Decrying evil – should we bother?

Today, the Jewish People are broken. Our feeds are flooded with orange. Seth Mandel, writing for the Free Press, explains why:

Kfir became a symbol because he is the answer to every relevant question about this conflict. His case is the war boiled down to its essence. Kfir is the dividing line. In a better world, there’d be no one standing on the wrong side of it.

The question is how do we bring to fruition this dream where there’s no one standing on the wrong side of the line?

Commentators are busy decrying why this person or that group isn’t calling out Hamas enough. Sure, a lot of it is because they are sympathizers. But then there are the millions of good people that are silent. “How could they be silent!!?? Don’t they see the evil!!??”

What if part of it is the fact that there isn’t necessarily something these good people can actually do about it? They’re lives are made up of going to work, eating pizza, watching the ballgame, and giving their kids a bath. Rinse and repeat. They don’t regularly have a practice of calling out evils.

And maybe they’re right, that calling out the evil doesn’t actually do much. We all know the myriad statements issued by the ADL, etc. We all know about the fabricated middle finger to Kanye West video. We all know they aren’t solving the evil of Hamas.

It begs the question: Does issuing statements or ‘calling out against evil’ help?

It doesn’t, at least for most of us. Issuing statements or posting into our echo chambers in fact doesn’t help. Most people and most organizations are, in fact, not in a position to realize Mandel’s dream of a “better world” where there is no person standing on the wrong side of the Kfir Bibas’ line.

As it turns out, there are people whose role it is to snuff out evil. It’s just not everyone. It’s the politicians, leaders and military that have the means to destroy evil. Direct action is within the capabilities of the military, the politicians, and those with leadership positions and influence on the military and political echelons.

The question for the regular person, or this or that organization, is if our actions demonstrate support for political and military means of ensuring there is no one on the other side of Mandel’s dividing line. Or are we, in fact, supporting military and political positions that are somewhat unclear as to where that line sits?

It’s easy to blame leadership. It’s also easy to give leadership the support it needs to decisively change the game. But it all begins with the individual realization that the side of Good will need to take drastic measures. It’s the only way to ensure there is no one on the other side of this despicable line.

Liel Leibovitz sums up the strategy in Tablet:

[W]e must embrace [Trump’s] proposal, because at its heart is the one true and inescapable sentiment: Israelis can no longer be expected to live in proximity to those who desire nothing more than their death.

But you don’t win wars and secure the peace with a sprinkling of daring commando acts or a dash of excellent air raids. You win wars and secure the peace by making your enemy realize that they had lost, and in the Middle East, as anyone who has ever consulted a history book could tell you, that means only one thing: seizing land.

Israel, then, must annex Judea and Samaria right now, if only to appear as certain of its right to its ancestral homeland as, say, Senator Tom Cotton. It must enthusiastically advocate for Trump’s plan, or some other arrangement that leaves Gaza empty of Gazans. It must take one long look at Kfir Bibas’ coffin and realize precisely what happens when evil is met with too many clever arguments and not enough swift deeds.

A picture of Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage to be kidnapped by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023. (Ahmad Gharabli via Getty Images)

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As it turns out, there is something you can do. In the memory of Ariel and Kfir, register today to support strong Jewish leadership at israel365action.com., so that there may one day be no one standing on the wrong side of the line.