Are We Finally Setting Forth on Our Own?

by Nadav Gedaliah, Indipendent Journalist, translated by Hillel Fendel.

There was once a man who was very afraid of dogs. He was afraid of small dogs, large dogs, cute dogs, and dangerous dogs alike. He could not even stand to be near a dog. But one day he boarded a crowded train – and so did a blind woman, accompanied by her seeing-eye dog. Before he knew it, he couldn't move left or right because of the crowdedness, and, to his own utter shock, he spent a half-hour standing next to a dog! And afterwards he realized that he was no longer afraid of dogs.

Was this a true happy ending? Not really, because he knew that the real test would be the next time he found himself next to a dog: would he feel compelled to run away, or not?

For years now we have been told that we can't meaningfully fight terrorism, and that our only option is to build protective walls and the like, no matter how scared we continue to be. Then came Trump – and he laid out on the table a totally new type of solution. It could be that forced, or voluntary, mass Arab emigration from Gaza is not the best idea ever, but never mind that; what's more intriguing is that suddenly, with one announcement, the world saw that what we had been afraid of for years was really just a figment of our imagination. We were always being told us that we can't act on our own because of "America," and that we must always be coordinated with the Americans and follow their dictates. And here, all a sudden, that same America says out loud what we didn't allow ourselves to even think – even if it was the most obvious and indicated plan of action.

In a certain sense, the dog was placed next to our legs, and we had no choice but to go along with the situation, even if we were shivering with fear. At this point, we would be well advised to acknowledge out loud our past mistakes. Let us admit that our fear of America, enveloped in the thick smoke of wild imagination, smothered us for years, while America itself didn't really know what to make of the Middle East.

Now, it appears that we are pushing ahead. The hope is that the important decisions will be made by us, on our own initiative, with self-confidence that we know what is best for us.

The past decades have proven that, despite all of our advantages, we have been captive to a sense of helplessness that forced us, absurdly, to pay shameful and painful prices – instead of simply doing what anyone can see that we had to do.

The recent waves of pain that we have suffered are, finally, forcing us to develop a clear sense of self-confidence about what is good and right for us. Our lack of confidence is surprising and difficult to understand, but its roots can be found in the course of Israeli history.

With our amazing victories in Israel's first wars, we began, most unfortunately, believing in "My might and My strength" [as opposed to faith in G-d]. It gave us tremendous strength, economic abundance, and a sense of pride. But it was missing something big: faith – without which it is impossible to win even simple wars against a thong-wearing enemy. The way to free ourselves from our lack of self-confidence in our path is to do a U-turn and go back. We must neutralize our thoughts of "My might and My might," and bow our heads to Heaven in the face of this miracle called the "State of Israel" and its every security-political-economic success.

The 8th and 9th Fronts

by Orit Strook, Israeli Cabinet Minister, translated by Hillel Fendel.

We've long been talking about the "seven-front" war that Israel is facing, referring to Hamas, Hizbullah, Iran, the Shi'ites in Syria, the Houthis in Yemen, and terrorists in Judea/Samaria and Iraq. But in truth, there are at least two other fronts as well, and both are being waged against us by the Palestinian Authority. (While we're asking if Qatar is an enemy state, we'd be well advised to consider that the PA is an enemy entity right here on our doorstep.)

The first of the two - front #8 in the current war - is the legal-political one, being waged against us in the international courts such as the UN in general and its daughter bodies as well: the Security Council, the Civil Rights Council, UNESCO, of course UNRWA, and others.

Actually, on that front Israel scored a victory this week: We were able to block and thwart a PA-proposed resolution to establish an "effective and binding" mechanism to investigate Israel's "crimes" in the "Palestinian territories." The resolution declared that the findings would be forwarded not only to international courts, but also to various national courts around the world so that they could initiate criminal proceedings against Israelis.

If that resolution had been accepted, it would have placed Israel in the same category as countries like Assad's Syria and Myanmar, where civil rights are practically nil. It would have also endangered every Israeli soldier who ever served in Gaza or Judea/Samaria and then toured abroad. It would also, by the same token, have cramped and weakened any future Israeli offensive in these areas, thus lessening our chances to actually win this or any other war.

But with G-d's help and some smart and energetic diplomacy led by Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, this terrible decision was averted. Instead, an anemic, toothless decision was made "merely" condemning Israel for its "crimes" against the Palestinians (the ones who cheered on the murderers of Oct. 7^th). Aaah yes, it also "only" called for an arms embargo against Israel, and also equated between the Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the Hamas terrorists incarcerated in Israeli prison – all while neglecting to condemn Hamas in any way. The decision is shameful, but it has no practical consequences.

I salute the Foreign Minister and all those who worked with him on this important achievement. But can we continue to suffice with playing only defense? This approach of merely thwarting the attacks against us does not thwart the Palestinian Authority itself. It simply keeps on attacking us, while we don't exact any price from them. Since they have nothing to lose, they'll keep on biting and chipping away at us until they see some success.

And the 9^th front in this war is the campaign for land in Judea and Samaria. For the past two decades, we have been retreating continuously from parcels of land in our homeland – even those that are in Area C, which are under full Israeli sovereignty according to the internationally recognized Oslo Accords. The PA is signed on these agreements, of course, yet we keep on withdrawing while the Arabs advance and conquer more and more territory – without firing a single shot, without negotiations, without signing even one agreements.

In this campaign, too, we have long fought only defensively. The only thing that can be said is that under the present government, a trio of ministers – Finance Minister (and Minister in the Defense Ministry) Betzalel Smotrich, newly-appointed Defense Minister Yisrael Katz with his added motivation and great abilities, and myself – have been waging the defensive campaign much more intensively and effectively. We're enforcing the law, thwarting many of their plans, razing illegal buildings, and fighting strongly against every advancement of theirs. But again, we succeed only in stopping what they try to do, but we have been unable to exact a price from them for doing so.

The battles on these two fronts are being waged against us by the Palestinian Authority. Despite this, the PA has still not been named an enemy entity by our government. It is actually considered, officially, a type of "partner" with us, or a "subcontractor," for maintaining security and fighting terrorism. It operates armed security details parallel to our security forces, and receives ammunition and military training as if they were on our team.

Their "heads, ministers and advisors" are granted the opportunity to move freely all around Judea and Samaria, and we even allow them to conduct, here in Israel, political meetings, the sole purpose of which is to harm Israel. This approach to our enemy is unreasonable and must be changed.

Close to a year ago, I noted in a government meeting the absurdity of this situation. Many ministers joined me in the above demand, and it appeared as if things were moving and about to change: In-depth meetings were held, and the Cabinet decided to exact prices from the PA. In the most recent Cabinet meeting, I asked for clarifications as to when these decisions would actually be implemented…

I did not receive an answer, but we cannot accept a situation in which Cabinet decisions are simply ignored – and I don't plan to let the matter drop.

It is absurd to keep acting the same way even after the circumstances change. In Jewish Law, if a corpse is found and the murderer is not – the nearest town must bring a particular sacrifice for atonement. But if afterwards the murderer is found, we do not say that the sacrifice already did the job; rather, we punish the murderer! This example shows clearly how irresponsible and illogical it is not to change our response when the situation, or our understanding of it, changes.

What we know and realize today regarding how dangerous is the PA, and regarding its attacks against us, requires us to change our modus operandi against it. Any other course of action is unreasonable and irresponsible. I will continue to act on this issue and I will not let up; it is my responsibility – and ours.