Israel's Northern Border Must Remain Israeli!

All eyes are on the Israel-Lebanon border because of Israel's defensive war against Hizbullah. Under no scenario can Israel afford to leave it.

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

Throughout the last weeks (with a small hiatus ever since the US and Iran signed their controversial "memo of understanding"), wherever I have been in Israel, and whatever I may be engaged in doing, my heart finds itself drawn to the north. Occupying my thoughts are the northern towns of Metulah, Zar'it, Admit and Avivit, Misgav Am and Manara, and all those places situated on and protecting our northern border, yet forced to live with daily bomb sirens. The residents are impelled to look heavenward umpteen times a day to check if bomb-laden drones are on their way over. And each time they do, they also have to ask themselves (and me, via text messages or phone calls): Is the IDF staying in place to do the work, or Heaven forbid, clearing out?

Our northern compatriots know quite well what the IDF is doing in Lebanon, and what existential threat they are busy saving us from, day in and day out. For many years it was they who cried and warned about what was happening on the other side of the border: the digging of tunnels, lookouts on Israeli civilian and military positions, Iranian money flowing uninterruptedly to Lebanese villages, and the tremendous extent to which Hizbullah positions were being built up amidst the villagers. For 17 years they tried to wake up the security and government echelons – but these were 17 years of relative quiet, and who wanted to hear about war and tunnels and stark reality when they could so easily be ignored? It was truly a case of, "Quiet – we're arming."

And now, this terrible truth is being revealed in its full frightening danger: kilometer after kilometer of tunnels dozens of meters underground, with thousands of weapons, innocent-looking houses that are actually military outposts, and invasion plans that wouldn't shame the 7^th of October. And now our dedicated soldiers are combing the area, kilometer after kilometer, destroying the destruction machine the terrorists were building for us under the guise of the 17-year quiet – under the unsuspecting noses and closed eyes of those who were supposed to be in charge of preventing terrorism from within Lebanon: UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted at the end of the Second Lebanon War, entrusted – abandoned, more correctly – our security to the flimsy UN force called UNIFIL, and to the Lebanese army, a third of whose soldiers belong to the Shia community. Bound by that wretched resolution, we did not act to remove the threat growing on our border under the apathetic eyes of these two "forces."

Thanks to G-d's mercies, our northern border did not see an Oct. 7^th-like infiltration and massacre. This is truly a tremendous miracle, which we cannot take for granted. But the threat still exists, in the form of the infrastructures that were built there, ready and waiting for Hizbullah orders to "Start the attack!" A fair proportion of the tunnels and outposts have been destroyed, and many terrorists have been killed - but under American pressure, the job is far from over.

The ceasefire outline agreed upon in the past included a clause that the IDF is permitted to continue destroying any emerging threat across the border - and indeed the IDF and our other security agencies invested immense efforts in these counter-activities. But as time passed, the picture became increasingly clear: It is impossible to thwart terrorism solely from the outside, from the other side of the border – especially when we are supposed to count on help from other bodies, which never comes. Everyone now knows that the past plans for Lebanon have failed, and we may and must not return to them.

This is why what we have been doing for the past few weeks is so important – and why we must continue to do so, no matter what agreement President Trump and the Iranians come to regarding our future. We must continue operating within southern Lebanon, by ourselves, to destroy the terrorist monster growing there against us. The IDF now controls over 600 square kilometers (some 230 square miles) of southern Lebanon - Hizbullah territory, where no Muslim civilians now live - and it is being cleaned out of terrorist infrastructures such as tunnels, bunkers, and weapon stockpiles. It must be done, for the future of Israel's security.

We may not allow ourselves to stop this work, or to be forced into withdrawing and trying to secure ourselves only from within Israel; this has failed, cannot succeed, and may not be tried again.

I paid a shiva (consolation) visit to the family of fallen soldier Ohad Yaari last week; he was one of six IDF soldiers killed in southern Lebanon in the first half of this month (six more have been killed since then). His father Dudu pleaded with me: "Don't stop, don't give in, we're counting on you." I promised that we would not.

Ohad's family also asked me one more thing: to publicize on the eve of the Sabbath their call to "strengthen the light and kindness" in memory of their son: to light an extra Sabbath candle in each home and to commit to doing one extra good deed, so as to enter the holy Sabbath with an uplifted spirit and having added light and loving-kindness to the world in loving memory of Ohad, may G-d avenge his blood.

UN's Founding Charter: "Gaza is Jewish!"

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

Want proof, or at least strong evidence, that President Trump's announcement a few days ago of the onset of the next stage of his Gaza plan is bad news for Israel? The Palestinian Authority officially and most warmly welcomed the development, including the participation of Qatar and Turkey, and intimated that it is a step on the road to the two-state solution – which Israelis nearly unanimously agree is a mortal danger to Israel.

Does President Trump truly intend to give over Gaza to this terrorist regime, which pays full monthly salaries to Hamas terrorists by virtue of a duly-passed PA law? Certainly not. The plan allows the PA to enter Gaza only after the implementation of a series of conditions that in actuality have zero chances of happening.

The Palestinian Authority will never recognize Israel's rights to Jerusalem, just like it will never stop paying salaries to terrorists. Whatever it might appear to be doing to fulfill these conditions is nothing more than "sleight of hand," in the words of some of our security establishment's leaders.

Similarly, the Trump Plan calls for an end to anti-Israel incitement in PA schools. A very detailed report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education has found that the PA's curriculum for 2025-26 incites to anti-Semitism, encourages violence and jihad, and glorifies terrorism and terrorists. It further found that the PA curriculum normalizes violence, encourages hatred and cruelty, wipes the State of Israel from its maps and public discourse, and denies any connection between the Jewish People and its land. The report also notes that PA leaders who were shown the report rejected its conclusions and expressed support for the curriculum.

Can it be any clearer that the chances that the PA will be offered the opportunity to govern Gaza do not exist?

Still and all, this does not reassure us – because the heart of the problem is that Trump believes, oh so mistakenly, that Gaza belongs to the Arabs. He is convinced that any Arab regime that is not defined as terrorism-supporting, and that even announces its recognition of Israel's right to exist, has a perfect right to control and govern Gaza. This misperception is very dangerous.

The Palestinian Authority is the first to recognize the strategic importance of this mistake – and that's why it applied this month to UNESCO for recognition of no fewer than 14 historic sites as "Palestinian world heritage sites" in Gaza as well as throughout Judea and Samaria. These include Jericho, Gaza City, Nablus, and various sites made famous by Judaism and Christianity well before Islam was even dreamt of.

This is the PA's way of acquiring for itself, in international consciousness, lands and even history that never belonged to it. For years, Israel approached these provocations in a defensive manner, attempting to minimize the damage. But we must now be quite aware that this is far from enough; the PA's denials of history have garnered too many successes, and we must be much more proactive in our responses.

When we speak of fixing the damages caused by the Oslo process of the early 1990's – and lately, most fortunately, very many of our government's members have been speaking of this – we must remember that the primary damaged caused by Oslo is the very establishment of the Palestinian Authority. This is not only because of the territory and standing it received, but mainly because its existence makes it appear as if this land is not only ours!

President Trump's plan for Gaza sustains and perpetuates this dangerous mistake – and this is why, even though the plan will not materialize, it is a treacherous approach in its very being.

The Land of Israel was Divinely promised to us in the Torah many times, and specifically to each of our Patriarchs (see Genesis chapters 17, 26, 35, et al). So many generations, throughout our many centuries of Exile, knew and remembered this promise, and remained loyal to it despite it not having come true in their times – and we, who have merited to return to our Land, may certainly not allow ourselves to turn our backs on it.

We must embark on a public campaign, arousing awareness of our intrinsic and exclusive rights to this land. We must make clear to the entire world that no other people has ever had national rights to it, and that the Gaza Strip is an inseparable part of the Land of Israel. This truth is not only of the Torah and all the history books; it is also unequivocal in international law. It is our duty to stand by this truth and embed it in global consciousness by every possible means.

At a Cabinet meeting last month, I presented to the Prime Minister a copy of Article 80 of the UN's founding Charter. This is the clause that essentially anchors the national rights of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel. How does it do this? Simply by stating that whatever the League of Nations (the UN's predecessor) decided, will continue to stand. And what did the League of Nations say about our land? This: "… recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country." Arab civil rights were to be preserved in that Jewish national home – but specifically not political rights!

In addition, in granting Great Britain the mandate over Palestine, including Gaza, the text states: "The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that no Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control of, the Government of any foreign Power." That is to say, it shall remain only Jewish!

[For the full text, it is well recommended to see https://www.gov.il/en/pages/the-mandate-for-palestine.]

It was a group of Zionist activists, including Prof. Ben-Tzion Netanyahu, that was responsible for having the UN insert this clause into its charter, and for this, the entire Nation of Israel owes them a great debt of gratitude. There is no doubt that Prof. Netanyahu could never have dreamt that one day, his as yet unborn son would be the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, and that he would have the authority and responsibility of giving concrete validation to this historic truth. 

For ourselves, we must acknowledge in every way that this is Our Land. We must tell the world that just as Jerusalem and Hebron and Tel Aviv are ours, Gaza too is ours. We must make it clear to the PA that even if it behaves "nicely" and puts on the right show, it has absolutely no national rights here, and neither does any other country, Arab or otherwise.

Three years after the UN Charter was written and the UN was founded, we merited that that body officially recognized our right to establish a country in our land, with G-d's help. Certainly this was because of the above clause, but it was also because of the persistence of Jews throughout our history who clung steadfastly to our right and never ceded it. They are looking at us now from above, expecting us to similarly hold fast.

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.

The Tests for Israel and for the U.S.

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

Are we truly independent? Can we free ourselves of the threat of "embargo?" Will the U.S. take the ethical path, as it did not always do during the Holocaust?

We find ourselves at an auspicious time - between the date marking the time of our utter helplessness (Holocaust Day), and that commemorating the so-many sacrifices that we have had to make to secure our national existence in our Promised Land (Memorial Day). And yet davka (specifically) now, we have once again reached a disconcerting, frustrating and stressful crossroads, at which the country that is supposed to be our greatest friend in the world declares quite purposefully that it will not support us against those who rise up to destroy us.

The very trying words of the U.S. president have presented three tests: two of them are for us, and the third is for our friends overseas.

The first is whether we truly are an independent country. It appears that we have, so far, passed this test – at least in words. For immediately upon hearing the presidential ultimatum demanding that we surrender and lead the IDF to defeat instead of victory, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and others of our leaders, essentially said: "It won't happen. We will not give up on our security and safety. We will act in Rafah to achieve our critical objectives in this war that has been forced upon us, even at the price of a head-on clash with the United States."

Declarations are important, but they are certainly not enough. We will have to follow closely to see whether these words are backed up by actions. For our part, we [the Knesset Members of the Religious Zionist party] have made it clear that if the government turns its back on the objectives for which we sent hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the battlefield, we will not be able – both ethically and security-wise – to continue to be members of this government.

The second test we now face is whether we realize that we must not allow ourselves to be dependent upon anyone other than ourselves, and G-d, for our security needs. We must also act accordingly. There must be a nationwide enlistment to ensure that we need not have to rely upon even our friends to ensure our national safety. We have failed terribly in this area over the past years, and everyone now understands that the situation cannot be allowed to continue.

We must reach the point where the word "embargo" can no longer threaten us, and where no American president can bear-hug us with arms shipments and dictate to us what military operations to carry out and which not. Of course, this cannot happen without precise economic and strategic planning that correctly foresees the future, with an allocation of resources that truly matches our needs.

The third test is the course of action that the United States will take. Many Americans were greatly distressed at the words of their president, and many public figures made it clear that they see Biden's words as an ethical stain upon the entire country. They are determined to stand on the correct side of history. Throughout history, in fact, the nations of the world have faced similar decisions, and they have not always passed these tests. As we commemorate Holocaust Day, we also remember the calamitous decisions made by the Western world during the years of the Nazi regime, beginning with the abandonment of Czechoslovakia, and up to the failure to bomb Auschwitz or even the train tracks leading to it.

We read in this week's Torah portion: "Do not stand by your neighbor's blood; I am the Lord." Rashi explains that this means that if, for instance, you see someone drowning and do not do what you can to save him, "I am the Lord – trusted to give reward [when appropriate], and trusted to punish [when necessary]."

This is a chilling message, because it assigns serious guilt, and serious punishment, to those who simply "stand by" without offering whatever help they can to save those in danger. It is this rationale that echoed in the words of Senator Graham when he vehemently demanded that the U.S. not stand by while Israel fights for its life, and it resonates in the hearts of very many Americans.

These Americans understand that they stand before a historic and multi-faceted test: They are required not to "stand by" not only regarding arms shipments to Israel, but also regarding the rising anti-Semitism in universities, and also regarding the American reaction to those who rise up against us in international institutions such as the Hague Tribunal and the United Nations. [The US did, in fact, oppose a U.N. resolution last week declaring support for Palestinian statehood, which would have rewarded the PA and Hamas for their horrific acts of terrorism in the Simchat Torah massacre.]

This week marks the 65^th anniversary of the death of my grandmother, Malka Nesher (Mária Kecskeméti), who was a very well-known Hungarian poetess. Her songs have not received great attention in Israel, and I try to publicize every year another of her poems. This year it was quite obvious that I would choose one entitled "Exodus 1947," which describes the British Empire's cruelty towards the famous refugee immigrants' ship Exodus. It also calls out the "standing by" of most of the free world to the mistreatment of the Holocaust survivors who wanted to reach the Land of Israel. My grandmother ended her ode as follows:

"There is none like England in matters of nobility:

The last remnant of the escapees she effectively diluted...

The world is silent, there is no protest, there is no one to raise a voice there.

Conscience, like the ostrich, buries its head in the sand!

... Your face, o Britain, bury it in the dirt,

For there is no greater disgrace than your "glorious" victory..."

While the third test is that of the nations of the world, it is incumbent upon us to pass the first two tests above: We must be truly independent, and we must find the ways to strengthen ourselves on our own. As we celebrate Independence Day this week, we are confident that, with G-d's help, we will pass these two critical tests.