Israel’s War of Survival: Good vs Evil

Our collective hearts are broken. The face of evil has surfaced to remind us of the dangerous folly of months of divisive protests masked by Israeli flags waving as one in a show of disunity. The overwhelming majority of Jewish people in Israel and in the Diaspora are now united in the face of a tragedy of epic proportions. Our Jewish brethren have been attacked. Over a thousand Jewish hearts, hearts of brave soldiers, hearts of mothers, grandmothers and grandchildren, hearts that once pulsated with life and hope, have forever stopped beating. And it is all at once too much to comprehend, too much to bear.

The faces of evil Nazis are not new to our people. There are many alive today for whom time has not succeeded in washing away painful and vivid memories of the Holocaust. Israelis too remember each tragic war fought for its survival.

Though Netanyahu has repeatedly warned of the danger to Israel and to the US posed by the evil terrorist sponsoring regime of Iran, his words seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. Hamas has never hidden its mandate to wipe Israel off the map and to kill Jews. The latest brutal massacre perpetrated against Israel was an attack rivaled only by the extermination plan of Hitler’s Final Solution. Hamas is our modern day Hitler. That this didn’t happen sooner was only due to lack of opportunity and funds, not to lack of intent.

The terrorist sponsoring regime of Iran has been emboldened and enriched by billions of dollars in unfrozen funds and billions more derived from oil deals made possible by the relaxation of sanctions that have not been imposed or enforced. Iran has very likely sponsored and orchestrated the brutal savagery planned and executed on the Shabbos of Simchat Torah which also coincided with the 50 year anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.

You would think that the aftermath of the brutal Simchat Torah massacre of Israeli citizens, the deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust, would have engendered universal cries of outrage and sympathy for Israel’s victims of Hamas’ brutal savagery. You would think condemnation of Hamas and its Palestinian champions would be unanimous worldwide. You would think even our Squad members of Congress would be have mustered up more than a tepid condemnation of the slaughter committed by Hamas. You would think that, but you would be wrong.

After Hamas’ brutal savagery occurred, a few hours of shock followed. How could decent people not have been shocked to see Hamas’ own live footage of bloody Israelis pulled out of their homes by their hair, men women and children, babies and grandmothers, some bloodied and barely conscious, carted away to Gaza? Those who did not manage to escape were later found to have been abused and killed in unspeakable ways.

After these crimes against humanity were committed, what followed was almost more shocking than the crimes themselves. Though for the most part solid support for Israel followed, the support was not quite unanimous. In short order, the entire narrative of the massacre just seen worldwide, was rewritten, revised and distorted in support rather than condemnation of Hamas. A massive rally took place in Times Square, NYC. Drums of war were heard in the background, Palestinian flags waved overhead, and shrill shouts were heard in the foreground to the tune of the old favorite chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” In other words, Palestine will be Jew free, or Juden-rein. Hitler would have been proud.

Protesters who were interviewed at the rally and asked why they supported Hamas after what they just witnessed responded that Hamas was not the terrorist, Israel was. It is Israel, you see, that has perpetrated genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. The brutality of Hamas has been justified by a blood libel lie. It is a lie that has taken on wings and spread like wildfire. It is a lie repeated by university professors who indoctrinate clueless students, and by congressional leaders calling themselves the Squad.

Israel is now fighting a war for its survival on two fronts, Hamas in the South and now rockets from the Iranian proxies of Hezbollah in the North. But there is a third pernicious front that has to be fought. That is the third army of antisemitic invaders that have infiltrated our country at the highest levels. We have welcomed them in because we are the land of the free and the home of the brave. We are America, generous and giving.

But this new wave of Jew and America haters did not come here to be part of us. They came to bring us 9/11. They came to bring us antisemitism. They came to indoctrinate our youth to hate Jews and to hate America. Israel has been living with this hatred throughout its history, leading up to the greatest killing spree since the Holocaust. Israel understands that now is the time to end it. It must wipe out the sources of the evil that want to destroy it. It must do so for its own survival. There is no other choice. Israel is fighting not only for its own survival, but at the same time, it is fighting for all of us. It is good vs evil.

Israel is now united with unparalleled resolve. There is no longer talk of divisive protests. All Jews are hurting. All of us are praying. Why, however, must it take tragedies and funerals to jolt us from our self induced Jewish slumber? In 1930s Germany, Jews were forbidden to attend synagogues to pray or to attend yeshivas to learn Torah. Basement shuls and study groups were set up in secret. Though Orthodox Jews typically attended these prayer groups, many secular Jews joined in for the first time. Today too, both the Orthodox and the secular in Israel are fighting and praying together. The tragedies of the Holocaust in Europe, and the Holocaust in Israel, united us, reminding both secular and Orthodox Jews, of the common thread of our Jewish religion and shared history.

Today’s Hitlers try to divide and and destroy us. But Israel will prevail. Jews will prevail. Our hearts are broken but we all pray with one heart and soul that we will defeat our enemies and remain strong and united. May it be that we unite in times of joy, not in times of tragedy.