Netanyahu’s speech: I am a rock, I am an island
As a child I would sit at the Shabbat dinner table and listen to my mother, my grandmother and sister (who is 10 years younger than me I might add!) discuss politics. I sat there bored wishing we were talking about something else. Every now and then I would ask a question like “who is…?” and they would laugh- “Sarah, how do you not know who that is?” Well excuse me for not knowing the President’s name! (Just kidding). I have stayed far away from politics knowing that I didn’t have the audacity to conclude anything , or should I say, have an opinion…at least out loud. If I would say something, it was in the dead of the night to my pillow and I might, or might not have, felt passionately about it. The sheer ambiguity I have around American and Israeli politics have kept me quiet at dinners ever since and because of the fear of speaking my thoughts on the topic, I have hidden away from discussions and taking sides. Even when I felt conviction, I swallowed my words because who am I to state them without having all the context?
For years, I have watched from the sideline debates, elections, protests and speeches. I listened to the entire “Unpacking Israeli history” podcast by Noam Weissman to get an additional layer of clarity on Israeli history, and I have watched my highly political and intelligent mother develop her ideas around the “the conflict” with respect. (Honestly, I remember my grandmother saying that the day my mother switched from a democrat to a republican (decades ago) was a harder day for her than the day my mother told her she was becoming religious. I thought my grandmother was joking but she was very serious. She mourned my mother’s decision- and let’s just say they called a moratorium on the subject ever since.)
So, writing this takes bravery. I am going into uncomfortable territory. This is not my forte, and certainly not my strong side. But after keeping my scrambled thoughts inside since October 7th, I feel a need to share my thoughts into words.
I just watched Netanyahu’s speech- twice. The first time with my kids while playing a game because I knew they wouldn’t just sit there and listen, so I figured if we played a game (in silence) while listening to this epic speech, something would go in. And it did. My 11-year-old commented, “I love how he says the Jewish people and not the Israeli people”. Their minds are developing. The second time I listened, I cried. I caught the depths in lines I did not catch the first time. And I am here to say: not only do I support Netanyahu, but I fiercely don’t understand anyone who is against him.
If your issue with him is ego- that’s a credential for any politician.
If your issue is that he made mistakes, both politically and personally, I agree with you. Of course he made mistakes. Even VERY big ones. No one debates that. But what leader doesn’t make mistakes that sometimes have terrible consequences?
If your issue is he has too much power- I have that same question for many people in the world including Elon Musk, Pope Francis, Trump and Putin. Power is like bleach- you can sterilize and clean with it- or use it as poison- the decisions are in their hands. Either way, it leaves burns on naked hands and the hands of these powerful people are left with burns forever.
If you tell me your issue is that his “term” has extended much longer than what is appropriate for a democratic state, I ask you this. Do people who run nations get called off the stage when people feel their “term is up”? Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky a”h was never asked to stand down from his position even if people disagreed with him. Why? Because he was the “gadol hador” for all Jewry until his death, he the only man for that job. Tell me, did anyone tell Gandhi his term was up? No, he was irreplaceable. Now, I understand that BB is drastically different from these examples; he’s a politician and his role as Prime Minister should have an expiration date- he is not a religious leader. But I feel so strongly he is the only man for the job. This is a job that I don’t wish on anyone. It is a position that is harder than any position I could think of in history, besides maybe Moses. He is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. If he appreciates these people, he offends those people. If he acquiesces to that country, he is abandoning his own country. If he makes a partnership or coalition with this leader, he has to sever ties with that leader. If he unequivocally states the truth, he is shot down as a liar. He is caught between a rock and hard place every minute of his life. Even when he’s sleeping, I assume he dreams of judgment day and whether he didn’t do enough. The man, with all his ego and addiction to being reelected again and again, stands, breathes and lives for the state of Israel and the Jewish people. A man of faith, a mind of clarity, a hand of action and a speaker who sits along the greatest speakers in history has taken on and continues to take on the most difficult job of all the time. To quote two famous Jews (Simon and Garfunkel), he really is a rock in his strength for defending Israel and an Island in how he is treated- alienated and left for the wolves.
Since October 7th, I have cried oceans of tears and of course I have the same question that every single person asks: why has Israel not gotten our hostages back yet? Is it BB’s fault? I mean he is the leader after all. Why don’t we get them out Entebbe style? Why can’t Netanyahu just make a deal, someone says. Give them what they want, says another. Kill everyone in the way of getting our loved ones back, says a third. But the answer is clear to me: our hostages are surrounded and shielded by many (not all) civilians and the only way to get them back is to kill Gazans who are not necessarily Hamas or lovers of Hamas. From the world’s audience who are sitting there watching CNN and Fox headlines- they watch with judgment: “Who will BB choose? Will he kill innocent Palestinians to get his citizens back to their families? Or will he say humans are humans, and Gazans and Israelis are equal when it comes to “whoever saves a life, saves a world”? If he believes that, how does he get the hostages out? Maybe by peeling away the “kilpa” and telling the truth that he spoke in his speech to congress yesterday. “We drop millions of flyers, send millions of texts and make thousands of calls to the citizens of Gaza before entering.” Many of these people are under the sadistic Hamas regime against their will, and even when they want to leave, their “government” does not allow it.
The situation he faces is the definition of nuanced, complicated and impossible. Are our hostages still in captivity because we value Gaza civilians more than our own people, even though Hamas does not care about them? This has been the question and conundrum since bible times. Can you imagine being the Prime Minister and having to make these decisions? If we went into Gaza with force- thousands of our soldiers and thousands of civilians would be killed to save 200+ hostages; do we choose to lose 1000’s to get back 200? If I was the mother of a hostage, I would say yes of course. If I was a mother of a soldier fighting in Raffa, I might say no. Nuanced. How does one make decisions like this? Complicated. I say unapologetically that I don’t think anyone could do the job of BB the way he does. It’s an impossible job.
His words yesterday were not only powerful, but they were also both missiles and armor in words against Iran and its proxies. How does one convince a person that the sky is not black? You can scream blue as loud as you want but if a person insists the sky is black, you need to instead turn to the “blue believers” and make them stronger to overpower the “black believers”- this is what I believe BB did. He did address the people who side with barbarians and evil- but that wasn’t his theme. His theme was to strengthen the believers and truth speakers with testimony, stories, facts and even humor. The line “Gays for Gazans is like saying chicken for KFC” will undoubtedly go down as one of the most humorous and most truthful analogies ever spoken in congress. He said the students at universities get an F in history and geography and probably, might I add, also politics- yet they rage in the streets, passionate about topics they do not even understand.
His speech was the strongest speech he could have given, under the circumstances. He made it clear that Israel serves as a shield against terror as a favor, of sorts, to America. He said the fight we are fighting is the fight against evil, and we are doing it for the people of America and the Western civilization. People clapped, as they should have, and for all those who did not warm their seats in congress that day, or those who chose not to clap, they will be haunted the day that evil penetrates the States of America. Netanyahu said that if you look at the situation from a per capita standpoint, October 7th was: “proportionately…like 20 9/11s in one day!” And look how America responded with “just” one 9/11?
I am no Bari Weiss, Douglas Murray or Michael Oren. But I do know their clarity and predictions are not based on hypothesis but on facts and the rhythms of history repeating itself. Sheryl Sandberg recounted on the podcast “Honestly” recently that she was walking with a non-Jewish friend and she turned to her and said, “Would you hide me?” The friend, shocked, didn’t understand. But we understand. If smart Americans are asking their non Jewish friends “would you hide me?” then we know that we have reached new levels of antisemitism. Some laugh at the notion that America is now Germany pre-WWII, and indeed in many ways it is an incomparable analogy, but the common denominators scream and spread venom into the air we breathe. When the world is anti-Israel, anti-Jewish and anti-truth, we know their hatred will only manifest into more and more actions, as the Romans, Greeks and Nazis have exemplified. Read the Torah- this theme is displayed over and over and the Jewish people still stand with its country, language and its own army.
In his speech, Netanyahu said: “Defeating our brutal enemies requires both courage and clarity. Clarity begins by knowing the difference between good and evil. Yet incredibly many anti-Israel protesters, many choose to stand with evil. They stand with Hamas. They stand with rapists and murderers. They stand with people who came into the kibbutzim, into a home, the parents hid the children, the two babies, in the attic, in a secret attic. They murdered the family, the parents, they found the secret latch to the hidden attic and then they murdered the babies. These protesters stand with them. They should be ashamed of themselves.” These words of BB intentionally resemble the shadows of the Holocaust with the word “attic”. The protestors defending our enemy, is our enemy. That’s how WWII began.
I say it again, Netanyahu, Israel and the IDF are a rock in its strength and stubbornness not to move from its position, and at the same time an Island, alone floating in the dangerous seas and without the full support that it deserves. Defending our people and our country is not only our right and obligation- it is our duty to the United States for being our friend in times of need, as BB proclaimed, and maybe more importantly our duty to the world to rid this earth of monsters who want destruction on this planet.
If you don’t like BB, I am sure you will comment on all your reasons why. But as someone who has barely spoken an opinion on politics in private, let alone public, I am here to say that in my strong opinion there is no one that could stand in his shoes and no one who could do a better job. He is doing the best he can with the tools he has for today, in an impossible situation. If a man’s hands are tied behind his back and you tell him to build a fortress- would you be upset if there are some challenges and obstacles along the way? That is where Netanyahu stands. He might not be perfect (yes, I am aware of all his wrongs) but no one is and as someone who made Aliyah and chooses to bring up her kids in Israel, I feel safe knowing that my leader is a faithful Jew who believes in God, the goodness of His people, the strength of His army and believes in himself enough to stand in front of congress and scream truth in front of his haters- many of whom are Jewish/Israeli. Please tell me, who could do a better job?
I really believe he is a puppet of G-d who stood before congress and the world, stating that the Jewish people and the State of Israel will win no matter how hard it is, no matter how many people we stand against, no matter how many Israelis we might lose, no matter how many protestors and politicians will tear us down! We will have our moral compass and do the impossible: “appease” the world in the most PC manner possible as much as we are able to, under these insane circumstances, all while still taking a strong stand against Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. Like BB said, these evil doers want to conquer Israel first, and America second and I will add, the world third. BB is the leader who stands before his people and leads them with wisdom, calculated rhetoric, and composure as he says, “This is not a clash of civilizations. It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life.”
He ended with the words, “May God bless America, may God bless Israel and may God bless the great alliance between Israel and America forever.” I will add, may God bless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his bravery, strength and standing up to evil without apologies.