Political Unity Now!

Adapted from an article by Emanuel Shilo, editor of the Besheva weekly, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Instead of the demand for another divisive election campaign in the middle of a war, it would be best if those who claim to seek unity and reconciliation call for a genuine unity government right now.

After the horrific Hamas massacre that befell us, there were hopes for a great domestic change. We hoped we could put aside the argumentative political discourse of the preceding years, and mainly months, for at least as long as we needed to unite around common goals vital to our future and our very survival. 

We hoped for a genuine unity government that would radiate reconciliation and stability, and would strengthen Israel from within against its enemies without. We wanted a different media discourse, one that would avoid wild accusations, push off the obsessive preoccupation with finding culprits, and discuss only what needs to be done now and in the near future.

So we hoped… 

Despite all our battlefield successes so far, including the near-destruction of Hamas, demolition of tunnels and other terrorist infrastructures, finding critical intelligence materials and millions of shekels in terrorism-funding, and killing of terrorists, we are still in a very difficult war. We are still missing 134 hostages, up to 3/4 of whom are assumed to be alive, and the residents of many towns in the south and north are still not home and cannot safely return. At such a time, we want to engage in positive and constructive dialogue – not politics and mud-slinging. 

But there are forces at play that won't let us. They believe, incredibly so, that the one thing Israel needs now is new elections. Their goal, of course, is to rid the country of Binyamin Netanyahu, no matter what the cost. They didn't wait long after the massacre to return to mud-slinging, mainly against him. 

It's true that politically, we do have an emergency unity government, and Benny Ganz and his party deserve credit for making it happen when they joined the government four days after the war was forced upon us. However, it does not signal real unity. On the contrary; Ganz gives the constant impression that he is planning to quit the first moment he can. 

The media situation is even worse. Significant parts of it returned much too quickly to the pre-Simchat Torah mode, with their central line of attack being a frontal offensive against Netanyahu. A public commission of inquiry has not yet been established, but for many in the media, Netanyahu's responsibility for everything having to do with the massacre is a given; it need not be explained, but rather repeated in different formulations as often as possible.

Though even the media largely takes the line that now is a time for reconciliation, showing respect, and judging each other favorably, there is one great exception: Binyamin Netanyahu. About him, the media permits itself to say whatever it wants: that he cares only about his own political survival, that he doesn't care if the hostages die, that he is lengthening the war for no good reason, and that everything happening now is his fault. They give him no credit at all for the quite successful war being waged in Gaza under his leadership, and deny him the same temporary immunity that they have given the IDF Chief of Staff, the Chief of Intelligence, the Southern Command General, the Defense Minister, and everyone else involved 24/7 in the war effort. 

And so, in the midst of a grinding, costly war, we are witness to a campaign, financed with huge sums, that demands new elections soon. As if we can afford to engage now in a stormy election campaign rife with mutual accusations and worse. Most unfortunately, even some of the best people in our midst, who have great achievements for our society under their belts, have fallen into this trap. By agreeing that new elections are needed quickly, they grant this call legitimacy that enables extremists and destructive protest groups – whose role in bringing us to where today must also be investigated – to continue their aggressive and divisive campaign.

At this time, then, we cannot sit on the fence, but must rather express and present our position. The alternative is a one-sided monologue that is liable to lead to terrible mistakes, such as caving in to the most extreme Hamas conditions for the release of hostages, including even calamitously stopping the war. 

Let us not be naïve. The demand for new elections in the middle of a war is based only on the poll findings that Netanyahu's Likud party will lose. This is their only goal: to depose Netanyahu – war or no war, hostages or no hostages. 

On the other hand, there is no need to be a blind follower of Netanyahu as if he was a cult leader. Even nationalists can legitimately think that he made some big mistakes, even while believing that the primary blame for the Oct. 7th catastrophe lays at the doorstep of the security establishment leaders. 

For instance: The black intelligence hole regarding everything that happened that day, and before it, must be carefully addressed. Also to be investigated is the basis of the "conception," so widely held throughout all top leadership levels, that Hamas is "deterred" and not interested in war. And what about the physical barrier – largely a tall fence with cameras, sensors, and other technological aids – that cost an estimated $3.5 billion to build and was easily broken through in dozens of places that tragic morning? And what of the late-night Zoom meeting called by the GSS head with the IDF Chief of Staff and others just hours before the Hamas invasion, in which it was decided to postpone discussion of the warnings of what might happen, without even informing the government echelons? All this is primarily the fault of the military and intelligence arms, not the government. 

Again, there were many strategic errors in which Netanyahu's large share cannot be denied. The most blatant is the Gilad Shalit deal, which gave Hamas its leader Sinwar, other top terrorists, and a tremendous motivation to pull off other such kidnappings. There is also the "containment" strategy, which enabled Hamas to build itself militarily while we deluded ourselves into thinking that we can always deter it from using its increasing strength. Going further back, there were the Oslo Agreements to which Netanyahu objected with full force, but accepted them as a done deal – and of course Ariel Sharon's Disengagement of 2005, which Netanyahu did not really fight to thwart. But in all these, Netanyahu was not alone; nearly all his political critics and rivals were party to at least some of them, if not all. 

So let’s assume that we have new elections and Netanyahu is defeated – who will take his place? Benny Ganz or Gadi Eisencott, who were full partners to the construction of the failed Gaza border obstacle and the containment strategy and the like? 

The last thing we need now is another election campaign. Instead, if we truly want reconciliation at home and victory in war, let's establish here and now a genuine unity government in the current Knesset. This should be a government without automatic disqualifications of particular personages (such as Netanyahu). It must be one that will serve at least until peace returns to the land and the evacuated citizens are able to return home. And it must be one in which controversial issues are addressed and resolved via dialogue and a true will to reach a compromise. 

Keeping Our Eye on the Ball

by Emanuel Shilo, editor of the weekly Besheva newspaper, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Our military forces in Gaza are chalking up successes and making great progress on their way to their final objective of destroying Hamas and its organized military power. We must protect our soldiers from attempts from without and within to bind their hands, precisely as they are closing in on victory.

There are a few things that I don't pretend to understand about the current war in Gaza. For instance, I don't get why our forces' progress in capturing Gaza, and particularly Khan Yunis and Rafah, can't be quicker. Neither do I get why two IDF divisions that operated successfully in north and central Gaza were withdrawn from their locations and not redeployed to southern Gaza. 

Could it be that the combat has slowed down because of the need to protect our soldiers, or to prevent our captives from being harmed by Hamas, or from pressure by the US and other friendly countries? Has the Philadelphi Route in southern Gaza not been captured because of the need to avoid a clash with Egypt? 

Success after Success

All of the above is likely true, but the fact is that we find ourselves in the fog of war, both militarily and diplomatically. Even with this lack of clarity, however, there is nothing blocking us from seeing a simple and very gladdening fact: Our forces are chalking up success after success as they grind down the Palestinazi enemy, dismantle its brigades, cut down hundreds and thousands of its terrorist fighters, obtain more and more vital intelligence, capture objective after objective, and destroy more and more fortifications and weapons. International experts on "warfare in built-up areas" have nothing but admiration for the progress of the 98th Commando Division and its supplementary forces facing a sophisticated underground fortification system that no army in the world (!) has ever had to face.  

The IDF will apparently need at least another three months to dismantle the remaining Hamas battalions and complete the conquest of all of Gaza. If we can only manage, with G-d's help, to meet the challenges of the international and domestic efforts to tie our hands, then our number-one objective of this war – the destruction of Hamas' military ability – is within our close reach.  

At the same time, Israel must also invest more firmly in terminating Hamas' governmental apparatus. The distribution of necessary food and medical supplies must be effected by us, not by Hamas and not by Hamasniks dressed up as UNRWA officials. The population of the towns and villages that we have captured must come under Israeli military administrative control.

IDF Gov't in Gaza

Any delay in establishing an IDF military administration in Gaza, like that which governed Judea and Samaria – and Gaza – for many years after the Six Day War, plays into the hands of Hamas. It also threatens the many achievements that we have already made. Wherever a governmental vacuum remains, Hamas will enter. 

Blocking the Trucks!

Over the last two weeks, we have been seeing an increasingly popular and effective protest tool effected by families of hostages and of fallen soldiers, as well as citizens across the spectrum. They arrive daily at the Ashdod port and the Kerem Shalom crossing and physically block the passage of trucks filled with "humanitarian aid" to Gaza. For one thing, it is known that these supplies go first to Hamas and its leaders, to promote their personal, governmental, and terrorist objectives. In addition, Israel has the perfectly justified right to condition its supply of humanitarian aid on a humanitarian Hamas approach, if such a thing exists, towards the hostages. 

And another thing: If we of the home front do not maintain a level of unity and cohesiveness, this can only harm the spirit of the soldiers on the military front. Yes, we want instinctively to be attentive to the needs of the hostages and their families, but we cannot therefore accept absurd demands that are liable to endanger our attainment of the all-important goal of victory over Hamas.

Elections Later!

This is also not the time to engage in early national elections, which by definition is a time of divisiveness and the opposite of what is needed for a united war effort. It is legitimate to call for early elections – but they should be held after the war is over, not before. There is even room to consider whether elections should be held before the commission of inquiry (which will certainly be appointed) releases its conclusions. For how can we decide which of the politicians is worthy of our electoral trust based only on partial information and a one-sided media campaign?

Another call from certain sectors of the population can also not be agreed to, and that is that we accept nearly every Hamas demand, no matter how ridiculous, for the sake of receiving back home our fathers, brothers, sisters, and children from Hamas captivity. With all the sorrow, pain, and empathy, we must remember the heavy price we ended up paying in other blackmail deals, such as the 1,027 terrorists – including Yahye Sinwar – Israel released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, and of course the ten Israelis murdered by some of them in the years following. The current demands to release a tremendous number of terrorists, including cold-blooded murderers, makes such a deal totally insupportable. 

Even more insane is the Hamas demand that Israel give up everything it gained in this war – that has cost us nearly 250 casualties as of now – and allow the Palestinazis to continue to reign in Gaza. To accept this crazed notion is something that no other country in the world would ever do. 

The Only Way 

The way to achieve the release of our hostages is to keep on destroying Hamas until we can rescue them militarily, or until the last of the terrorists remaining alive offer a deal with a reasonable price.

Israel was dealt a shattering blow on October 7th, but now it is on the verge of a great victory; if it is achieved, its strategic value will be of inestimable value, but if we miss it, the damage will be similarly inestimable. For the sake of the future of the State of Israel, and for the sake of our children and their ability to live in a country where another Oct. 7th cannot happen again, we must make sure to resolutely reject all pressures from without and within, and keep our eye on the goal of destroying Hamas. Our forces in Khan Yunis and throughout Gaza are moving forward to this goal, day by day, step by step. Our job is to support them, with prayers to the G-d of the armies of Israel, with encouragement, and with help to the families on the home front – and certainly not to disturb and distract them with petty arguments and weakness of spirit. 

This past week, a public mini-storm arose as a result of an infuriating army drill in the Central District (Judea and Samaria). The drill involved, in part, a scenario in which IDF soldiers were to envision the Jewish residents of a pioneer community in the Shomron as "enemies" who had kidnapped an Arab from a nearby village. This, in the middle of a war in which the soldiers of these communities are paying with their lives in high numbers. 

Public ire in the entire religious-Zionist and nationalist camps was both strong and justified. Even Prime Minister Netanyahu came out publicly against this injustice done to the pioneer public. He demanded an investigation and answers from the IDF as to how this decision could have been made. As a result, both the Chief of Staff Hertzy HaLevi and O.C. Central Command Gen. Yehuda Fuchs acknowledged the mistake and publicly apologized.

Most unfortunately, this incident became a divisive political football. Benny Ganz - who acted responsibly nearly four months ago when he left the opposition to help form a unity government for the duration of the war - attacked Netanyahu's above response in a most irresponsible manner: "The Prime Minister's decision to use the incident [of the anti-settler drill] in order to harm the IDF and its cohesiveness stemmed from political motives and was unnecessary; it itself requires an investigation and an apology from him before the IDF and all the citizens of Israel." It's not at all clear what fault Ganz found in Netanyahu's correct words, especially given the apologies by HaLevy and Fuchs. It appears that Ganz was the one who harmed national unity for political motivations, not Netanyahu. 

This case shows clearly how important it is for both sides of the political spectrum to ensure that narrow political interests, even if they cannot be totally erased, do not bring them to make wrong strategic decisions or harm the "public togetherness" that is so necessary for our military victory. 

From Dream to Hope

by Michael Puah, head of the "Choosing Family" organization and long-time nationalist camp activist, writing for Arutz-7/INN.co.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

It's been over 100 days now that I've been dreaming. Actually, it started the very day after the Hamas massacre that set off [what I call] the Holy Temple War. I started day-dreaming that Israel gave the following message to the entire world: 

"All of the hostages being held in Gaza are our citizens! For as long as even one of them is still stuck there, and for as long as there remains a threat to any citizen of our State, there will be no life in Gaza! No water, no fuel, no food, no communications – nothing. This is our ethical obligation towards the citizens of the State of Israel and towards anyone who can no longer tolerate surrender to the evil and death promoted by Islamic terrorism around the world." 

The announcement in my dream concluded with this:  

"We will allow all residents of Gaza who wish not to be involved in the Hamas war against Israel, to emigrate and build their lives anew in any country that wishes to help them." 

At the same time, I imagined the oil reserves in Gaza, and the water supply plants, and communications and electricity installations, all being bombed and rising up in flames. This could be done without the need for smart bombs from the United States, but simply with the dumbest bombs we have; all they have to do is hit their targets and demolish them. A simple, straightforward dream.  

But unfortunately, this simple, quick, ethically-just, dream method of dealing with evil met up with reality. Instead of destroying Gaza, the official idea was to "dismantle Hamas." And instead of targeting all those who had any part in nourishing the atmosphere of terrorism, a strange distinction was made between the population that breathes terrorism and raises generations of murderous hatred, and those who actually put into practice, on that sad Sabbath of Simchat Torah, the cruel education with which they were inculcated. 

This differentiation between those who are supposedly "non-involved", and the active-duty terrorists paved the way for the flood of truckfuls of food, water and fuel into Gaza, with the promise that this aid would be given only to citizens and not to the terrorists of Hamas. But soon afterwards, the extent of the aid began to increase, with the clear knowledge of everyone involved that Hamas had placed itself in charge of the supplies coming from Israel. This is not the way to win, and not the way to free hostages. It is rather the way to perpetuate the "conceptions" that everyone has been talking about. We provide "humanitarian aid" to those who slaughtered us, who continue to hold our brothers, sisters, and children captive, who kill our heroic soldiers each day, and who continue to fire rockets on Israeli towns and cities whenever and wherever they get the chance. The "aid" we give them is their oxygen; it is what allows them to continue to torment us, instead of surrendering once and for all. 

But on Erev Tu B'Shvat, this past Wednesday, suddenly, the nation arose! Everything seemed to have changed. Hundreds of citizens, including soldier's fresh off 100+ days of combat, together with family members of hostages and citizens from the Gaza-adjacent communities and the entire country, stood at the checkpoint in Kerem Shalom and simply did not let the trucks pass into Gaza. They said, "No Trucks!" – and they succeeded! 

To these precious people, I say: "Thank you very much! With your bodies, you blocked the oxygen pipes to our Gazan enemy – pipes that were opened, to our shame, by the Government of Israel. You are not protestors, as was mistakenly reported in the media; you are leaders. You have set the target, and paved the way, and marked a new ethical challenge for the Government of Israel.  

In this war, we have learned that true leadership comes from the bottom, from civilian initiatives, from simple soldiers and low-ranking officers – people who are ethical and brave. These leaders at the checkpoint have proven this once again. May they see blessing as they increase bravery and valor in Israel. We are awaiting their leadership, for they are the hope of the dream.  

Translator's Note: As this is being prepared for publication, the latest news is that the Kerem Shalom area has been declared a closed military zone, forbidden to civilian entry. Among the many who arrived today to try to stop the trucks carrying "humanitarian aid" from entering Gaza where it would be distributed according to Hamas priorities, several were arrested – including a mother of two IDF fighters, as well as a soldier in reserves. In the end, 129 trucks entered Gaza through Kerem Shalom today, and another 97 through the Nitzana Crossing on the Sinai border between Israel and Egypt.

Letter to The Committee Edinburgh University Student Association

by Denis M. MacEoin, an academic, scholar and writer with a focus on Persian, Arabic and Islamic studies.

May I be permitted to say a few words to members of the EUSA? I am an Edinburgh graduate (MA 1975) who studied Persian, Arabic and Islamic History in Buccleuch Place under William Montgomery Watt and Laurence Elwell Sutton, two of Britain 's great Middle East experts in their day. I later went on to do a PhD at Cambridge and to teach Arabic and Islamic Studies at Newcastle University . Naturally, I am the author of several books and hundreds of articles in this field. I say all that to show that I am well informed in Middle Eastern affairs and that, for that reason, I am shocked and disheartened by the EUSA motion and vote.

I am shocked for a simple reason: there is not and has never been a system of apartheid in Israel.

That is not my opinion, that is fact that can be tested against reality by any Edinburgh student, should he or she choose to visit Israel to see for themselves. Let me spell this out, since I have the impression that those members of EUSA who voted for this motion are absolutely clueless in matters concerning Israel, and that they are, in all likelihood, the victims of extremely biased propaganda coming from the anti-Israel lobby.

Being anti-Israel is not in itself objectionable. But I'm not talking about ordinary criticism of Israel . I'm speaking of a hatred that  permits itself no boundaries in the lies and myths it pours out.  Thus, Israel is repeatedly referred to as a "Nazi" state. In what sense is this true, even as a metaphor? Where are the Israeli concentration camps? The einzatsgruppen? The SS? The Nuremberg Laws? The Final Solution? None of these things nor anything remotely resembling them exists in Israel , precisely because the Jews, more than anyone on earth, understand what Nazism stood for.

It is claimed that there has been an Israeli Holocaust in Gaza (or elsewhere). Where? When? No honest historian would treat that claim with anything but the contempt it deserves. But calling Jews Nazis and saying they have committed a Holocaust is as basic a way to subvert historical fact as anything I can think of.

Likewise apartheid. For apartheid to exist, there would have to be a situation that closely resembled how things were in South Africa under the apartheid regime. Unfortunately for those who believe this, a weekend in any part of Israel would be enough to show how ridiculous the claim is.

That a body of university students actually fell for this and voted on it is a sad comment on the state of modern education. The most obvious focus for apartheid would be the country's 20% Arab population. Under Israeli law, Arab Israelis have exactly the same rights as Jews or anyone else; Muslims have the same rights as Jews or Christians; Baha'is, severely persecuted in Iran, flourish in Israel, where they have their world center; Ahmadi Muslims, severely persecuted in Pakistan and elsewhere, are kept safe by Israel; the holy places of all religions are protected under a specific Israeli law. Arabs form 20% of the university population (an exact echo of their percentage in the general population).

In Iran , the Bahai's (the largest religious minority) are forbidden to study in any university or to run their own universities: why aren't your members boycotting Iran ? Arabs in Israel can go anywhere they want, unlike blacks in apartheid South Africa . They use public transport, they eat in restaurants, they go to swimming pools, they use libraries, they go to cinemas alongside Jews - something no blacks were able to do in South Africa .

Israeli hospitals not only treat Jews and Arabs, they also treat Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank. On the same wards, in the same operating theatres.

In Israel , women have the same rights as men: there is no gender apartheid.

Gay men and women face no restrictions, and Palestinian gays often escape into Israel, knowing they may be killed at home.

It seems bizarre to me that LGBT groups call for a boycott of Israel and say nothing about countries like Iran , where gay men are hanged or stoned to death. That illustrates a mindset that beggars belief.

Intelligent students thinking it's better to be silent about regimes that kill gay people, but good to condemn the only country in the Middle East that rescues and protects gay people. Is that supposed to be a sick joke?

University is supposed to be about learning to use your brain, to think rationally, to examine evidence, to reach conclusions based on solid evidence, to compare sources, to weigh up one view against one or more others. If the best Edinburgh can now produce are students who have no idea how to do any of these things, then the future is bleak.

I do not object to well-documented criticism of Israel . I do object when supposedly intelligent people single the Jewish state out above states that are horrific in their treatment of their populations. We are going through the biggest upheaval in the Middle East since the 7th and 8th centuries, and it's clear that Arabs and Iranians are rebelling against terrifying regimes that fight back by killing their own citizens.

Israeli citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, do not rebel (though they are free to protest). Yet Edinburgh students mount no demonstrations and call for no boycotts against Libya , Bahrain , Saudi Arabia , Yemen , and Iran . They prefer to make false accusations against one of the world's freest countries, the only country in the Middle East that has taken in Darfur refugees, the only country in the Middle East that gives refuge to gay men and women, the only country in the Middle East that

protects the Bahai's.... Need I go on?

The imbalance is perceptible, and it sheds no credit on anyone who voted for this boycott. I ask you to show some common sense. Get information from the Israeli embassy. Ask for some speakers. Listen to more than one side.

Do not make your minds up until you have given a fair hearing to both parties. You have a duty to your students, and that is to protect them from one-sided argument.

They are not at university to be propagandized. And they are certainly not there to be tricked into anti-Semitism by punishing one country among all the countries of the world, which happens to be the only Jewish state. If there had been a single Jewish state in the 1930's (which, sadly, there was not), don't you think Adolf Hitler would have decided to boycott it?

Your generation has a duty to ensure that the perennial racism of anti-Semitism never sets down roots among you. Today, however, there are clear signs that it has done so and is putting down more. You have a chance to avert a very great evil, simply by using reason and a sense of fair play. Please tell me that this makes sense. I have given you some of the evidence.

It's up to you to find out more.

Yours sincerely,

Denis MacEoin

The Cruel Choice Leads to Just One Conclusion

by Haggai Huberman, long-time Arutz-7 military and Yesha affairs correspondent, translated by Hillel Fendel.

True, the continued combat in Gaza endangers the hostages, but it's also the only chance to save most of them.

Thomas Friedman, in one of his recent New York Times columns, revealed details from an exchange between US President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu this past week. He wrote that Biden, in pushing for a Palestinian state, presented Netanyahu with the following two choices: "Either you'll go down in history as the one who rejected any chance at ending the conflict by cooperating with the Palestinians and the one who led to Oct. 7^th – or you will be the Israeli leader who granted a state to the Palestinians, guaranteed Israel's security, and led to peace with Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Muslim world."

In other words, according to Friedman, Biden was offering Netanyahu the opportunity to be remembered either as a failed Prime Minister who made a comeback, or as one who, like an idiot, turned his failure into an even greater catastrophe.

Joe Biden is the latest in an illustrious line of American presidents who never really understood the reality of the Middle East – and therefore lived in dreamland amid fantasies and who never advanced any type of positive plan for the region. More than once they actually made the situation worse. The Rogers Plan, the Reagan Plan, the Clinton Outline, the Road Map of Bush, the Obama Program – these great plans of US presidents with their unrealistic dreams all ended up in the trashcans of history.  

An example of the dangerous folly of Biden's present plan is this: As Friedman tells it, the United States is trying to promote a scenario that will include a deal to release the Israeli hostages, transfer administrative control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, and introduce a multi-national force into the Strip to maintain order. Biden has overlooked just one thing: How can both of the first two elements coexist at all, given that the main demand and condition of Hamas for any hostage release is that it retains control over Gaza?

Biden, like his predecessors, doesn't understand that there is a built-in contradiction in an offer to be the Israeli leader who both "granted a state to the Palestinians" and also "guaranteed Israel's security." A Palestinian state and Israeli security are a contradiction in terms. If, Heaven forbid, a Palestinian state should ever be established in which the IDF does not rule and control the entire expanse of Judea and Samaria, the results are unthinkable. The scenes that we saw this past Simchat Torah, of thousands of Hamas terrorists roaring through the streets of Sderot, Ofakim, Nachal Oz and Be'eri on motorcycles and pickup trucks, will be repeated in Kfar Saba, Modiin, and Rosh HaAyin. Kfar Yona (near Netanya) will look like Kfar Aza, Netiv HaLamed-Heh (outside Gush Etzion) will be as Netiv HaAsarah (immediately north of Gaza), and Givat Oz (west of Afula) will be like Nachal Oz.

Please don't give me the knee-jerk response, "It can never happen." This is exactly what will happen, as it did just recently, if a Palestinian state arises – and therefore it will not arise. Not because of Ben-Gvir, but because of the instinctive responsibility that Netanyahu and his government, and even many on the left, have for Israel's future.

The writer of a very recent Times article claims to have interviewed four Israeli generals who requested anonymity. Like every other Israeli citizen, I have no idea who these four might be, but I can say that some of their claims against the Netanyahu government are totally groundless. For instance, they reportedly said, "The diplomatic path – a deal to release the hostages – will be the fastest way to return the Israelis who remain in Hamas captivity." Pure nonsense.

But one claim of theirs is on target: "The stated goals of the war – release of the hostages and destruction of Hamas – clash with each other." This is true, although not 100%. They are right in their evaluation that dismantling Hamas will require lengthy battles, but to say that "the result will most likely cost us the hostages' lives" is far from a fact. The continued combat for the purpose of destroying Hamas endangers the captives, yes – but it is the only chance to save them, or at least most of them.

There is much to say in criticism of Netanyahu. It is intolerable from every standpoint that he does not talk for extended periods with his Defense Minister. Leaks from the Cabinet meetings indicate that some of them have turned into a circus. The ongoing problems of the citizens evacuated from their homes in the north and south are a genuine crime. And of course, how is it possible that the government allows so much "humanitarian aid" – nothing less than material aid to our enemies during wartime – to enter Gaza? Soon the world will demand that we allow Hamas to receive weapons as well…

But at the same time, to say that Netanyahu "has no strategy" is totally groundless. Netanyahu most definitely has a very clear strategy – one that is correct, in my opinion – but he simply cannot say it out loud, and certainly not to the families of the hostages. It is that "destruction of Hamas takes precedence over the release of the hostages, and even if it comes at their expense." There is no choice. Hamas has not offered a practical proposal for the hostages' freedom, other than a total Israeli surrender in its totally just war. That is, Hamas expects an immediate end to the war, an IDF withdrawal from all of Gaza, a guarantee that Hamas will continue to reign in Gaza, and even the release of all terrorists from Israeli prisons. This is of course not something that any Israeli prime minister with a minimal sense of responsibility would ever agree to. All that remains, then, is to keep on fighting, at all costs, until victory.

I have nothing bad to say about the behavior of the families of the captives. They are doing what they feel and think from their own point of view. But let us remember the words of the late MK and late Lechi fighter Geulah Cohen, who told the government ministers: "If my son were captive, I would demand that you pay any price for his release – but I would also expect you not to listen to me." Netanyahu must embrace the families, but under no circumstances follow their dictates.

---- Editorial note: Yesterday's tragic incident in which 21 IDF soldiers lost their lives in Gaza took place just 600 meters from the Jewish town of Kisufim, and was part of the critical battle for Israelis to be able to return to their homes. For a studied but not cynical explanation of what happened from a military and strategic standpoint, see this IsraelNationalNews article: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/384045