A Light unto Nations Blinds a World of Total Darkness

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Very few people these days really listen to those who disagree on the war against Hamas and the efforts to return our hostages. I doubt if even “influencers” really affect opinions of anyone because most people simply read or listen to opinions they already have formed.

The attitude of total frustration, as expressed by blogger Jacob B. Ukeles last week under the title “Perplexed, Disappointed and Angry”, is shared by many. It is a safe assumption, at least on my part, that a majority of Israelis, whether politically left or right, have lost faith in the government, the IDF, the media and the judicial system and are fed up with Haredi draft exemptions, although one should not forget there also are tens of thousands of secular draft dodgers.

Mr. Ukeles’ frustration is the state of our union, and especially of those who have not succeeded in their aim to bring down the government, which seems to be their primary objective as a guise that doing so would lead to  freeing the hostages. The opposite might be true.

Who doesn’t want the war to end? Who doesn’t want to bring the hostages home? Regardless of whether one actually believes that Prime Minister Netanyahu really is a heartless old man who is dragging out the war for the sake of his political life and at the expense of our soldiers’ and hostages’ lives, Mr. Ukeles unwittingly revealed that no one really has a solution.

He wrote, “I am also disappointed by the leaders of the opposition. … I cannot recall the last time that Gantz or Lapid shared an idea about how to extricate Israel from Gaza or at an even more profound level – how are we going to live alongside the Palestinians.”

They haven’t “shared an idea” because they, like all of us, really have no answer. Does anyone really think that Hamas will release all of our hostages if Netanyahu simply ends the war, withdraws all troops and signs on the dotted line that we will not resume attacks on terrorists?

Hamas, like its Iran benefactor, never has honored conditions or kept a promise. Even the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority violated the Oslo Accords shortly after they were signed.

“Bring them home NOW” is a wonderful slogan, but it won’t happen unless Hamas has guarantees that it can once again attack Israel and take more hostages. That’s the nature of the evil beast, and neither Gantz, Lapid, nor anyone else can change that.

Is our army strong enough to stop another terrorist offensive that ends up with hostages in Hamas’ clutches? Maybe. Maybe not. That is a gamble many families of hostages are willing to take. It is a gamble that many more families of dead soldiers are not willing to take.

The frustrations are real and legitimate.

However, Mr. Ukeles’ lament that “we have become a darkness to the nations” is a vicious reminder of the report of the Ten Spies who, after a 40-day visit to the Land of Caanan,” told Moses that the People of Israel are better off staying in the desert. The divisive conclusion of lack of faith succeeded in turning the people against Moses, followed by the result of their being condemned to death in the desert rather than being able to live in the Promised Land.

I can find a lot more wrong with our country than Mr. Ukeles. No one needs a magnifying glass to see the dark side of our institutions. If you insist on seeing the negative side of Israel, you will never see the goodness of our country and citizens. If Mr. Ukeles and his frustrated comrades want to believe that Israel is purposely starving Gazans and that we, in his words, “abuse the stranger,” nothing will convince them otherwise.

But a darkness unto the nations?

Only a country that is a light unto the nations would bring thousands of Gazans, including terrorists, to Israeli hospitals to treat and heal them.

Only a country that is a light unto the nations would endanger its soldiers and send them into terrorist-infested areas to rescue foreign nationals, Arabs and Bedouin.

A country that is a darkness unto the nations would not enable nearly 1,000 disabled and autistic young men and women to serve in a highly trained squad of elite soldiers.

We are at war with the most evil enemy imaginable, an enemy that cherishes darkness. Israel is a Jewish nation, one that is a light unto nations. We are not a non-Jewish “turn the other cheek” nation that ventures on a path of suicide to win the approval of the world that expects us to live by their illlusions that we should “make peace with our enemies”.

“I am all peace; but when I speak, they are for war” [Psalms 120:7].

This is not a time for despair. Mr. Ukeles wrote in his blog, “Calls for annexation … denying Palestinians human rights, mocking their legitimate desire for independence generates hopelessness.  Hopelessness breeds terrorism.”

Yet, he expresses hopelessness through anger at the government, at Gantz, at Lapid, at the IDF, at the Haredim and at settlers.

One who is hopeless is a darkness unto the nations.

Israel is very much a light unto nations, most which sit in the dark and cannot see even a sliver of light because the light blinds them.