It is no coincidence that for thousands of years the story of Joseph and his brothers has been read during Hanukkah. The long struggle of the Hasmoneans for national freedom, lasting 25 years until the establishment of an independent Jewish state, touched the roots of our identity not only as a people but as a family composed of branches that at times clashed with one another. This Shabbat we read how Joseph emerges from his prison pit and ascends to the exalted position of viceroy of the most powerful empire in the world (Genesis 41:14–43).

We have known such periods in our history, when impressive Jews held decisive positions of influence among the nations. But nothing lasts forever. After they exited the stage, others arose who "did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8), and once again we were forced to wander. This was the case with Haman and Esther in the Persian Empire in the fifth century BCE, Shmuel HaNagid in Muslim Granada in the 11th century, Don Isaac Abarbanel in Christian Spain in the 15th century, and even Benjamin Disraeli in 19th-century Britain and Leon Blum in 20th-century France. The list goes on.

The story of Joseph in Egypt is the story of the Jewish people in the exiles to which they were cast, and of their efforts to survive while preserving their ancient heritage. Everywhere we contributed our wisdom, labor and loyalty to the ruling powers, to the economy, to trade, to science, to philosophy, to law, to faith and more. When the decisive moment came, it did not help us. See how the Jews of Australia were abandoned to their fate by a pro-Arab government. Jews fled to Oceania, to the far side of the globe, hoping antisemitism would not reach so far. They were wrong. We must open the foundational book of our people and learn to read history.

2.

Exile and wandering occupy a significant portion of our history, to the point that there were periods when Jews believed this was our destiny: to be a light unto the nations in their lands, while the Land of Israel was deferred to the messianic era. In 19th-century Germany, for example, the Reform movement replaced Jerusalem with Berlin, and even German Orthodoxy viewed life there as an ideal.

Following emancipation and the granting of rights to Jews in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch wrote in his Torah commentary: "Under the increasingly enlightened skies of the nations, they (the Jews) are to utilize the powers that have been enriched and liberated, in order to fulfill their unique mission in exile more completely… and not set their hearts on rivalry with the nations… like Abraham, they will build altars among the nations to God and His Torah… for the redemption of humanity, and will realize the full measure of goodness and truth among many peoples. In the end, the nations will tolerate and honor them."

One hears the heartbreaking yearning of German Jews to be embraced by the German nation. But the deeper their integration into culture and society, the stronger the hatred toward them grew, until the bitter end. This process has repeated itself many times throughout our history, and will likely do so again.

3.

Hanukkah's great innovation lies in insisting on the alternative: independent political life in our homeland, enabling the observance of the ancient tradition without fear. The first stage of the revolt that erupted in 167 BCE under the leadership of Judah Maccabee (from the Hebrew word Makkevet, a hummer) was an uprising against Hellenistic coercion and the prohibition on observing the commandments of the Torah. Once this goal was achieved and the Temple purified, Judah sent most of his soldiers' home and remained with about 800 men. General Bacchides exploited this and surprised them with an army of 20,000 soldiers. The defeat was total. The Jewish battalions were destroyed and Judah was killed.

At this stage, the revolt failed. The decrees returned, Jews were executed and the Temple was desecrated once again.

The remaining Hasmonean brothers fled with their followers to the caves of the Judean Desert. They sent Johanan to lead their families to the Nabateans east of the Jordan, but the Nabateans  murdered them. Despair deepened. Earlier, under Judah's leadership, the success of the revolt had ignited hope, and now it had collapsed. Worse still, the families for whom the revolt had been launched were murdered. The despair intensified. Like Joseph, cast into the pit a second time (Genesis 37:24; 40:15), they found themselves in a deep political, military and personal abyss, in a dire situation.

4.

At this point, Jonathan, the youngest brother, rose and assumed leadership. We have no choice, he told the few who gathered around him, but to fight for our freedom until victory. We bear responsibility for the continuity of our people and its ancient tradition. Learning from the first phase of the rebellion, they understood that religious freedom and the purification of the Temple were insufficient while enemy forces still surrounded them. Political independence was required.

They fought for about two years in guerrilla operations against General Bacchides until he left the country and returned to Antioch. Then, over the course of about seven years, Jonathan established a standing army of roughly 40,000 fighters. Only in 152 BCE did he liberate Jerusalem, purify the Temple and assume the position of high priest. Herein lies his innovation: he descended to the lowlands and the coastal plain and over roughly a decade cleansed these areas of foreign presence and reconquered them. It seems that nothing like this had occurred since King David.

At a decisive moment, Jonathan erred and trusted his enemy, General Tryphon. He went to Acre, was captured and killed along with his two sons and hundreds of his soldiers in 143 BCE. Of Mattathias' five sons, only Simon remained. With the help of 39,000 soldiers, he expelled Tryphon, completed the purification of the land, and in 142 BCE established the independent Jewish state and was crowned President.

5.

In the middle of the story of Joseph and his brothers is embedded a secondary narrative about his brother Judah, the one who advised selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites (Genesis 37:26–27). While Joseph begins his meteoric rise, Judah descends from his brothers, his two sons die and his daughter-in-law Tamar is left a widow (Genesis 38:1–7). After his wife dies, Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute, and Judah has relations with her without knowing she is his daughter-in-law (Genesis 38:15–16). She gives birth to twins. As the first extends his hand to emerge, his brother bursts forth before him and thus receives his name, Peretz, which means "Break forth" (Genesis 38:27–29), the ancestral father of the Messiah, referred to in the liturgical poem Lecha Dodi as "Ben Partzi" (son of Peretz, Ruth 4:18–22).

The tidings for mending the world come from its depths, and from there, redeeming it.

Joseph, son of Rachel, and Judah, son of Leah, represent spiritual and political forces: Messiah son of Joseph, responsible for building the national body, and Messiah son of David, who builds the spirit and soul of the people. These are also two camps that would later split into two kingdoms, Judah and Israel (I Kings 12). In our own time, these concepts have evolved into today's question of the identity of the people dwelling in Zion: Jewish or Israeli. As part of the profound historiosophical lesson taught by the Book of Genesis, we see that while Joseph ascends, Judah descends, but in his descent, he unknowingly gives birth to the Messiah.

6.

While the national body is being built and Messiah son of Joseph rises and strengthens, the spiritual and religious component is temporarily concealed and the connection to religious tradition appears tenuous. But this is a superficial view, enslaved to daily headlines and blind to the deep meta-historical processes unfolding within us as we return home to Zion and the national spirit that had lain dormant, awakens.

Joseph was thrown into a pit and was sold into slavery (Genesis 37:24–28). Judah descended and fell into a situation in which his daughter-in-law conceived from him (Genesis 38:18). Neither knew at first that this was not the end of the story but the beginning of a vast historical saga destined to change humanity. The Hasmoneans took part in it, and our own generation of wonders is writing another chapter in the Bible, that was never sealed.

Our redemption arrives in the most difficult moments, unexpectedly, from unforeseen directions, When our mind is distracted.

We need patience. And faith.

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I have always worn my Judaism loudly and proudly, but now I find myself messaging family and friends to beg them to stay safe, asking them to avoid public Chanukah events, and hearing friends seriously contemplate pulling their children out of Jewish schools. That reality tells you everything about the world we live in today. It is open season on Jewish people.

On the first night of Chanukah, as Jews around the world prepared to light candles symbolizing resilience, victory over persecution, and the miracle of a small amount of oil that burned for eight days, we were forced instead to usher in the holiday in mourning. A Chanukah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney became a scene of terror.

In response, a vigil was organized spontaneously in Tel Aviv to honor the victims. Despite the last-minute notice, hundreds of Israelis showed up, many of them young olim who had uprooted their lives from diaspora communities to build new lives in Israel. Among them were Australians, some who had made aliyah and now live in Israel, and others who were visiting when the attack occurred and were suddenly confronted with the horror unfolding back home, where their families and friends lived.

It was clear from how they spoke that Bondi Beach was not chosen at random. For most Jews in diaspora communities, Chanukah falls in the winter, when we light candles and celebrate indoors with family and friends. But for Australian Jews, since Chanukah falls in the summer, Jewish celebrations move outdoors—into parks, beaches, and public squares. Over the years, Bondi Beach became an iconic place for these celebrations, synonymous with Australian Jewish communal life. It was a place where families gathered openly and proudly, where Judaism was visible, joyful, and unafraid.

That is precisely what made the attack so violating. The terrorists did not just target people; they targeted an identity and a community's sense of safety and belonging in Australia. They targeted the idea that Jews could exist publicly, confidently, and unhidden.

Even through grief, many Australians spoke with a profound sense of gratitude. Again and again, through tears and trembling voices, they said the same thing: "thank God we have the State of Israel." They said it while mourning the dead, while worrying about loved ones thousands of miles away, and while absorbing the trauma of what had happened. Their instinct was not despair, but relief that Israel exists.

One father from Bondi Beach, who was visiting Israel when the attack occurred, spoke at the vigil and broke down as he confirmed that his wife and children were safe. His tears were not only for fear and loss but for what he was witnessing: Jews from across the world standing with his community, showing that they were not alone. He saw that there is now a place where Jews instinctively gather in moments like this, a Jewish state that understands Jewish pain without explanation.

That reaction speaks volumes.

For generations, Jews who were massacred in pogroms, exiled from cities, or hunted across continents had nowhere to turn. There was no address for Jewish suffering, no army sworn to protect Jewish lives, and no state that viewed attacks on Jews anywhere as part of a broader threat to Jews everywhere. Today, that reality has changed.

Israel's enemies understand this clearly. Jewish institutions and places of worship worldwide often fall under the protective reach of Israel's security services, and Israel's National Security Council repeatedly warns Jews and Israelis abroad to exercise caution, particularly at unsecured public gatherings. To those who wage violence, this is not a war against a country, but a war against a people. Global terror attacks orchestrated by Iran, from Buenos Aires to Amsterdam, and the attacks in Australia in 2024, underscore this truth.

Australian Jews understood this instinctively, and in the aftermath of Bondi Beach, they responded not only with fear, but with clarity: the existence of Israel changes everything. Israel does not prevent antisemitism, nor does it stop terrorists from trying, but it ensures that Jewish blood is no longer cheap, that Jewish lives are no longer defenseless, and that Jewish communities are never truly alone.

This will not be the last targeted attack against Jews, but for the first time, Jews confront this reality with a state, an army, and a peoplehood that refuses to disappear quietly.

At Bondi Beach, terrorists tried to shatter a symbol of Jewish life lived openly and proudly, but in Israel, Australian Jews reminded us why that symbol still matters. They showed that even in the face of terror, Jewish life persists, visible, proud, and resilient, and that community and solidarity can overcome fear. The existence of Israel is a lifeline for Jewish life and security. It is a place where Jewish suffering is understood without explanation, where Jewish lives are defended, and where Jews from all over the world can find refuge and support.

This moment will be another test for the world and how it responds to the surge of terrorism globally. While Jews have historically been the first targets, we know that what begins with our community will never remain confined to it. The persistence of violence against Jews is a warning to all, and the way the world responds by calling out and taking strong measures against terrorism will determine whether hatred is allowed to spread unchecked.

For the Jewish community, the existence of Israel is not only a lifeline, but also a signal that injustice will not go unanswered and that the world must stand against those who seek to destroy the innocent.

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The understandings between Israel and Egypt on the gas deal do not include an Egyptian commitment to withdraw prohibited forces from the Sinai Peninsula. Israel Hayom has learned that accompanying understandings include dialogue on mechanisms to address Egyptian violations. The US has promised to promote handling of the issue, but there is no clear commitment to rectify the situation.

In Israel, officials believe that once gas deliveries begin and Egypt becomes energy-dependent on Israeli gas, this dependence will serve as leverage to deter Cairo from violating the peace treaty. They also argue that had Israel not supplied Egypt with gas, its southern neighbor would have turned to Qatar. According to information gathered in recent years, Egypt has introduced forces into Sinai far beyond what is permitted under the security annex of the peace treaty. It has also built tunnels deep inside Sinai for storing weapons and has suspiciously extended runways at airfields.

A security achievement

As far as is currently known, none of these problems has been fully resolved. The excess Egyptian forces will remain in Sinai, but Egypt has given commitments to limit their activity. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that Israel achieved several gains on the security front.

Despite the agreement, efforts to politically warm relations with Egypt have so far failed because of the war in Gaza, which has yet to end, and the tense atmosphere between the presidential palace in Cairo and the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. The Americans examined the possibility of holding a summit meeting between Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, with US President Donald Trump participating, but the Egyptians rejected the idea.

Alongside these issues, the gas agreement enables Israel to achieve several strategic objectives. The first is Egypt's dependence on Israeli gas, which it uses both for domestic energy needs and for liquefaction and export to Europe, a vital source of foreign currency without which Egypt's economy would collapse. Egypt has gas fields of its own, but they are insufficient for these purposes. This dependence constitutes Israeli diplomatic and security leverage over its southern neighbor, though its impact is limited to major strategic issues, chiefly reducing or even eliminating concerns that Egypt might cancel its peace treaty with Israel.

An energy powerhouse?

Israel is consolidating its status as a regional power in the energy sector. It supplies gas to Egypt and also to Jordan, which uses it for a significant portion of its energy consumption. The agreement with Israel comes at Qatar's expense. Doha had been in talks with el-Sisi on building a new gas pipeline from Qatar's giant gas fields to Egypt. Laying such a pipeline would take years, and Egypt did not have the time to wait.

The agreement opens the door to additional energy projects in cooperation with Gulf states, projects that have been on the table for a long time and are expected to advance once an agreement is reached to bring Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords, likely not before elections and the formation of a new government in Israel.

In the energy sphere, under the agreement Israel will build an additional gas pipeline between Ramat Hovav and Nitzana, enabling further increases in exports to Egypt. The deal is expected to restart tenders for exploration of new gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean, and the Energy Ministry is set to renew preparations for those exploration bids.

Another reason for the delay in the agreement with Egypt was the Energy Ministry's demand that remaining reserves in existing fields be sufficient for Israeli domestic consumption and remain priced at the current low levels. According to the Energy Ministry, these demands were fully met.

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This causes Iranian intentions to implement a certain plan to become perpetual, and this is true regarding their aspiration to destroy Israel. In the 12-day war, Israel dealt a severe blow (with US assistance) to Iran's nuclear program, but it appears that the intentions to return and achieve a deterrent nuclear capability have not left the minds of Iranian decision-makers. Both before the war and after it, there are generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or parliamentary representatives who promise the achievement of nuclear capability that will bring about deterrence of Israel, so that it will not attack Iran and its allies, terrorist organizations, again.

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Across all theaters, Israel has achieved significant gains following the blow it suffered on October 7. It has struck its enemies hard and, with American assistance, succeeded in forcing Hamas and Hezbollah into moves they had refused to take – releasing hostages while the IDF maintains its presence in the Strip, and ceasing fire from Lebanon as an expression of solidarity with Hamas, despite Israel's continued freedom of operation in Lebanon and ground presence at five points along the border.

However significant these achievements are, they do not guarantee sustained and strategically meaningful long-term change in the regional landscape. To achieve this goal – which means victory in the war – Hamas must be fully disarmed, and Hezbollah must either be disarmed or at minimum prevented from strengthening and returning to southern Lebanon.

Realizing these objectives is far more difficult than achieving the goals reached so far, because for Hamas and Hezbollah, this is no longer about paying a heavy price to ensure survival and protect strategic assets, but rather about making concessions of existential significance. This is because they require Hamas and Hezbollah to relinquish a central component of their identity and control over territory, and because such a move would amount to Hamas admitting that the October 7 attack was a mistake and accepting that, in Palestinian national memory, the attack that galvanized the Palestinian public will be recorded as a disaster and grave error.

The impression is that the American administration has not yet decided whether to back powerful Israeli force moves that would enable completing the collapse of Hamas, or to prefer, as it currently leans, to begin implementing phase two of the plan (perhaps even without waiting for the return of Ran Gvili's body), at least in the area under IDF control, without disarming Hamas. Each path faces numerous obstacles due to the plan's ambiguity, which requires agreement on small details, the parties' differing interpretations of the plan's intent, the multiplicity of parties meant to be involved, and above all – President Trump's eagerness to demonstrate progress and strengthen the message that the war has ended, even when conditions on the ground actually indicate difficulty in advancing the plan.

To avoid having to make a strategic decision between completing the war objectives and leveraging achievements so far to shape a better security reality for the coming years, versus avoiding an undesired confrontation with an especially friendly American president who operates from his own motivations – Israel must make every effort to convince Trump that backing Israel to complete the mission is also in his interest. Among other reasons, it could help expand the Abraham Accords. One way to do this is to create a broad internal Israeli front on this issue, beyond the government. After all, the hostage dispute is already behind us.

The writer is the head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.

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Two weeks ago, a first meeting took place between Israeli and Lebanese representatives, laying the groundwork for ongoing talks concerning both preventing Hezbollah's re-armament and issues related to the border line and IDF activity in Lebanese territory. A follow-up meeting was already scheduled, and at the Netanyahu-Barrack meeting they agreed on a framework for talks and topics to be discussed between the sides, including coordination on the return of residents from southern Lebanon to their homes, specifically those not from pro-Hezbollah villages.

Israel's active defense rights

According to the sources, the meeting reinforced coordination between Israel and the US on Syria and Lebanon issues. They say there is a consensus that Israel has the right to defend itself actively, meaning to strike terrorist organizations and terrorists wherever they pose a real threat. On the Lebanese front, discussion focused on tightening coordination with the Lebanese army to enable it to fulfill its mission of uncovering Hezbollah's weapons and ammunition stockpiles in the country's south. Barrack was presented with data and intelligence showing that the Lebanese are not sufficiently determined in this mission and that the IDF, therefore, needs to conduct strikes on sites where the Lebanese army cannot or does not want to operate.

Warning about al-Sharaa forces

In the Syrian sector, Israel presented intelligence showing that the forces of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa cannot be trusted. One member of these security forces carried out an attack in which two soldiers and an American civilian were killed. The Damascus administration was quick to declare that this was a terrorist from ISIS, and Washington adopted this version. Israel warns that this is not a lone terrorist and that al-Sharaa's forces are responsible for massacres of minorities, including Druze and Alawites.

The American representatives requested that Israeli activity in Syria be coordinated and that Israel allow government forces to impose order. This week, in one of the Syrian villages not far from the Israeli border, a patrol of Syrian forces was filmed passing by an IDF checkpoint in what appears to be a coordinated passage between the sides.

Turkey's regional involvement

Another topic raised was Turkey's involvement across all sectors. The meeting clarified that Israel's firm opposition to Turkish forces entering the Gaza Strip remains in place. Regarding Syria, Israel seeks to preserve aerial freedom of operation in the country, and the Americans propose strengthening coordination in this context through CENTCOM headquarters to avoid clashes with the Turks. The meeting was attended by, among others, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, acting National Security Advisor Gil Reich, Military Secretary Brig. Gen. Roman Gofman, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter.

Saudi normalization disappointment

Meanwhile, an American source says that Washington's disappointment over the lack of progress toward normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia and the latter's joining the Abraham Accords is directed at both sides. He confirmed our Israel Hayom report that the Saudis, therefore, did not receive immediate signing of the F-35 aircraft deal, nor their request regarding the nuclear facility. He added that Israel's actions in Judea and Samaria (establishing new settlements) and reports of Jewish violence against Arabs are among the factors in the failure to achieve rapprochement with Saudi Arabia.

President Trump is disappointed, the source says, but he is not giving up, as this move (bringing Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords) is a key move for a comprehensive Middle East solution. The source confirmed that the White House and State Department conveyed messages of dissatisfaction about the assassination of senior Hamas figure Raad Saad, but described as "exaggerated" the publications on this matter. "Israel is entitled to defend itself and strike terrorists, but in the background, there is a ceasefire and moves to end the war, and care must be taken not to torpedo that. Trump's plan returned all the living hostages and almost all the deceased, Israel needs to give it a chance to be completed," the source said.

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The extensive knowledge Sa'ad acquired in Gaza and abroad, his rich experience in a series of command and staff roles, and the extensive network of connections he developed with many elements in the 'resistance axis' would likely have shortened the Hamas' recovery process. Therefore, one must wonder about the wording of the political echelon's announcement that the directive for Sa'ad's elimination was given "in response to the activation of an explosive device planted by Hamas terrorists, which caused the injury of our soldiers in the yellow zone of the Strip."

Is it true that had this device not exploded, Sa'ad could have continued his life undisturbed? Can his partner in the Hamas leadership, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, and other commanders in various roles, interpret Israeli policy this way and assume they are guaranteed immunity as long as they do not harm us?

One does not need to be a great statesman to understand that Israel's clarifications were intended to appease the Trump administration and assuage criticism from the mediating countries. This impression is reinforced by the continuation of the political echelon's statement, which describes Sa'ad's recent activities "in rehabilitating the terrorist organization and in planning and executing attacks against Israel and rebuilding a strike force, in blatant violation of the ceasefire rules and Hamas' commitments to respect President Trump's plan."

However, the implication is that, in principle, Israel accepts the ceasefire rules even regarding arch terrorists, and that it needs good reasons (or excuses) to justify their elimination even while the October 7 attack is, in itself, definitely sufficient justification.

This conduct, as well as efforts to reach agreements, may weaken the image Israel has created for itself throughout the war: the "neighborhood bully" who removes threats by force and dictates order in the region. This approach is not devoid of weaknesses and risks, but before replacing it, it is worth examining the balance of its advantages and disadvantages relative to the alternatives.

One way or another, Israel must continue the policy of targeted killings systematically and continuously, without explaining and without apologizing. Hamas' opposition to demilitarization only strengthens this approach.

Leaving Gaza in ruins

"The Hamas movement adheres to 'resistance' as a strategic option, but at the same time attempts to adapt its actions to the current political and humanitarian circumstances in the Gaza Strip." This is how the Hamas website Al-Risalah summarized the terrorist organization's position in light of its current challenges, marking the 38th anniversary of its founding. It relied on the words of Khalil al-Hayya, the leader of Hamas in Gaza.

In an interview granted to the Qatari network Al Jazeera last week, Khaled Mashaal said: "The war in its total form has undoubtedly ended, and we hope and are working to ensure it does not return." 

Regarding Israel's two central demands, anchored in President Trump's 20-point plan, Mashaal presented unsurprising compromise formulas. Regarding the transfer of power from Hamas, he noted the movement's agreement to the establishment of a technocratic government "and for a union between the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria". Regarding the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Strip, Mashaal repeated the "hudna" idea, holding fire and keeping weapons without disarming. 

With these formulas and a willingness to support the deployment of an international stabilization force, Mashaal hopes to convince the mediating countries, and through them the US, to pressure Israel to move to Stage B of the Trump plan.

This is the stage supposed to provide the Palestinians with one of the most important achievements from their perspective following the halt of the war, a significant Israeli withdrawal from Gaza territories, including the southern, northern, and eastern areas currently under IDF control, except for a narrow security strip along the border area (the security perimeter). This stage is intended to pave the way for a complete IDF withdrawal in the third stage.

At the current point in time, what interests the American administration more than anything is the stabilization of the ceasefire, cementing a reality of non-belligerence that will allow the US president to take credit for this achievement and move on to realizing his other plans.

However, it is difficult to say that under current conditions, moving to the second stage is an Israeli interest. The opposite is true! IDF control of the areas from which it is supposed to evacuate not only improves security preparedness for various scenarios but also leaves Israel with a significant lever of pressure on Hamas and the mediating countries to fulfill its demands.

In Israel's view, the ceasefire is not the goal. Dismantling the enemy's capabilities and demilitarizing the territory of weapons are the main goals in Gaza, and so far, not only have they not been achieved, but apart from declarations of commitment to this, no practical plan has been presented to achieve them.

Now, after all the living hostages and almost all the deceased hostages have been returned, withdrawal from these areas is a price Israel is being demanded to pay, an interest of the Palestinians and the guarantors of the agreement, but not of Israel.

Implications for Hezbollah

As has been written more than once, the vacuum created by the absence of clear definitions for the terms "demilitarization" and "disarmament" is beginning to be filled with creative interpretations, like the one presented by Khaled Mashaal. Israel cannot settle for superficial solutions. Its approach regarding the issue of Hamas' demilitarization will influence not only Gaza, but also its efforts to bring about the dismantling of Hezbollah.

The political echelon would do well to clarify simply that the meaning of the demand to demilitarize the territory is that the Gaza Strip remains clean of any military capability, light or heavy weapons, offensive or defensive, ammunition, production means, tunnels, naval and aerial vessels, communication, command and intelligence means, neither in the hands of Hamas nor in the hands of any other Palestinian element in this territory.

From Israel's perspective, it is preferable to leave the situation in the Strip as it is rather than "progress" in an outline that will not advance its goals, will increase pressure on it, and will only burden its conduct. A Gaza Strip where half is under Israeli control and the other half is immersed in destruction and ruin with no future, without hope, and without rehabilitation, is preferable to an outline that does not include true demilitarization of military capabilities.

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The first common denominator is the transformation of Jews everywhere, simply because of who they are, into targets whose killing is seen as legitimate. Calls for annihilation that have echoed through Western capitals for more than two years have created the atmosphere. Within it, whether through spontaneous initiative or external direction, it is easy to grow active terrorist cells.

The second connecting line between the wave of attacks on Jewish communities around the world is more elusive, and less visible. It is difficult to convince someone who is not Jewish that he will be next in line. On the surface, the global surge in antisemitism is explained away as being because of the war in Gaza or because antisemitism is an ancient disease. Try convincing an American, a Briton or an Australian on the street that whoever murdered Jews today will murder him tomorrow.

And yet, no less than Israel and the Jews, the entire West is threatened by this wave of murderous violence, even if much of it does not yet realize it. Particularly blind has been, and remains, the government of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who even after the second deadliest terrorist attack in Australia's history has still failed to internalize where the problem lies. His feeble initial response to the attack illustrates just how little he understands the severity of the threat that has been built under his nose during his time in office.

Albanese has displayed an especially conciliatory line toward the violence raging in his country since the October 7 massacre. Instead of banning violent slogans such as "global intifada" and "Palestine will be free from the river to the sea," he recognized a Palestinian state. Instead of filtering out the entry of inciting terrorists, he barred senior and junior Israelis from entering Australia. In his great foolishness, Albanese failed to understand that anyone who legitimizes a massacre that took place thousands of kilometers from his country will ultimately end up with a slaughterhouse on the most famous beach of his own. That is the nature of terror. It has no borders.

This is precisely the problem of the progressive West. Paradoxically, in Arab countries, in China and in Russia, an iron fist crushes the incubator of radical Islam. There, in countries that are not democracies, there is an understanding that this current cultivates both extremist slogans and the violence itself. By contrast, in countries that call themselves liberal, the incitement and the violence that follows it run wild, with very few restraints.

An absurd spectacle

In an absurd spectacle that is hard to comprehend, radical Islamists in America openly express their aspiration to conquer the White House. They would never dare make a similar call in Morocco, Dubai, Beijing or Moscow. Or take Qatar's Al Jazeera, banned from broadcasting in much of the Arab world, yet free to incite across the West. Can there be any justification for such folly?

For now, only Jews, both in their own country and abroad, are paying with their lives for this moral feebleness. But as always in history, we are only the first. Just like the Nazis or the communists, radical Islam, both Shiite and Sunni, threatens to overtake democracies, in this case by doing so from within.

When one thinks about it, this is exactly what our Hasmonean forefathers fought against. The dominant culture of their time sought to erase their identity and values as handed down through Jewish tradition. In the end, Jewish tradition and morality endured and prevailed. So it will be this time as well, heavy as the price may be.

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The Australian government has consistently claimed that alongside its criticism of Israel's policy in Gaza, it provides full protection to Jews in the country. That promise collapsed on Sunday with the attack at Bondi Beach, one of Sydney's most iconic locations. The Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony targeted in the attack was known in advance, and yet did not receive adequate protection. Beyond the failure to secure the event itself, Australian intelligence services also failed to identify the perpetrators and prevent the attack ahead of time.

These two failures demand attention not only for the purposes of investigation, but above all for drawing lessons, in Australia and beyond. World Jewry, including Israelis living abroad, is now facing an unprecedented level of danger, perhaps the most severe since the Holocaust. Growing criticism of Israel in many countries has unleashed widespread antisemitism, which, together with increasing Muslim influence, is manifesting in a sharp rise in both physical and verbal violence against Jews and Israelis.

At the local level, this requires heightened preparedness and vigilance by Jewish communities and, of course, by local police forces. Events known in advance, as well as permanent sites such as Jewish schools and synagogues, are at high risk. But physical security is not enough. It is the last line of defense, and one that can always be breached. It is preceded by intelligence that require close monitoring and supervision of risk factors. Democratic countries are generally reluctant to do this, out of concern for civil liberties, but it seems they now have no choice. Just as Western states were forced to adapt their intelligence monitoring and physical security during the peak of Islamic State terrorism in the previous decade, they are now required to act in order to protect their Jewish citizens.

Israel, too, has a role to play in this effort. As the nation state of the Jewish people, Israel has a deep and genuine obligation to Jews everywhere. It is duty bound to work to protect them, just as it protects Israelis at home. This is a more complex mission given geographic and physical constraints, but one Israel has bridged in the past in a variety of ways, most notably through intelligence cooperation between the Mossad and the Shin Bet and their counterparts, in order to track suspects and thwart attacks.

However, what worked for decades against a limited threat, primarily from states and organized terrorist groups, is less relevant given the scale of the current danger. It appears Israel must rethink how it responds to the significant challenge now before it. This task is several orders of magnitude larger than the remit of the Mossad's "Bitzur" unit, which is responsible for the issue. It cuts across government ministries and security agencies and requires engagement at a national level as a real operational front: the eighth front, alongside the seven active fronts of war Israel is currently managing in the Middle East.

Against this backdrop, it was striking that the Israeli government continued with its routine on Sunday as if nothing had happened. For all the importance of the meeting at which a framework agreement was signed in Dimona, it is doubtful that such a celebratory event would have gone ahead had 15 Israelis been murdered in a terrorist attack inside Israel. The fact that the prime minister, who devoted only a few words to the attack at the start of his speech, proceeded as planned to the inauguration of a neighborhood named after his brother Yoni further proves the disconnect from the magnitude of the event and from the scale of the danger it poses to Jews worldwide.

An emergency cabinet meeting would have been important at the declarative level, to signal to Jews everywhere that they have a state and a government that stands behind them and protects them. More importantly, it was needed at the practical level, to issue operational directives to the relevant ministries (Foreign Affairs, Defense, Diaspora Affairs, Aliyah) and to the security services. Israel has no shortage of tools to confront this unprecedented threat. The worst possible outcome would be for Jews in the diaspora to feel abandoned twice: by their own governments and by Israel.

A proposal that smells of evasion

Two final points. First, at the height of the unfolding horror, as reports from Sydney began to pour in, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and other ministers chose to focus on what they evidently regarded as a far more important issue: the High Court of Justice ruling blocking the dismissal of the attorney general. Levin's determination to dismantle the judicial system is well known, but on Sunday he outdid even his own previous lows.

Second, the decision to launch, of all days, the proposal to establish a civilian commission of inquiry into the failures of October 7 was outrageous on three counts. First, because of its timing, so close to the deadly attack in Sydney. Second, because Sunday marked day 800 of the war, the last moment when such a deeply divisive proposal should have been raised. And third, because the proposal itself reeks of an effort by the government to evade responsibility for the disaster that occurred on its watch.

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This text continues an article I wrote about two weeks ago on the urgent need to establish a Jewish People's Guard. It is not a summary of the existing situation, but an opening salvo in a necessary process: building an international Jewish security network, adapted to the threats of the 21st century.

The Jewish people did not always know, or were not always able, to defend themselves when it became clear that no one else would do so on their behalf.

The establishment of the State of Israel and its security apparatus changed the fate of the Jewish people living in Israel, but they did not rule out the principle of mutual responsibility among Jewish communities in the Diaspora. Today, more than ever, the State of Israel's commitment to Jewish communities worldwide is growing. One thing is now unmistakably clear: exclusive reliance on local authorities in the Diaspora, important as they may be, is not enough. A complementary move is required. Not a militia. Not a replacement force. Rather, a coordinated, professional, international defense framework that operates in partnership with the State of Israel, Jewish communities and security bodies and authorities in the various countries.

From here, we must move from idea to action. This means building early warning and deterrence mechanisms, sharing information among communities, training community based response teams under an organized and well drilled command and control model, and strengthening Jewish resilience at an organizational level, not merely a state of mind. A genuine security network is measured by its ability to anticipate threats, identify patterns and respond quickly and responsibly, not only after an incident has already occurred. This is a process that demands leadership, coordination and resources, and above all: an understanding that this is a long term responsibility.

During Hanukkah, it is important to recall a simple truth that is too often forgotten: we do not rely on miracles. A miracle is a last resort, not a work plan. The Maccabees did not wait for salvation. They built power, organized and acted. Today as well, Jewish resilience will not be built on hope alone, but on initiative, mutual responsibility and early preparedness. If we want a safer future for the Jewish people, we must be relentlessly proactive and build the Jewish People's Guard not as a slogan, but as a reality.

Where efforts converge, the miracle will follow.

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