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What is "ethnic cleansing?" I would like to ask former defense minister Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon. They murdered our sons and beheaded them. They raped our daughters and, after breaking the pelvises of the victims, shot them in the head. They tied parents and children together to chairs and burned them alive. They murdered even those who had dedicated their lives to helping them. Then they abducted hundreds – children, the elderly, women, and men – dragging them into their tunnels. If they could, they would do the same to all of us.
For years, they openly declared their intentions in the Hamas Charter. This is their raison d'être: to annihilate the Jews and destroy their state. This is not improving their living conditions, building a just society, or finding joy in raising their children and watching them thrive. "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.": This is stated in the charter's opening verses, and it only worsens from there.
For years, we deluded ourselves into believing that the other side shared a similar thought process and that, in the end, common sense would prevail. As a result, we ignored the damning signs that were clear to anyone whose vision wasn't blinded by the sin of preconceived notions – what we call the "Konseptzia." We knew they were using the cement we supplied to build an underground city designed to be used against us. We were, it seems, willing to do anything for the illusion of a temporary peace.
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October 7 wiped the slate clean. Through blood and fire, it proved that the real question is binary: us or them. There is no hope for the future, no scenario in which they willingly reconcile themselves to our existence – not in this world, the next, or even a thousand years from now. Their culture is different from ours; their religious tradition is different from ours, and they are unfamiliar with the Bible and the immense contributions we have made to Islam. They do not know the history of our people, this land, or even their own history, other than through the lens of the preacher at the mosque. Their hatred is so profound and deadly that, given the chance, they would choose to die, so long as we die with them.
This is not prejudice but a clear-eyed reflection on the last hundred years. The events of October 7 illustrated this truth in its starkest form: for a few hours, they were granted the opportunity to fulfill their darkest desires, and they seized it with zeal, even proudly recording and posting videos of the atrocities on social media. It was genocide and ethnic cleansing carried out against 1,200 of our people but intended for all of us. Fortunately, we regained our senses and stopped them.
There is no point in lamenting that a scorpion stings; that is its nature. We can only blame ourselves if we fail to exercise caution.
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How does one stop the enemy? By playing by its rules. The ancient laws of the region teach us that our enemies are not deterred by loss of life. After all, they use their own population as human shields and see no issue with placing explosives beneath kindergartens or hospitals. On the contrary, if the strategy of using children as shields leads to their deaths, this serves their public relations goals, portraying the Jews as murderers. The usual antisemites eagerly await any opportunity to blame us for Hamas' crimes.
If our enemies are undeterred by casualties, they are even less so by the destruction of buildings. They are willing to endure freezing cold in leaky tents, warmed only by the knowledge that they killed a few Jews. The world will always come to their aid and force the Jews to supply fuel, electricity, and food – even in the midst of war. "Humanitarian aid," they call it. It is this so-called aid that has sealed the fate of our captives. Without incentives to release the hostages, why would the enemy do so voluntarily? Global support for them does not stop at humanitarian assistance; many openly back the murderers and call for the destruction of the Jewish state.
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So what will stop them if loss of life and physical destruction are insufficient? The answer lies in the Iron Wall we must build before them. This concept, from Ze'ev Jabotinsky's famous essay, states: "As long as the Arabs feel that there is the least hope of getting rid of us, they will refuse to give up this hope… it is only when there is no longer any hope of getting rid of us, because they can make no breach in the iron wall. Not till then will they drop their extremist leaders whose watchword is 'Never!'"
What is the Iron Wall? From a perspective of a century that has passed since the essay was written, we've learned that the only thing that truly deters our enemies and sends defeat into their collective consciousness is the seizure of land. Not just taking it and leaving it barren but settling Jews on that land. Measure for measure: as they sought to expel us from our land – and used that desire to justify their atrocities against our children – we will expel them from the land from which they launched their death squads. Hamas cannot emerge from this conflict with the same amount of territory it controlled before it launched its murderous assault. This is a life-saving realization.
Jewish settlements in northern Gaza, for example, would be a fitting Zionist response to the worst massacre perpetrated against us since the Holocaust. It is our moral obligation to our dead, whose blood cries out from the ground. It is also the only way to pay our enemies in kind and deter them from attempting a similar massacre in the future.
This is not "ethnic cleansing;" it is the removal of our enemies from places they use to harm us and their replacement with pioneers who will settle the land. The Iron Wall is not just military might, which, while essential for our survival, is not an end in itself. As Jabotinsky explained at the end of his essay, the Iron Wall is ultimately about "a strong power in our land that is not amenable to any Arab pressure."
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A comment on the grace implications of Ya'alon's comments. No military confrontation or political conflict in the world is the subject of such intense media coverage and international debate. The rule is simple: if Jews are part of the story, the world takes an interest. And if they can also be blamed – and charged with the very crimes the world committed against them just 80 years ago – it becomes all the more tempting
When a former IDF chief of staff and minister of defense declares that Israel is engaging in "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza – a term that corresponds with "genocide" – he provides validation to our enemies and their supporters worldwide. This validation is not merely symbolic; it amplifies the recent blood libel voiced by the Pope, who suggested that Israel should be investigated for genocide in Gaza. Such a grave statement from a senior former military and political figure emboldens our haters and those who seek to harm the Jews and their state.
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As early as the first century BCE, Abtalion, the vice president of the Sanhedrin (Av Beit Hadin), emphasized the gravity of irresponsible speech: "Sages be careful with your words, lest you incur the penalty of exile, and be carried off to a place of evil waters, and the disciples who follow you drink and die, and thus the name of heaven becomes profaned" (Ethics of the Fathers). In the 12th century, Maimonides elaborated on this teaching, explaining that when a sage addresses the masses, they must exercise great care to ensure their words are not misconstrued in a way that strengthens the beliefs of those with opposing faiths. Such misunderstandings, he warned, could trigger a chain reaction leading to apostasy and conversion.
To translate that into more modern-day language – Yaalon's remarks – which were widely quoted around the world – shifted people who lacked a clear opinion on the war to the enemy's side. There are individuals whose motivation and justification for committing acts of terrorism against us have been bolstered by his statements.
The Hassidim interpreted the call to "be careful" (hizaharu) as having been said in the sense of "zohar" (radiant in Hebrew), as a call to make their words radiant, bright and illuminating, rather than words that desecrate the name of Israel. This is especially critical at a time when our soldiers are fighting for our survival.
