Time is not our friend
October 7, 2023 will forever remain a day of infamy. The “Never Again” that we believed in since the Holocaust, died that day.
We thought we had shed all the tears in our bodies in the days that followed, with the reports and pictures of unbelievable horrors and the unbearable testimonies. And yet, we still cry, profusely, night after night, when we see the pictures of Aviv and Raz, of Yali, of the little twins Emma and Yuli, of Abigail, of Ariel, of little baby Kafir, and of many, many more hostages.
It has now been 15 days since this unprecedented tragedy occurred. 15 days during which the same threatening words are repeated over and over by our leaders, but who is listening anymore?, 15 days of posturing, 15 days of infinite suffering for the families of the victims and hostages, 15 days of torture for the hostages. And every day, other leaders, other experts occupy the airwaves to rationalize Israel’s inaction.
We all need to urgently understand that the passage of time is not on our side, that time is not our friend:
- With each passing day, international public opinion turns against Israel with exponential acceleration. From a few isolated extremists in the early days, today we can observe hundreds of thousands of anti-Semites in the streets of many of the world’s major cities. Their rhetoric is becoming more and more violent. Their anti-Zionism / antisemitism more and more specific. Many politicians are noticing. How long until they also turn against Israel?
- The passage of time does not increase the chances of survival of our hostages. Imagine the fate of our young girls, our soldiers, our elderly, our tiny children at the hands of Hamas’ executioners. Remember what they did in Beery, Kfar Aza, etc. It may appear tragic to say this, but I think that, on the contrary, the sooner we act, the better it will be for our dear hostages.
- Hamas is playing for time in a cynical, sadistic way. By releasing 2 hostages every week, they give themselves 6 months of respite during which the “international community” is pressuring Israel not to launch a major operation. And by the way, let us not kid ourselves. Hamas may release hostages that are foreign nationals, but the fate of the Israeli hostages should be more and more of a cause for concern as time goes by.
- Hamas knows that Israel will never be able to afford to keep 360,000 troops in the army for months. Imagine the devastating effect on the morale of the nation if the IDF demobilizes even a small number of soldiers before any tank has moved….
- Now that trucks are entering Gaza without any inspection, every day that passes allows Hamas to renew or even improve its arsenal. Do we really want this? And what’s more, every truck that enters Gaza greatly reduces the pressure on Hamas to make any concessions, including on hostages. We had leverage when we were controlling the flow of goods into Gaza. With Bibi and Biden jointly and proudly declaring that they agree to let an uninterrupted flow of trucks into Gaza, we completely lost this leverage.
- If after October 7, it was believed that the air strikes would blunt Hamas’ offensive capabilities, in recent days there has been a growing resumption of rocket launches. We are in a situation of diminishing returns: the “surgical” airstrikes do not yield any improvement for Israel. A paradigm shift is needed: either we move to massive strikes (“carpet bombing”), regardless of who is left in the northern area of Gaza (our prime target area) or we switch to a very different way of waging this war…
- Every day that passes sees the glorious national union crack. With each passing day, the traitors amongst us grow bolder. These are frightful trends that bring about considerable dangers: Jewish teachers in Haifa who support their pro-Hamas students, Ehud Barack, who really should be hiding in shame far from here, but who, in a CNN interview or in some British newspaper’s web site, does everything he can to demoralize the country and destabilize it. And still others, Talit and Yarmulke wearing Jews in the Capitol in Washington DC, or elsewhere in the United States openly shouting in defense of Hamas, the alleged victimized party in this war.
- Every day that passes brings us more deaths, more wounded, more humiliation under Hezbollah’s projectiles. With each passing day, the list of our enemies grows. Even the Houthis, who would have thought, 2000 km from here, armed with Iranian cruise missiles, can claim to reach the south of Israel (Eilat? Dimona ?..). Every day that passes opens more fronts. After all, if Israel does not move and projects an attitude of fear or weakness, the enemy will believe it can get away with everything.
Like all Israelis, I have unwavering confidence in Tzahal, in each of its soldiers, in each of its officers. Politicians must now realize that time is not Israel’s friend, quite the opposite. If they are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem. Enough words, enough posturing, the time for action has come.