A Ceasefire Cannot Erase Israel’s Right to Exist

By Dr. Shmuel Legesse

In recent days, the United Nations has once again demanded an “immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza. The world calls for quiet—but often ignores the deeper truth: Israel is not fighting for conquest or power. Israel is fighting for survival.

No Israeli parent wants to see Palestinian children die. No Israeli citizen celebrates the suffering of another people. But every Israeli parent also wants their own children to live. That is the reality of this war, and it is why ceasefires that ignore the cause of the violence—Hamas’s unrelenting campaign to destroy Israel—are no solution at all.

Hamas has never hidden its intent. Its founding charter calls not for peace or coexistence, but for Israel’s eradication. Even now, its leaders speak openly of repeating October 7 “again and again” until Israel is gone. To demand that Israel simply stop defending itself, while such a foe remains armed and entrenched, is to deny Israelis the basic right that every nation claims: the right to life and security.

Israel Is Not a Colonial Invention

As a Black Ethiopian Jew—an African Jew whose community preserved the dream of Jerusalem for millennia—I must stress what is too often forgotten: Israel is not a colonial invention. It is the homecoming of a people with nowhere else to go.

The Bible records this truth plainly. In Genesis, God commands Abraham: “To your offspring I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7). The prophets of Israel spoke of Zion and Jerusalem not as foreign dreams, but as the beating heart of Jewish existence.

The Qur’an itself acknowledges this connection: “O my people! Enter the Holy Land which Allah has assigned to you” (Surah Al-Ma’idah 5:21). These are not political slogans; they are sacred affirmations that the Jewish people’s bond to the Land of Israel is ancient, undeniable, and divinely rooted.

Archaeology confirms it. From the Dead Sea Scrolls to the remnants of the Second Temple, from Hebrew inscriptions etched in stone to ancient coins bearing the words “For the Freedom of Zion”, the evidence of Jewish life in this land is overwhelming. Long before modern states arose, Jews lived, prayed, and were buried in Jerusalem, Hebron, and Galilee.

This land is not borrowed. It is ours by history, by faith, and by sacrifice.

The UN’s Resolution and Its Blind Spot

The UN resolution demanding an unconditional ceasefire speaks of “humanitarian urgency.” Humanitarian urgency is real. Civilians in Gaza are suffering terribly. But to stop the war without disarming Hamas is not humanitarian—it is reckless. It would give a terrorist army the chance to regroup, rearm, and strike again. It would condemn both Palestinians and Israelis to further cycles of death.

The UN also ignores its own history. In 1947, the UN voted to establish a Jewish state and an Arab state side by side. Israel accepted. Arab leaders rejected—and declared war. Ever since, UN resolutions have piled up, yet they rarely acknowledge that it was rejectionism, not Zionism, that birthed this conflict.

A Path Toward Real Peace

If the international community truly seeks peace, it must go beyond empty calls for ceasefire. Real diplomacy should rest on three pillars:

1. Recognition of Israel’s Right to Exist as the Jewish Homeland
   Just as Jews of Ethiopia, Yemen, Iraq, Morocco, and Europe all found refuge in Israel, the state must remain the secure home for all Jews. Any diplomatic solution must begin with clear recognition of this right.
2. Security Before Ceasefire
   Peace requires dismantling Hamas’s military capacity. Israel cannot be asked to accept a ceasefire that leaves its citizens vulnerable. International forces, Arab states, and the Palestinian Authority must be part of a verifiable framework that ensures rockets, tunnels, and militias are dismantled.
3. Dignity for Palestinians
   Israel’s strength does not have to come at the expense of Palestinian dignity. Palestinians deserve freedom from terror—both from Hamas, which sacrifices their lives, and from endless war. With true security, Israel can and should invest in Palestinian economic growth, education, and hope.

The Moral Choice Before Us

History offers guidance. The daring airlifts that rescued Ethiopian Jews—Operation Moses in 1984, Operation Solomon in 1991—were not just Israeli triumphs. They were moments when the world united in moral clarity to bring a people home.

Today, the same moral clarity is needed. The world must not pressure Israel into silence while terror festers. It must stand with Israel in demanding a future where both peoples can live—but only after those who seek destruction are disarmed.

The question is simple: Will the world pursue a symbolic ceasefire, or will it pursue true peace?

For Israel, the choice is not abstract. It is life itself.