by Prof. Elisha Hass, member of Professors for a Strong Israel, translated by Hillel Fendel.
President Trump announced last week that he is prepared to accept “only unconditional surrender.” This is because he wants a traditional, decisive victory. Most wars, in fact, end when one side reaches the conclusion that he has lost and that there is no point in continuing, and surrenders unconditionally.
To achieve this, both sides, and
especially the winning one, work to strike the enemy’s symbols of rule and
national sites with cultural and other importance. The goal is to bring the
enemy to a psychological state that will lead to his surrender.
Let us consider the intense, though
not particularly well-known, war that is taking place in Judea and Samaria.
Many IDF fighter battalions have been dispatched to these areas. The question
is: Do these battalions understand their mission? Is it clear to the IDF who
exactly the enemy is? Do the IDF leaders understand the importance of hitting
symbolic and nationally important targets in a military campaign? Are the
battalions being sent to the front striving for victory – or for stalemate?
We know very well that the IDF is not
the only army in the field. A well-trained and suitably-equipped Palestinian
army shares the space with us, having received its war training in the
framework of the Oslo Accords from the U.S. Army's General Dayton. This is an
army with improved abilities that is located, as the saying goes, "just five
minutes away from Kfar Saba." It takes encouragement and motivation from
the Oct. 7th massacre, and is an army with clear awareness of its
goal to destroy the State of Israel. The motivational weapons it uses include
symbols such as monuments of its leaders, such as the PA father of Oslo - none
other than arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat, may his name be blotted out.
The Disappointing News from Shomron
And yet, just this week we have
learned that an IDF reserves soldier from the Menashe Brigade (responsible for
the northern Shomron, including PA cities such as Tulkarem and Jenin) has been suspended,
after it was learned that he defaced a monument in honor of Arafat in the
village of Zababida. The IDF quickly decided to remove him from active service,
announcing that smashing Arafat's likeness with a hammer was "against the
regulations."
We are, of course, at war. The
government, with public support, calls upon its loyal citizens to leave their
homes and families and report for duty for unknown durations. The army's values
are, clearly and primarily, to strive to engage with the enemy and aspire to
victory. In light of what we have said regarding the value of destroying his national
symbols, this decision by the army raises some strong question marks:
Non-Comprehension?
Does the IDF understand its objective
and how to achieve it? Does it not understand that while the enemy strives to wear
us down with terrorism, our goal must be clear victory? Does the IDF not
realize that young terrorist gangs are our enemy?
The IDF appears to be still living
under the misconception of the Oslo generation that brought upon us the tragic disgrace
of 10/7. Instead of sending the reservists to totally destroy the military
threat to central Israel, it continues to nurture the enemy and its symbols. Instead
of wiping it out, it continues to preserve the capabilities of the threat to
the heart of our country, under the illusion that this enemy can be turned into
a friend. This was a reckless illusion from the day Oslo began, and especially
after the morning of Simchat Torah 5784.
Hegseth Got it Right
It is worth studying the clear and
straight-on speech of U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth last week. He announced
that the United States is fighting without the principles of political
correctness and progressivism: an enemy is an enemy. We, too, must apply these
rules of combat not only to Iran, but also to the West Bank. Any enemy focused
on the destruction of the Zionist enterprise, whether openly or under
camouflage, must know that it faces the singular fate of destruction. It’s
either us – or them.
It’s high time to erase the infamous
“Spirit of the IDF” document that emasculates our army and endangers all of us.
We must cultivate the combat mindset of the soldier and encourage him to take
combat actions even vis-à-vis the enemy’s motivation. We the citizens must
demand that the military command provide soldiers with the full tools of combat
and make it clear, once and for all, who the enemy is.
And of course, the smart soldier from
the Menashe Brigade, who knows how to defeat the enemy by striking directly at
what makes him tick, must be immediately returned to service and given words of
encouragement so that all his comrades - and commanders - understand. Enemy
symbols are targets for attack no less, and even more, than physical positions
or other ground targets chosen “according to regulations.”
Translator's Note: Public Security Minister Itamar
Ben-Gvir criticized the censure of the soldier, but even he could have done so
more strongly: "Arafat's hands were filled with the blood of very many
Jews… The reservist [in question] is in the midst of a war, which began with
the slaughter of his brothers and sisters; fighting for Am Yisrael, he
expressed his pain, fury, and sense of justice. The army's decision [to dismiss
him] went a step too far, and should be reconsidered."