by Prof. Elisha Hass, member of Professors for a Strong Israel, translated by Hillel Fendel.
Last
week, a most amazing miracle in Israel was widely overlooked when Islamo-Nazis
placed mis-timed bombs on at least five public buses, and five other
Islamo-Nazis attempted and failed to blow up themselves and their fellow
passengers on the light-rail nearby. The proper approach to these events is of
course to give thanks to G-d – and also to go out to war against the terrorist
infrastructures in Yesha from which the attacks originated precisely as if 200
Israelis had in fact been murdered that Friday morning.
In terms
of the military response, there must be no difference between 200 funerals and zero
funerals. The threat is the same threat, the significance of the attempted
attacks is the same, and the conclusion must be identical as well: We are in an
existential war, there is no ceasefire, and war is no fun: One must storm the
enemy wherever possible.
One of
the attackers left a note: "Regards from the Tulkarm refugee camp."
Tulkarm was perhaps once a refugee camp, but today it is a full-fledged Arab
city in Samaria, very close to Kfar Saba and Raanana. Either way, it must be
erased from the earth via massive air-raid bombings, without delay. Those who
dream only of the release of the remaining hostages and who are prepared to
absorb, to that end, additional hundreds of murdered Jews; those who don't
understand that Hamas rules not only in Gaza, but also in Judea and Samaria;
those who don't understand that the hostages will not be freed until we stop
the humanitarian aid going into Gaza, withhold water and electricity, and open
the gates of hell upon the entire Gaza Strip and any "refugee camp"
that initiates terrorist attack anywhere in Israel – is partner to bringing
near a very much more dangerous war in the future.
We signed
an insane deal, extricating only about half of the live hostages for
unprecedented concessions, including the release of untold number of murderous
terrorists. This was a surrender to emotional blackmail created by the powerful
and ongoing propaganda machine that was nourished by the energy and resources
of enemies of Israel. The agreement caused us to lose the military achievements
accomplished by our soldiers, genuinely deceiving those brave and patriotic
warriors. They had sacrificed their lives to eradicate the Muslim enemy, and
then came along a deal that revived this very enemy. They embarked on a war that
was to be decisive, and the agreement then reversed everything, and turned the
fighting into a wishy-washy "war of rounds" wherein we give some,
lose some, and then try again, and again, and again.
Now is
the time to stop this ongoing defeat, and set out to truly destroy the enemy,
once and for all, without hesitation. It is time for us to activate our maximum
firepower in Gaza, with no apologetics and without advance warnings. We recall
what the Allies did in Europe in World War II, especially in Dresden [and during
Operation Meetinghouse in Tokyo], and this is what must be done in Gaza. After no
building is left standing there, only then should our ground forces enter again
into the same places that we left thanks to the hostage release deal. An enemy
who does not cease his efforts to destroy us is not one to make deals with; the
principle must rather be, in the spirit of Purim, "to destroy, to kill,
and to erase." This is a law of nature that cannot be ignored.
There are
two ways in which the hostages can be freed: Either we wage war to destroy
Hamas and they beg and plead for a short ceasefire in order to release them, or
we actually destroy Hamas and then we find and free the hostages. True, the
second option means that not all of them will actually be freed alive – but we
must remember that when a nation finds itself in an existential war, it sends soldiers
to the front lines in the clear knowledge that some or many of them will not
return. Similarly, in a profoundly ethical manner, a nation knows that in order
for it to exist, it will suffer individual losses for the sake of the life of
the nation. The current war in Gaza and Lebanon has cost us several hundred
bereaved families – and now we have to start almost all over.
The recent
failed bus bombings mean that Hamas has ended the ceasefire and renewed the
war. Hamas in Judea and Samaria is same Hamas
as in Gaza. Anyone in authority who takes comfort in the fact that, by the
grace of G-d, the operation failed, is disgracing his position. Anyone who does
not heed this battle cry of Hamas and realize that continuing the deal to its
Stage 2 means destruction of the Zionist enterprise must vacate his position.
We now
have the full backing of the world's one superpower to act precisely as it itself
acted in World War II, without restraints, and without distinguishing between
combatants and those who are "uninvolved." As the Allies fought then,
we too are righting in the name of humanity to wipe out evil. We have the
unique chance to save the world from radical Islam that has thrived on the
weakness of the progressive elements throughout the West and in Israel. Now is
not the time to make business calculations with the murderers for the sake of
receiving individual hostages in drips and drabs. We must relate to the
hostages in the same way we relate to our brave soldiers, who are willing to
make the supreme national and universal sacrifice for the sake of something
greater than themselves as individuals.
There is
no time left. The massive terror attack of this past Thursday night is a stormy
wake-up call: "Forward, charge!" It was lacking only the actual
funerals – but it has the same thunderous message nonetheless: "Forward,
charge!"
We are no
longer in the ghetto, crying over calamities that befall us. We are the Nation of
Israel that has been granted nationalism and sovereignty anew, and we must act
accordingly. I call on the Prime Minister to issue the strongest possible "Fire!"
order, immediately, and to flatten every house still standing in Gaza, and to
tighten the complete food blockade, including water and electricity, right now.
History
will not forgive those who hesitate today and give preference to individual
lives at the expense of the future of our national existence.