How Israel can stop trying to defeat itself, and start trying to defeat its enemies

Remembering our dear departed sister and brother, Sarah Lynn Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, in this painful week for the Jewish people. May their memory be a blessing, may their loved ones be consoled, and may this kind of tragedy never ever be repeated.

Rabbi Sacks OBM used to say, the only people that can defeat the Jewish people are the Jewish people.

Hence, this week we have seen a new round of reckless, immoral and misguided comments from reckless, immoral and misguided Israeli politicians from across all parts of the political spectrum. May the Jewish people be liberated from them – we must and can do better with who we choose as our representatives.

And hence, as Israel initiates Operation Gideon’s Chariots, it seems that Israel’s “chatterati” have somewhat missed the point of what’s going on here. Yes, there’s a military strategy that aims to defeat Hamas and liberate the hostages. There has been inordinate discussion on whether it will work – lots of second guessing, lots of criticism, lots of self-doubt, lots of spiteful lashon hara that has only led to more division, more disunity, more hate.

But military success is not really the point. The point is that Hamas has to believe that Israel cannot be deterred from total conquest of Gaza and total defeat of the terrorists therein.

At such point, an acceptable deal can be made to end the war, release the hostages, surge the aid, create a political transition, commence de-radicalization, and reconstruct the Strip.

This is – and always has been – the point.

The Trump Administration understands this in a way that the Biden Administration rarely did, and the Europeans still don’t.

As former Secretary of State Blinken reflected shortly before leaving office, “Whenever there has been public daylight between the United States and Israel and the perception that pressure was growing on Israel… Hamas has pulled back from agreeing to a cease-fire and the release of hostages.”

Now Israel, and the wider Jewish world, needs to get on board.

I feel so sorry for the hostages and their families. Their pain is in my heart and I sincerely pray for the release of the hostages every day.

But every time the Hostage Families criticize the government and call for an immediate end to the war, the less likely that is to happen, G-d forbid.

I feel pain for civilians in Gaza. They need food and medicines. They need their health and education systems to function.

But if, as the Europeans demand, there’s an immediate ceasefire, Hamas will immediately rearm, occupy the schools and hospitals, and the countdown to the next war will begin, G-d forbid.

So what must we do?

We must do what we as Jewish people have always been called to do: trust in Hashem, love our fellow, and stay strong and united.

We must recall the words of R Shimon ben Gamliel in Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot): “all my days I have grown up among the Sages and I have not found anything as good for the body as silence“.

And we must make every effort to break through this new idolatry, these false gods of ‘left’ and ‘right’, that have poisoned our souls and turned us against each other.