The protective mother in me, the one who still tries to let him encounter the news in small doses so he is shielded from the world's horrors, wondered how he even knew.

"I hear warplanes overhead, so I figured something happened." Smart boy, you have to admit. Soon he will also understand the unbearable ritual we so often fall into and are sucked into like into a black hole, the ceremony by which the State of Israel only responds when its best fall, and not to Hamas's daily attempts to harm our soldiers, attempts that end with improvisation bordering on miracle, with headlines stating there are no casualties.

It does not respond to other violations of deals by the terrorists from Gaza.

These lines are being written seven minutes before 10 a.m. on Wednesday. In seven minutes the ceasefire is supposed to come into effect. The shooting lasted only a few hours and its gains are unclear, but it is apparent the response is again measured, deliberate, restrained, or in less refined language: derdala. Even symbolically it is a disgrace: the ceasefire takes effect before the funeral, before we bury Efi Bargabi in the ground he fought for.

From 10 a.m., Hamas will again be free to kill soldiers, to taunt and toy with us as if looking for the bodies of our abducted, and to continue building its rule in peace. On our side we will continue to wait for the 13 fallen who were supposed to return within 72 hours, continue to ignore fire directed at our forces and continue to respond only if, heaven forbid, there are fatalities.

The state of Israel allowed Egypt to bring heavy engineering equipment in to help Hamas search for the bodies, but there is a very bad smell to this staged and filmed performance. Nothing demonstrates this more than the video showing Hamas operatives throwing a body and re-burying it, and then proudly calling the Red Cross teams as if they had found another kidnapped body. This week they once again duped us, when they handed over remains of an abductee who had already been buried.

Yes, there is an agreement, but for some reason the Israeli government is not insisting with full force that it be implemented, and it is not properly presenting those filmed performances to the world and to the US to prove once again which human monsters stand opposite us.

But we must not fall asleep and sink into a policy of attrition and delay.

The only real advantage of the ceasefire agreement achieved, aside from, of course, the release of living hostages and some of the dead, is that we are holding territory.

More than 50 percent of the Strip is still under our control, a gain that must not be taken lightly.

However, violations of the deal by Hamas, which is using the time to consolidate its rule, cannot be met with the ritual of a few hours of airstrikes.

Another bite of territory for every day they do not return hostages, or even an entry by our forces into locations we know hold the bodies to search for our brothers, could be a step in the right direction.

The main thing is not to idle by, and fall asleep.

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The death penalty for murder was abolished in Israel in the mid-1950s. Since then, the harshest sentence available has been life imprisonment, or multiple life terms. Under military law in Judea and Samaria, it is technically possible to impose the death penalty for murder, but military courts have never enforced it. The last time a death sentence was handed down was in the 1990s to a terrorist who carried out two deadly suicide bombings at the Afula Central Bus Station. That sentence was appealed and later commuted to life in prison. And what became of that terrorist? He was released in the Gilad Shalit deal.

In another particularly painful case – the lynching in Ramallah – two judges sentenced one of the perpetrators to death, but the third judge, who chose mercy for the merciless, blocked the ruling. As a result, Raad Sheikh, a vile and brutal killer, escaped execution. And what became of him? He was just released in the latest deal to secure the freedom of our kidnapped brothers.

And so I have changed my mind: Israel must institute the death penalty for terrorists. This is a matter of moral survival. Not (only) as a deterrent, but first and foremost as a matter of justice and as a tool to prevent future terrorism. It has become clear that this is the only way Israel can deliver true justice to terrorist murderers. In the recent hostage deal, Israel released 250 terrorists serving life sentences, the heaviest offenders in the system, not including a few dozen others who remain imprisoned for now, some because they are considered symbols of terrorism.

This must now become the equation, an equation written in blood and tears: if a murderous terrorist becomes a legitimate bargaining chip who can be demanded in exchange for our innocent citizens kidnapped by terrorist groups, then he becomes deserving of death from the moment of his arrest, not just when caught in action.

Here's another fact about the recently released prisoners: according to data from Palestinian Media Watch, which tracks payments made by the Palestinian Authority to terrorists, no fewer than 160 terrorists serving life sentences and released in the latest deal walked out of prison as millionaires. The Palestinian Authority's policy of financially rewarding those who shed Jewish blood pays off handsomely, both for the terrorists and their families, during their time in prison and all the more so when they are released prematurely. What has emerged is a corrupt and perverse reality: a society saturated with smiling, well-fed murderers, and not far from them, families torn apart by grief.

I don't know whether the death penalty would deter future terrorists from carrying out attacks. But one thing is certain: it would deliver justice. Murderers would no longer be released after a few years with smiles on their faces. Bereaved families would not be forced to relive their anguish. Terrorists would not return to terrorism. There would be no more Yahya Sinwars – sentenced to five life terms, released in a deal, and then responsible for the worst massacre in the country's history.

Above all, there would be a breath of justice in the public air, instead of injustice and disarray. The righteous would feel relief, the wicked would face retribution. No more "maybes" or "what ifs." No more generous salaries from the Palestinian Authority. No more prospects of early release.

The death penalty must be enshrined first and foremost in Knesset legislation, both as a statement and as a practical tool enabling Israeli courts to sentence terrorists to death. But this shift must also be embraced within the legal establishment itself, among prosecutors and judges alike. They, too, will need to adapt to the new reality. The public will want to monitor those prosecutors and judges who demand and deliver justice, and those who choose mercy for the merciless.

The distorted reality we've created obliges us to introduce the death penalty for terrorists. This is no longer an empty populist slogan. We have a duty to cleanse the public air – for the sake of past victims and to prevent future ones.

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Over the past week, I've received several letters from commanders to their soldiers, and they've filled me with optimism.

When we speak of the Victory Generation, these commanders are its vanguard. They led our sons, and often our partners, on the battlefield, and now speak to them and, through them, to us. They're not trading in hollow declarations of complete triumph, but neither are they doomsayers bemoaning defeat or lost chances. Out of the grime and fatigue, they speak with balance, brimming with belief and hope. We'd do well to read their words, and listen.

The most senior among them is Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram, currently commander of the Gaza Division, who fought during the dark day in Be'eri and later continued combat deep inside the Strip. "The burden, the pain, the soul-wrenching upheavals were our lot for 734 days, to the point that now our sense of victory feels strange, incomprehensible. There is no joy of victory, nor sorrow of mourning in our hearts, only the weight of the burden, the historical responsibility and understanding that now seep into us and bring us to a victor's silence."

Col. Mordi Weiss, commander of the Commando Brigade, wrote to his soldiers about rebuilding the trust between the military and the public. After two years of war, he isn't asking for applause or gratitude, but offers self-reflection: "Over the past two years, we rebuilt the people's trust in us, in IDF soldiers and their commanders, their trust and love. Our oath to defend the state is based on that trust. From that trust stems our responsibility, as commanders, to lead you into battle, with unmatched determination, belief in the justice of our cause, and the knowledge that we are fighting the most justified war there is. We rose from the dust, donned our combat vests and embarked on the campaign.

"And yet, it wasn't enough for us to simply relearn how to believe in ourselves. We had to restore and rebuild the public's trust in us."

Interwoven with biblical verses and lines from Dudu Manor and Naomi Shemer, these commanders thread together Israeli identity and Judaism in their most noble and pure expressions.

Even at the mid-level ranks, lieutenant colonels who led battalions and special units and haven't seen their families in two years, the language is the same. No euphoria, just reality, values, and a deep understanding of the complex situation we face. And above all, a great deal of spirit and resolve.

Take, for example, the words of Lt. Col. Shmuel Batit, commander of the Givati reconnaissance unit: "Even after victory, we must remember the words of Ecclesiastes: 'To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven… a time for war, and a time for peace.' Go home with your heads held high, with pride and humility. You have written, and are still writing, a glorious chapter in the history of the people of Israel."

Lt. Col. Daniel Aleh, who commanded the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Armored Brigade, was wounded in the fighting in Rafah. After recovering, he returned to the army and wrote to his soldiers: "The prolonged struggle bore fruit only because of your perseverance, rooted in a deep belief in the righteousness of our path, that the State of Israel is a good that must be brought forth in full force, and that the enemy is an evil that must be utterly destroyed. Though our journey is not over, this is a significant milestone that will plant within us far greater strength for the challenges ahead."

There is no naïveté among these commanders. They, who look their fighters and support troops in the eye, who carry responsibility for the lives of these young men who have grown up, who know the true cost of war, who risk their lives and their families' lives every day, they know full well that we could have gone further. That we were capable of fully toppling Hamas rule, of hitting it even harder. But they choose to focus on the glass half full.

And from that place of hope, love and trust, I urge them: do not be silent. Don't let us drift back into seductive quiet and normalcy. Don't let us sink once again into dangerous assumptions. Raise the alarm, cry out, stay on guard, not only with a bullet in the chamber, but also in awareness.

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This Saturday marks one week since the antisemitic attack in Colorado. An Egyptian immigrant threw Molotov cocktails at Jewish demonstrators supporting the hostages. Eight were injured, including one seriously. This attack joins the murder of Yaron Lishinsky and Sarah Milgram, who were shot by a pro-Palestinian demonstrator in Washington two weeks ago.

These are only the incidents that managed to break through Israel's busy and frantic news cycle, but they're not the only ones. American Jewry in particular, and world Jewry in general, now find themselves at the heart of a violent wave of antisemitism that leaves them under attack, persecuted, and very alone.

An Israeli friend who visited Washington went to light a memorial candle at the attack site the day after the double murder. He described a horrible experience that still echoes in my mind. At the attack site, he describes, there were only police, journalists, and about 25 citizens – all Jews. Only Jews and few Jews. "Rabbi Scott from the Adat Shalom synagogue in Washington cried out in tears, 'Where is everyone? How can it be that only we are here?'" Read that cry again and let it resonate, because this is the story of American Jews over the past year and a half – they feel few and alone.

October 7th represents a true breaking point among American Jews. If they previously defined themselves as "American-Jews," today they're asking what it means to be Jewish in America. The moment after the massacre, there was an impressive mobilization among world Jewry. Federations sent donations, school children adopted reservists' children, grandmothers went to buy supplies at Walmart to send packages to Israel. The mobilization was emotional, Jewish, of the Jewish people. Simultaneously, Jews discovered the cold shoulder of their friends in the liberal camp. All the various rights organizations – women's organizations, LGBTQ, environmental quality, minority rights – all turned their backs on their friends, solely because of their Jewishness. They proved to be more Hamas lovers than people lovers.

This is naturally added to what's unfolding at the most prestigious universities – the institutionalized antisemitism that comes not only from their study partners but also from professors and the institutions themselves.

Together with a colleague and friend, Inbal Ratz-Gilmor, we started a podcast on the Israel-diaspora topic, launching soon, and we hosted Melanie, a Jewish Canadian student from McGill University, a university with a world-renowned reputation. "You don't understand what it means to be chased down the street," she said, "If they identify that someone is Jewish or supports Israel, they immediately 'dox' him and a call goes out to 'gang up' on him." Melanie is only 21, and although she came from a warm Jewish home, she was active in women's rights when Israel was at the bottom of her priorities.

All this flipped on October 7th. Despite the difficulty and personal persecution, she became active supporting Israel, refusing to hide. After the betrayal by women's organizations, Melanie put out a "Believe Israeli Women" sticker and walked around with it throughout campus. This may not be Jabaliya, but it's a different and cruel battlefield that touches us all.

American Jewry finds itself in crisis regarding how it perceived America as home, and this is also happening in Canada and Australia. In other countries, like France or Britain, the break began before the war, but it's deepening.

We're in a dark period of ancient hatred toward Jews. You won't see demonstrations and murder of Russia supporters, for example, but you will see abysmal and murderous hatred against Israel supporters. This is the same old and evil antisemitism under the mask of anti-Israelism.

The only difference is that now we have an independent state, the state of the Jews. This home must open not only its doors and absorb immigration, but also its heart, and extend its hand to our brothers in the diaspora. This task also falls on us, in the national camp, because we are the majority in Israel and these are our brothers. Sometimes we won't agree – that same Rabbi Scott who cried out in Washington doesn't count among supporters of the ideology I believe in, but extending a hand is essential. When the murderers shout "Free Palestine" they're actually shouting "death to Jews," and we're in this boat together.

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It's hard not to be impressed by the atmosphere, appointments, and pro-Israel rhetoric coming from senior members of the administration. Alice Stefanik, the new US ambassador to the UN, made statements this week that seemed almost dreamlike. She expressed her belief in Israel's biblical right to all areas of Judea and Samaria - not a hesitant, partial claim, but a firm and confident assertion. And these remarks weren't made in closed rooms but during her Senate confirmation hearing, openly and emphatically. In that same hearing, she criticized the UN, labeling it an anti-Semitic organization, and completely delegitimized UNRWA, which she referred to as a "terror organization."

Similarly, the new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who replaces Antony Blinken, is another embodiment of this dream. During his Senate hearing, he expressed strong support for Israel and its operations in Gaza, accused Hamas of using human shields, and added, "There is no way to coexist with armed elements at the borders who are intent on eliminating the state." These are statements that even in post-October 7 Israel have started to falter, as the situation has grown too complex. Across the ocean, however, the picture remains clear - they know who the good and bad are, and simply want the good to know how to win.

But the good falter and hesitate. They do not initiate or propose but merely go with the flow. As of today, Israel under the new administration resembles a child in a candy store told, "Take whatever you want." Yet the question remains - what does it want?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deserves credit for standing firm against the inhuman pressure from the Biden administration. While initially providing security assurances at the start of the war, the Biden administration proved itself suffocating and hostile. It imposed a brutal arms embargo, forced Israel to increase humanitarian aid that flowed directly to Hamas, imposed severe sanctions on organizations, settlers, and nearly on IDF units, and threatened Israel with Security Council resolutions until the very last moment.

Netanyahu mounted a formidable defensive battle, resisting pressure, entering Rafah, going to war against Hezbollah, and insisting that the war in Gaza would not end until its objectives were achieved. However, the defensive phase is over, and it is time to go on the offensive. Where is Netanyahu now? The State of Israel is currently dragging its feet, failing to initiate, to articulate what it wants or what its plans are. What is the plan for Gaza besides reinstating the Palestinian Authority or a "technocratic government"? We need to discuss opening the border for Gazans' free movement outward, shifting the border south, demanding territorial concessions, dividing the Strip, and imposing military governance on parts of it.

Gaza is already beginning to recover. Thousands of trucks carrying goods and fuel are flowing into the area, including heavy engineering equipment. The Rafah crossing is slipping from our grasp. Hamas, in one guise or another, remains, and we are swallowing the lie.

What about Judea and Samaria? What are the plans for applying sovereignty to some or all of these areas? Are there other plans with different prospects? Can we dare to state loudly that Israel has a biblical right to all of Judea and Samaria and follow through with tangible actions? Or will we let yet another opportunity slip away?

Even regarding UNRWA, cracks are beginning to emerge here in the Holy Land, despite the law enacted against it with overwhelming consensus. Once again, Israel might save this terrorist organization, and this time, not due to American pressure but through its own fault.

What we need now is proactive, well-planned leadership with a coherent ideology and a desire to act rather than stagnate. It's time to stop waiting for offers or letting circumstances unfold naturally. Instead, we must initiate political, military, and economic moves that will transform the Middle East, as our partners across the ocean are urging us to do.

If we end this Trump administration term with merely a peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, it will be the missed opportunity of the century in the land of squandered opportunities.

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While we celebrated the dawn of a new year, young Yazidi woman Fawiza Amin Sido celebrated the beginning of a new life. Fawiza, 21, was kidnapped from her home in Iraq by ISIS in 2014 when she was 11. She was "purchased" by a Gaza resident a few years ago and forced to marry him, subsequently imprisoned there as a slave to her Gazan master. She saw the light a few months ago when the terrorist holding her was killed by the IDF during the war in Gaza. She managed to escape by contacting a Canadian Jew dubbed the "Jewish Schindler," who liaised with the IDF. This young woman was returned to her mother's arms in Iraq.

The State of Israel and the IDF succeeded in rescuing a non-Israeli, non-Jewish young woman whom the free world had already given up on. The evil and darkness of fundamentalist Islam are universal, not just directed against Israel, but Israel is at the forefront of the fight against them, and the liberation of the young Yazidi woman is a symbol of this.

Israel is the front line of the West, democracy, and progress, against absolute darkness. Israel settled the score with Hezbollah terrorists, whose hands are stained not only with Jewish and Israeli blood but also with Lebanese, Syrian, French, and American blood. All suffered from Nasrallah's iron fist, but only Israel eliminated him, while facing American anger behind the scenes. Millions of dollars were offered by the US for the head of Ibrahim Aqil, another senior Hezbollah official, but only Israel acted. The baklava and candies distributed in the streets of Syria out of joy over the elimination of senior Hezbollah officials prove that Israel is the only one who dared to confront these monsters.

The same goes for the Houthis. Iran's proxy arm has been attacking and sinking merchant ships in the Red Sea area for a year. They don't just attack Israeli ships or those en route to Israel, but also British, Norwegian, American, and others. The US and Britain occasionally attack insignificant Houthi targets. The only country that dared to attack the port of Hodeidah and the Houthis' oil reserves was, of course, Israel.

The same applies to the Iranians. The Iranian people are ruled by an oppressive and cruel regime and cannot rise up against it, and no country in the world is confronting this evil government. Europe has long been addicted to Iran and flatters it, and even the Democrats' America willingly surrenders to the ayatollahs' rule by removing sanctions from the nuclear program and ignoring the Iranian stranglehold. Only Israel dares.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party in Canada, currently leading in polls ahead of elections to be held in a year, expressed himself this week in exactly this manner, "I think the idea of allowing a genocidal, theocratic, unstable dictatorship that is desperate to avoid being overthrown by its own people, to develop nuclear weapons is about the most dangerous and irresponsible thing that the world could ever allow. And if Israel were to stop that genocidal, theocratic, unstable government from acquiring nuclear weapons, it would be a gift by the Jewish state to humanity."

We rightly criticize ourselves for our misconceptions. But for one moment, it's also permissible to pat this amazing country on the back. A country that fights not only for its own life but for an entire world of freedom.

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The mind reels at the impressive string of recent operations against Hezbollah. It seems even Hollywood screenwriters need to update their scripts, as reality has surpassed any fictional scenario.

The sequence of actions – from the double pager operation on consecutive days, through the elimination of part of Hezbollah's top brass and the Radwan force on Friday in Beirut, to the precision airstrikes of unimaginable power – has brought some color back to our cheeks. We will undoubtedly face more low points and difficult moments, but let's take a moment to rejoice and feel proud. This series of operations has managed to astonish not only Hezbollah but also Israelis who were desperately in need of strength and ingenuity.

But the magnitude of the success is accompanied by shock because when we see our performance against Hezbollah, the failure against Hamas becomes even more glaring. How we needed the same intelligence prowess, creativity, and tactics against Gaza and Hamas. But it wasn't there. Not just on Oct. 7 itself, but also afterward. One of the reasons for this is that we forgot to define Gaza and Hamas as an enemy. We didn't forget – we simply didn't want to. We did everything to avoid seeing them as a Nazi-like enemy.

A few years ago, in November 2017, politician Moshe Feiglin appeared on a television panel with Res. Brig. Giora Inbar. Feiglin, a junior officer in the IDF, asked Inbar, a senior IDF officer, a simple question: "Who is the enemy, the tunnel or Hamas?" Inbar stammered, hesitated, stammered again, and after brief consideration, confidently answered: "The tunnel." And that, friends, is the story.

The State of Israel, guided by the political echelon and senior military ranks, did not want to define an enemy. Because an enemy isn't fun. An enemy is only when there's no choice, and pragmatic partners are preferable. In recent years, Hamas stopped being THE enemy in Gaza. Sinwar was painted as a pragmatic figure, and Hamas was portrayed as a realistic partner who had too much to lose to enter into a confrontation with Israel – the Qatari money and the entry of workers from Gaza, for example.

In the last two years, the enemy was actually the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In recent operations, just before the catastrophe, the State of Israel and the IDF tried their utmost to create a substantial and operational separation between Hamas and the PIJ. In some operations, they made it clear on every platform that Israel had no intention of harming Hamas, and that the entire target bank was the PIJ's.

Everything was there before our eyes – the training, the fence demonstrations, the exploitation of humanitarian aid, the incendiary balloons. Everything. But we didn't want enemies. And if a certain organization or country isn't an enemy – why collect valuable intelligence on them? Why build a broad and precise target bank? So we do it, but on a small scale. Not in the thorough and brilliant way we're seeing against Hezbollah. The question that needs to be asked is where our blind spot is today.

For example, a hostile and dangerous entity sitting right on Highway 6 – the Palestinian Authority. Does the IDF have an orderly mapping of the threats from the PA? Does the defense establishment know the distribution of weapons in its possession? Does the massive IDF have orderly information about the training PA soldiers undergo? Are there operational plans for a scenario where they turn their guns on us? Is there intelligence penetration into the PA ranks? Or perhaps we see the PA as a semi-partner with a wink? Despite the occasional self-interested cooperation that exists, is there moral clarity towards the PA – or are we still feeding ourselves illusions?

The State of Israel defined Hezbollah as an enemy, and it became an enemy that deterred us to the point where we didn't dare move a tent it had placed in our territory on Mount Dov. We had to reach a year-long war situation to employ military might – but we had prepared it for a long time, with clear moral clarity about who the enemy is. The fear of defining an adversary and enemy, stemming from our desire for normal life, sometimes achieves exactly the opposite. This is another part of the conception that needs to be corrected.

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The European Union, Canada, and the USA are imposing personal sanctions on settlers, exemplary citizens, reservists, and supporters of settlements, organizations, and associations. Where is the state of Israel in all of this?

If I had told you a year ago that Israel would endure the worst massacre in its history and, a few months later, face a wave of international sanctions against its citizens, you would have thought I was hallucinating. But unfortunately, this is not an illusion. The wave that started with the false "settler violence" campaign emanated from the Biden administration and spread quickly.

Last week, personal sanctions were imposed on Reut Ben Chaim, the leader of the "Order 9" organization, and her colleague, Shlomo Sarid. These two individuals founded a civilian movement, without budget or PR, in protest of goods being transferred under the guise of "humanitarian aid."

Alongside families of hostages and fallen soldiers, they cried out to stop the aid that goes directly to Hamas, begging for a sign of life or a humanitarian gesture for the hostages in return. There is nothing more humane than "Order 9" blocking roads and demanding not to supply oxygen to the enemy when your sons and daughters are fighting or held captive there.

But the hammer fell on Reut, a reserve soldier's wife and mother of eight from Netivot, and on Shlomo, a reservist himself. And where is the state of Israel? Nonexistent.

Last week, the European Union imposed new sanctions against settlers and announced it is considering sanctions on the Regavim organization for "supporting settlements in the West Bank," as the movement works to demolish Palestinian property. The main rationale is a petition filed by Regavim against an illegal school funded by Europe, which led to a court ruling to dismantle the illegal structure. Got it? In the European Union, they break the law, and when Israel finally enforces it, the Europeans act against those who demand compliance. Even chutzpah has no bounds. A foreign state mistreats a legitimate, recognized civil organization, and where is Israel?

The European Union, Canada, and the USA are imposing personal sanctions on settlers and supporters of settlements, organizations, and associations. Their bank accounts and credit cards are blocked, their names are tarnished, and their freedom of movement in the world is impaired. Even IDF soldiers are in America's crosshairs: the US State Department announced it is considering sanctions on five military units, including Netzach Yehuda. They eventually backed down, temporarily, only due to public protest in Israel.

Meanwhile, CNN published an investigation in which reporters collaborating with extremist organizations used facial recognition technologies (!) on Israeli officers from Netzach Yehuda and Yamam, aiming to impose American sanctions on these units. They feed the US State Department while the soldiers risk their lives on the battlefield. And the State of Israel? Crickets.

Citizens are abandoned; almost no one in the elected government and bureaucracy cares. The only minister who responded is Smotrich, but his magazine is limited and running empty. A proper state would address, resent, and fight back against their freedom of operation here; one could harm their subcontractors, the organizations they generously fund. It could have declared its own sanctions against organizations acting against Israel, revoked visas of hostile organization employees. There are many ways, the main thing is to be active. Right now, this war is conducted one-sidedly. The citizens and soldiers are paying the price.

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Ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's arrival in California, protesters projected an image of him wearing an orange jumpsuit on the walls of the Alcatraz prison. A similar message was projected onto the United Nations headquarters, reading "Don't believe Crime Minister Netanyahu."

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A truck drove around the streets of Manhattan mocking the premier's previous UN addresses and demonstrations were held in Times Square, as well as at the San Francisco airport where Netanyahu landed and outside his hotel.

Some 80 former security officials sent a letter to the members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations warning that Netanyahu's actions were "dismantling the IDF."

Members of Ahim Laneshek, a prominent protest group comprised of army reservists, rushed to be interviewed on "60 Minutes," with Shira Eting – a former combat helicopter pilot – saying the "strongest confidence" was required in leaders when a pilot is required to "shoot bombs and missiles into houses knowing they might be killing children."

With such alarming frivolity, Eting fed into the false narrative of Israel's enemies just to justify the protests.

To understand the depth of the damage and brokenness of those hyper-attached to the demonstrations, one should read Shira Ruderman's words. Executive director of the Ruderman Family Foundation, she spends her days building bridges between Israel and Diaspora Jewry. She wrote an alarming letter, noting that "The first days of the new year have been tough. Before Rosh Hashanah ended, we heard reports of antisemitic flyers being distributed in Ohio, and at the of the holiday, we were informed about the demonstrations against Netanyahu throughout the US. The peak, in my opinion, is the planned demonstration outside the General Assembly, not against the president of Iran, who is going to give a speech there and who seeks to destroy Israel, but against the prime minister of Israel. Waving Israeli flags is usually a source of strength for Israel, but not this time. The demonstrations in America are causing terrible damage, certainly at a time when hatred against Jews around the world is getting more extreme. These demonstrators make us weaker in the face of our enemies. What we need is a united and strong front in a world where some want to wipe us out. This is a matter of life and death, this is no longer about justice."

Ruderman is not a right-winger and has even spoken out in the past against some decisions of the current government. But Ruderman loves Israel and the Jewish people and understands the danger and evil that is sweeping the world.

These demonstrations do not harm Netanyahu. They harm Israel, defaming it in the world.

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We forgot too fast. We moved on too quickly. 

Three lives were taken last Friday, and we returned to normalcy way too soon. Two children with blue eyes, golden hair and innocent smiles, who are no longer. Two brothers whose family is now broken, and whose father is still hospitalized fighting for his life. And another young man who left behind a young widow, a home and a family who had just begun to build.

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Three souls were murdered in the terror attack, and we were shocked and moved right on. We went back to the fight against the legal reform, the demonstrations, the noise, the campaigns. Yes, I did too. This is why it's so important for me to write about this now, rather than about the judicial reform. 

Precisely from this place of support for the legislation, from this place of knowing that this is the right move, that it is necessary for terrorism and governance, one needs to look up and see what happened here. And when I look up, I see the terror wave returning. I see east Jerusalem burning. 

I see 13- and 15-year-old Palestinians go out to attack, shoot and kill innocent Israelis. Children who are murderers, influenced by social media and their education, with the fire of terrorism guiding their steps. 

The terrorist who killed 8-year-old Asher and 6-year-old Yaakov Paley himself was a father, including of a newborn baby girl. This subhuman saw children standing at a bus stop and accelerated and steered toward them to kill them just because they were Jewish. 

A subhuman, a member of a community that distributed candies and created caricatures of the murdered. Celebrations were in full swing in the Gaza Strip, Jenin, east Jerusalem, Nablus and Bethlehem. This is what they laud: the murder of children. 

The security system and the media keep talking about "lone terrorism," perhaps as an excuse as to why they were unable to prevent the tragedy. Let's make one thing clear: such threats are never accidental, but are the result of social and religious circumstances. 

If this can be stopped by increasing pressure on the terrorists, arresting inciters and clerics who preach violence – then so be it. 

Let's recruit the security, legal and economic systems to show this society that while murder may make one a "martyr," they will be leaving behind a minefield of problems for their families. 

A legal reform is warranted to fight terrorist, and we cannot wait. We must not wait, but get to work, because Palestinian terrorism is exacting way too heavy a price. 

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