebron, which was also the first destination of the Twelve Spies dispatched by Moses to the Land. It was also in Hebron that King David founded the Dynasty of Israel. All of this explains why Abraham made sure to buy it and not receive it as a gift. Only in this way would it belong exclusively to the People of Israel, with no chance for the Hittites, or anyone else, to retain any claims to it in the future.