Last Week's Hamas Attacks that Mean Just One Thing: All-Out War

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.

Advice to Netanyahu: "Let's Make One Thing Perfectly Clear"

by Atty. Ziv Maor, journalist and writer, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Two countries currently exist between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea: the State of Israel, and the (imaginary, but still very real) State of Tel Aviv. Both of them had a troubling Saturday night about a week ago: The State of Israel wondered with concern how the government managed not to take advantage of President Trump's ultimatum to Hamas that if the hostages are not released by Saturday at noon, "all hell will break loose." At the same time, those in Israel's other state were involved in the suspense of a particular reality TV series…

In any event, after Prime Minister Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio the next day, he made a public statement not exactly explaining why the deadline had been ignored by both parties to the conflict, but still relating somehow to Gaza: "We are in total security coordination with the Americans," he said, and added, "Not all the details can be divulged."

But actually, that's exactly part of the problem. No one expects that "all the details" should be divulged – but how about at least some of them? Why should everything happen behind closed doors? Why should everything be concealed from the public that is paying the price of the long-running restraint?

This has long been Netanyahu's approach. We in the nationalist camp have already gotten used to it. But what's making it harder to accept over the last few weeks is the total contrast with Trump's tactics. When he talks, he speaks clearly: Transfer. Gates of Hell. All the hostages. He doesn't mince words – and this has become "cold water for a tired soul," as we read in Proverbs. Netanyahu's tendency to keep everything quiet and vague has exacted prices from Israel in the two campaigns that have come aggressively upon us: the campaign against the Arab enemy, and the left-wing uprising. In both cases, the opponents act predictably and consistently. Trump's clarity shows the importance of the "speak clearly" approach.

Shortly after the beginning of the current war, our Prime Minister declared the country's ultimate war objectives: the release of the hostages (who numbered some 250 at the time), the destruction of Hamas as a military and governmental/administrative body in Gaza, and the removal of the security threats facing the Jewish communities in the western Negev. Not much later I wrote here that aside from the first one - freeing the hostages - the others are not truly objectives; they speak of what won't be, but not what will be.

This is a sad repeat of what happened when Hizbullah attacked us and we responded with outright war. The government set the "collapse of Hizbullah" as the objective, but did not state what should happen afterwards. What would be the ideal situation in Lebanon as far as Israel was concerned? Our government had no answer.

Trump, however, has the answer for Gaza, which he stated in bombshell fashion: American control of Gaza, via the transfer of the local population elsewhere. Will this actually happen? No one knows. But the very fact of the clarity of the goals brought immediate diplomatic results: Everyone is talking about the Trump plan. He announced the far-reaching American demands, and now everyone is analyzing him and trying to figure how much of his utopian vision he might be willing to compromise on. Wherever the spinner stops, it will certainly be much better than it is now.

If Israel had announced, with the dust of the massacre still rising, that its goal was to renew the thousands-year-old Jewish settlement in Gaza City, everyone from Biden's Washington to EU capital and Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, might not have agreed, but they would have taken this as the starting point. The question then would have been, "What would Israel be willing to compromise on?" It would certainly not have been, "How can we get Hamas to agree to release the hostages?" If Israel had made that announcement, the war would have been over a long time ago.

But the government chose political fuzziness, and "without [political] vision, the country falls apart" (see Proverbs 29,18).

Some say that it was this that caused the downfall of none other than Napoleon Bonaparte. Though his ultimate defeat was due to a number of factors, one of them might have been that he sought to conquer Russia without any plan for what would happen afterwards.

Trump well knows this lesson. Let us hope that Netanyahu, as well, will learn it very soon. 

The Trump Light is Green – Go!

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

1. Why oh why, many are asking, did we agree to enter into negotiations with Hamas and consent to give them almost everything they wanted at such an early stage of the deal?

In general, it is hard to avoid the impression that the push to reach a deal right there and then, and the cave-in to the pressure of the media and the "Bring Them Home!" groups, caused our negotiators to wage the negotiations in a rushed and most unprofessional manner. Perhaps we would have done a lot better had we sent to Qatar and Egypt not the senior figures in our security establishment – Gen. Nitzan Alon, Shabak chief Ronen Bar, and Mossad head Dedi Barnea – but seasoned and savvy businessmen or lawyers.

The price is unfathomable. What could have justified the exponential jump from the fairly reasonable price we paid for the release of some of our hostages at the end of 2023 and the outrageous price we are now paying? The gap is huge, in terms of the number – and quality – of terrorists we are releasing for each hostage, the number of ceasefire days that the enemy will use to rearm and rebuild itself, and of course the dangerous precedent of our concession of strategic assets that we won with the blood of our soldiers.

2.  But beyond that: Is it not obvious that when and if one has to deal with a cheat and liar, one must ensure that he leaves sufficient assets in his hands to ensure that the other side carries out its part of the deal? Why did we agree to pay in full even before receiving the promised goods? How could we have allowed the Gazan population to return to northern Gaza, and agreed to withdraw our forces from the Netzarim axis, at such an early stage of the deal? We could have agreed, in the first stages, to call a ceasefire, to release terrorists, and to allow even more humanitarian aid – while retaining the cards that were so important to Hamas, such as the return of the population to northern Gaza and the IDF's withdrawal from Netzarim, until after the all our living hostages were freed.

Another elementary rule is that our enemy is not to receive live terrorists in exchange for dead bodies; only dead terrorists are to be given over in exchange for our corpses. This principle - one of the conclusions of the Shamgar Committee that was established in 2008 after the Gilad Shalit deal to set guidelines for future hostage exchanges - is both just and smart, for it motivates the abductors to preserve the lives of those they have kidnapped. For some inexplicable reason, in exchange for several corpses in the coming days, Israel will release all the women and minors who were arrested in Gaza ever since Oct. 8, 2023, the day after the massacre.

Certainly bringing deceased Jews to proper Jewish burial is a great Torah commandment and value. But it cannot justify the future danger to lives inherent in the release of murderous terrorists. We have in our hands many "valuable" terrorist corpses, such as that of Yichye Sinwar. If the negotiations had been handled correctly, all of our dead hostages could have been attained in exchange for Sinwar's cadaver, with perhaps a few more thrown in for good measure. It's true that ultimate justice requires that his remains be lost forever in the sea, as we did with the ashes of Eichmann and the Americans did with Bin-Laden. However, for the sake of Jewish burials for our dead hostages, we could have compromised on that point. 

Of course, it's not only the negotiators' fault, but also that of our Prime Minister and other government minister who approved the deal. We can be happy at least that from now on, Minister Ron Dermer will replace the failed negotiators and head our negotiating team.

3. Another missed opportunity – so far – was the threat last week by Israel's friend U.S. President Donald Trump that "all hell is going to break out" if Hamas did not release at least the three hostages it promised to free this past Saturday. Given that the "excuse" for the current agreement was pressure by the incoming Trump Administration, there is no reason that Trump's support for a strong Israeli reaction should not be utilized now to extricate ourselves from this terrible deal.

That is, now that this past Saturday noon did not see a full release of all the hostages, we have a green light from Trump to attack Hamas again with abandon. With full American backing, a new Defense Minister who thinks differently than his predecessor, and a new Chief of Staff, this is the time to wage the ultimate offensive that will achieve the war aims of destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages – as well as the new goal of transferring the Gazan population to other countries, in the spirit of the Trump vision.

[Ed. note: We now know that Hamas has agreed to release six living hostages this coming Saturday, in addition to four corpses beforehand and another four afterwards. It is therefore far from certain that the writer would call for an immediate Israeli attack under these circumstances.]

4. The war objective of dismantling the Hamas regime should be done in three stages. First, Israel must take over all of Gaza and establish a military administration that will control, among other things, the distribution of food and humanitarian aid to the populace. When the Gazans are no longer dependent on Hamas for food, and are no longer threatened by Hamas, they are more likely to cooperate with Israel and provide information for the release of the hostages and the capture of the Hamas leaders.

Secondly, any Gazan who wants to leave should be helped to do so. Pres. Trump has laid his prestige on this initiative, and will be of great assistance to this end.

And thirdly, the IDF must wage war on all fronts in Gaza simultaneously. The only agreement that can ever be made with Hamas is its surrender, in which all the hostages, dead or alive, are returned safely. If we allow Hamas to end this war with a victory of any type, the chance that it will return all our hostages is microscopic, for they serve to guarantee that Israel will not continue to attack and destroy Hamas.

If we muster up the strength, courage and resourcefulness to resume the military effort with a new spirit, there is a very good chance that Hamas will reach its moral breaking point very quickly and will agree, from lack of choice, to hand over all the hostages to us as part of its surrender.

Hypocritical Alternatives to the Trump Gaza Plan

by Dr. Ron Breiman, former Chairman of Professors for a Strong Israel, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Those whose hypocrisy is their trade are appalled by President Trump’s proposal to empty Gaza of its Arabs. “Trumpsfer,” they mockingly call it. They view it as impossible to implement, but continue to champion their favorite lie – the “two-state solution” – which is even less implementable.

They conceal the fact that Trump has no intention of forcibly expelling anyone. He rather intends to offer incentives to the Gazans to encourage them to emigrate. The freedom to live anywhere one likes is one of the most basic and important human rights - but the hypocrites who want to prevent this plan are seeking to deny it to the Gazans. 

These two-faced critics repeat over and over their mantra regarding "The Day After" – which is really their codename for their dangerous dream of a Palestinian state in the heart of western Eretz Yisrael. And they wish to pave the way for it by having our IDF soldiers put their lives on the line to destroy Hamas just so that the Fatah-run, terrorist-supporting Palestinian Authority can take its place. And all this comes precisely as they reject outright the Trump initiative for "The Day After," which is geared to encourage the terrorist-supporting, and worse, population of Gaza to begin new lives elsewhere.

What is their problem with the Trump plan? They say it's too coercive and racist, and immorally uproots people from their land. They forget, of course, that they themselves were very much in favor of a similar program to forcibly evict a myriad of Jews from their homes in Gaza and northern Shomron just 20 years ago. Many of them also favor the transfer of another few hundred thousand Jews so as to make room for their beloved two-state solution. They would be well advised to wake up to their hypocrisy and keep quiet.

Those whose hypocrisy is their trade, by comparing modern-day Israel to Nazi-era Germany, are guilty of belittling the Holocaust. The racist, Messianic left-wing camp has no right to even begin speaking against Israel's shining democracy!

Those whose hypocrisy is their trade claim to have compassion for the Arab "refugees" living in squalid refugee camps – when in fact we are talking about the fourth generation of those who left Israel back in 1948. By no means can they still be considered refugees. Instead of being resettled, as is the case with refugees around the world within two generations [according to the official UN definition for refugees who are not Arab Palestinian], they continue to benefit, decade after decade, from the generosity of the anti-Semitic UNRWA organization. The "camps" they live in are generally full-fledged cities, and the IDF would be well advised to stop using the term "refugee camp" (R.C.) altogether.

Those whose hypocrisy is their trade would have us forget that in 1948, there were not only Arab refugees, but also Jewish refugees – those who had been forcibly expelled from Arab countries such as Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, and others, beginning immediately after the establishment of the State of Israel. Some 650,000 of them arrived in Israel destitute and truly homeless, and immediately began a process of rehabilitation and acclimatization. Yet the hypocrites condemn Trump's nonviolent proposal for the Gazans.

What Type of Investigation?

Speaking of those whose hypocrisy is their trade, out of their desire to topple the Netanyahu government at any price, they demand a public commission of inquiry – something that doesn't even appear in the Law of Commissions of Inquiry – to investigate the failures, faults and mishaps that led to the current war. However, they are not coming to the public debate on this matter with clean hands. A genuine investigation must look deeply into the following:

a.     How to ensure that such a catastrophic event as Simchat Torah-October 7^th not ever be repeated – and not how to simply find those who are guilty, and especially Bibi Netanyahu. There are those whose only goal is to ensure that Netanyahu leaves public life, and as ignominiously as possible. The inquiry must therefore be carried out by professional investigators who enjoy the public trust; its members can certainly not be appointed by Judge Yitzchak Amit – who recently and controversially took on the position of Supreme Court President – who does not enjoy such public confidence.

b.    How the concept of giving gifts to the enemy evolved. These include, specifically, handing over parts of our homeland under the Oslo Accords, and giving money to Hamas. In addition, why was arch-terrorist Arafat and his successors granted the role of peace-maker, and why did we feel the need to purchase quiet from Hizbullah and Hamas?

c.     It must also investigate the plethora of new evidence that has been amassed over the years regarding the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin, thus shedding light (or darkness…) on the circumstances of the murder and the motives of the murderer.

Those whose hypocrisy is their trade have not seemed to notice, or care, that there are politicians in Israel who wear suits, and others who wear judicial robes. Most unfortunately, the latter operate most zealously and aggressively to erode the public trust in them – trust that is so very important for a judicial system. They might want to check every once in a while to see if possibly the only ones standing behind them are those who wear similar robes to them.

Best Trip Ever: Netanyahu in Washington

by Avi Greentzeig, former editor of the Kav Itonut chain and Hadrei Hadarim website, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Just over a week ago, when Prime Minister Netanyahu began an important trip to Washington as the first foreign leader to visit newly-reelected President Trump, the media here was rife with warnings: "Trump Demands that Israel Stop the War," "Trump Doesn't Like Netanyahu," and so on.

Over-zealous reporters rushed to tell us that the one-on-one meeting between the two would last "only 15 minutes," and pompous commentators in the TV studios explained that Trump would exact a high price from Israel. First and foremost, they warned us that Trump doesn't like wars and that Israel would not be permitted to continue its campaign to destroy Hamas.

And then came Trump.

In an unforgettable press conference before reporters from all over the world, Trump smashed to smithereens 100% of the prognoses, musings, nonsense and lies that had been heard here in the preceding days. The leader of the world gave Israel more or less every possible thing it could have asked for – and then added a bonus.

Not only did the president not hint in any way or form that he has any intention of restricting Israel, he actually made it clear that as far as he is concerned, Israel can renew the war and finish the job of cleaning out Gaza. He then added the words that shook up the world: “We should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and … build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza… The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip [and] we'll own it…"

This little addendum that he stuck in was one that, had it been uttered five minutes earlier by an Israeli, would have led to a police investigation for possible incitement, ordered by Attorney-General Gali Bahrav Miara. Just ask former MK Michael Ben-Ari.

Even as we debate, justifiably so, exactly what the chances are that Trump's Gaza plan will be actualized, we must remember that its very announcement grants Israel some important gains. For one thing, it means that the U.S. has reversed the extreme anti-Israel policies (in some areas) of the Biden Administration - which leads in turn to a reduction of international pressure upon us. The Biden term's point of departure was that even given that Israel had no other choice after Oct.7^th, it is still a war criminal country. From this followed the halt of U.S. armaments to Israel, as well as strong American pressure to increase "humanitarian aid" to Hamas/Gaza. This led to the bizarre scene of the installation of a pier in Gaza, under American auspices, for the benefit of "innocent" Gazans.

Trump has changed the American perspective. As of now, the Gazans – whether because they are "unlucky," as Trump said, or because they are a bloodthirsty, murderous gang – must be moved aside and sent away. From now on, every discussion starts with that point of departure. If the Saudis or the Qataris, or even Hamas itself, want to soften the decree, it will be up to them to make an acceptable offer.

And then also came Iran. I've seen that there are many in Israel's nationalist camp who were disappointed that Trump did not declare outright war on Iran, or something close to it. But the truth is that when Trump said he would rather negotiate with Iran than go to war with it, he gave Israel even more than it needs regarding the Iranian nuclear threat. To elaborate:

Israeli thinking is that when we hear about "diplomatic understandings" or a deal with Iran, what immediately comes to mind is the Obama era. But with Trump, it's different: When he presents a diplomatic option, he is not referring to a temporary freeze or dubious understandings – but rather something that will put a total and absolute end to Iran's nuclear aspirations.

For one thing, Trump has already signed an order directing his Secretaries of State and Defense to do everything necessary to drive Iran’s oil exports to zero. In addition, he said clearly: “If we made the deal, Israel wouldn’t bomb them." Basically, Trump is simply telling the Iranians to destroy their own nuclear reactors, so that Israel doesn't have to. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Now that Netanyahu has returned from Washington, he can get back into the Israeli routine of petty coalition fights and wasted courtroom time about years-old articles on the Walla website. It is therefore worth remembering, briefly, the gap between what the media here originally expected and the reality - which includes "small" achievements in America such as the imposition of sanctions on The Hague, the launch of an official campaign against anti-Semitism on campuses, and another weapons package for Israel worth a billion dollars.

It seems that we can sum up very simply: This was one of the most successful, if not the most successful, trips to Washington, D.C. of an Israel prime minister. Its welcome results will accompany us for many years ahead.

Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.