How to Win the War

For the past week, Israel has been on a high. It’s a nerve-tinged high, but it’s still a high.

Let’s look at what we’ve done–Operation Grim Beeper, the assassinations of Nasralla and his successor, and the mostly thwarted Iranian missile strike have left us feeling, well almost invincible except for a few nasty terrorist attacks to remind us that we are not.

As one would expect, Bibi is riding this crest—his polling numbers are once again enviable,  For a moment the internet was drowning  in  clips of  Nasralla inspired horas  and baklava emojis—for some reason, the symbol of celebration of our enemies’ downfall. We’re feeling strong. The IDF is showing it’s stuff. It’s almost as if we’ve returned to the halcyon days of June 1967.

Dreaming is nice. It might even be a  necessary anodyne to all the gloom and doom, but we need to wake up.

We are in big trouble. All of us. The Jews in Israel and, by extension, the Jews of the world. Our popularity is hovering around 1939 levels, perhaps lower. This isnt paranoia.  Most of the world wants to see us dead.

But that can’t happen. Never again, right? We’ve got the IDF, the IAF, and those clever devils in the Mossad who caused 4000 beepers to explode simultaneously. We can fight back and win, right? Don’t we always win.

Well, that’s complicated., We are fighting back .Thank G-d we’ve taken down some of our enemies but we are facing a very tough battle . Even as we continue to live in relative comfort we need to realize that our  present situation is a  more dire than it was in 1948 when many historians say that we outmanned our enemies.

Today we dont and it’s not because of the non drafters. They are basically irrelevant.

Let’s look at the math.

Right now, the IDF has an estimated 169,000 conscripts and 465 000 reservists, a total fighting force of 634500 men and women. If the Haredim draft. that could add 63,000 additional troop and perhaps another 50 to 100,000 if  Israeli Arab are called in. Total– nearly 800,000–a formidable force, right?. Remember that only about  35 percent see battle. That means around 220,000 to  280,000 fighters for Team Israel.

And our enemy?

Hezbollah, not known for sharing accurate statistics,may have  100,000 fighters. After heavy losses at the hands of the IDF, Hamas is  down to 13,000 troops. That doesn’t sound so bad. That even sounds like we have the tactical advantage, but here comes the spoiler—Iran. 610,000 active personnel, including 350,000 in the army, 190,000 in the IRGC, 18,000 in the navy, 37,000 in the air force, and 15,000 in air defense, plus a reserve army of 350,000. That’s huge!

Remember that Iran’s  population is  ten times  that of Israel. That means that if the Iranians suffer losses they have plenty of replacements waiting in the wings.  We dont/

So what’s the conclusion?  634500 of our people at best  pitted against nearly a million Iranians. 100,000 Hezbollah fighters, 13,000 Hamas terrorists, and between 50 and 100,000 Houtis. And that’s not all.  Iraq,is likely to join adding another 180,000 troops,

Oy vey.

The world’s only Jewish state is in hot water. Boiling hot.  We’re fighting valiantly. G-d bless our holy soldiers but we’re outmanned and outgunned.

Meanwhile our Prime Minister and IDF staff gloat over our recent strategic victories  We can’t allow our heads to swell. We are the Davids here, not the Goliath. So what do we do?

So what should we do? Tap into the real power of the Jewish people and it ain’t the nukes in Dimona. Here is a clear and time tested path to victory.

1. Unite for real. We tasted unity last Tuesday when for that terrifying hour our hearts beat as one. Millions of us, male, female, religious, secular white, black, and brown, sat in shelters or safe rooms and, in some cases, laid down on the highway together, praying to be saved. Let’s join together all of the time. The Tanach teaches that that King Ahab worshipped idols but during his reign the Jewish people won their wars because they were united. Like any human parent our heavenly Father wants His children to love each other. Let’s show Him that we do.

2. Pray.  That’s always been the Jewish people’s secret weapon. Our truest skill is in our mouths and hearts opened in sincere prayer.

Teshuva Tefilla and Tzedakah, –let’s dive into these and lift the evil decree hanging over our heads and win! END