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David Parry

Hamas’s greatest achievement was to unify Israel

The flag of the State (photo by the author)
The flag of a unified State (photo by the author)

When we saw the brutal slaughter of hundreds of teenagers and young people at a dance party, the murder of children in the arms of their helpless parents, the desecration of bodies, and the abduction of babies and old women, we instantly knew that this is an existential war. It isn’t a war about where the Jewish State should have its borders. It’s a war about whether the Jewish State should have any borders at all. Whether Israel should continue to exist. Indeed, whether the Jewish People should continue to exist.

The scenes were beyond terrible and beyond belief. And yet they were instantly believable and familiar to us. We’ve seen them countless times before over two millennia of dispossession and dispersion, statelessness and helplessness. Periodically throughout that time, Jewish teenagers and young people, children, babies and old women were brutalized and murdered simply because they were Jews. The only difference now is that we are no longer dispossessed and dispersed, stateless and helpless.

Hamas’s greatest achievement on Saturday was not to crash through or paraglide over a fence. Its greatest achievement was to unify the State of Israel. That’s something even we weren’t able to do. For nine long months, we have been tearing ourselves apart over the judicial system we should have. Then suddenly, in the blink of an eye that instantly remembered and understood, there was no politics any more, no pro or anti reform. There is just us. There is no judicial system if we do not continue to exist as a nation state. There have been no reports of any of the 360,000 reservists called up refusing to serve, whereas that was a real prospect before Saturday. El Al is still flying. The inbound flights are full mostly with men wanting to return home to serve. Last night, as a flight was about to land, everyone stood and sang HaTikva, the national anthem. The flights out are empty. Our enemies have really miscalculated this time. Jew haters usually do in the end.

About the Author
The author was a Judge of the District Court of Western Australia for over 10 years and was concurrently a Deputy President of the State Administrative Tribunal of that State for nine years. He and his wife made aliyah in March 2022.
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