A former IDF chief already declared that Israel lost. Why make such irresponsible statements, when our soldiers are giving their lives in Gaza – statements like that can hurt their fighting spirit and engender doubts that their sacrifice is in vain. Ben-Gurion, Rabbi Kook, and Deborah the Prophetess answer him.
It is clear that an Israeli military move against Hezbollah could entangle the American naval forces in the area. But Israel faces an intolerable situation in the north, and a threat that no sovereign state in the world would tolerate.
Through the tunnel system under the Philadelphi Route separating the strip from Egypt, massive amounts of arms have been delivered to Hamas. The extent of Egypt’s knowing what was going on there may be revealed in the future. One thing is certain – the Israeli intelligence did not know the severity of the smuggling situation before the war.
Even as our war of existence rages on, we have seen people play the blame game by pinning responsibility on one another for the situation we are in. Our seminal book speaks to the here and now, teaching us that there is a way out.
Israel cannot afford to let the war become a stalemate or a war of attrition. The actions in the diplomatic, economic and civilian arenas, just like those on the battlefield, must serve the strategy of reaching our goals in the shortest amount of time and at the lowest cost.
Changes in leadership in the Palestinian Authority or a renewed Palestinian Authority are irrelevant. What do we care if it’s Mahmoud Abbas or Salam Fayyad, if in the streets of Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarm, the crowds want to hand over their weapons to Hamas? Why should we care if there is an old or “renewed” Palestinian Authority, if with every slaughter and killing and shooting in our streets, they dance and celebrate on the roofs and hand out sweets?
True to his traditional neo-isolationist approach, he has cynically suggested allowing the sides to fight each other to the death, as long as the US does not get stuck in a quagmire.
The soldiers who killed the captives will have to live with the event forever. This is a terrible tragedy, because after 70 days of cruel captivity, the three were so close to freedom. It is unclear how they escaped captivity – whether their captors fled, were killed or released them – and it is doubtful whether the answer to that will ever be known.
A combination of reduced combat intensity with increased humanitarian aid could prolong the duration of fighting, certainly if we add to this the morale Hamas can draw from the harm it has inflicted on our forces, the political pressure on Israel, and the bargaining chips it holds. Israel could then find itself slipping into a protracted quagmire, which will necessarily also increase the risk to our soldiers.
The notion that Israel should stop the war before Hamas is destroyed is dangerous. The communities in Judea and Samaria serve as the security buffer for central Israel. And some thoughts on the contemporary Maccabees.
