Time to End this War

From the very beginning many of us said that the two original objectives of this war – to destroy Hamas and bring the hostages home – were unachievable.

Thirteen months later, over 800 Israeli soldiers are dead and thousands more have been wounded, some maimed for life.

In addition, Israelis are suffering. They are depressed. The morale of the civilian population is low. Some have left the country in despair or disgust, and businesses are collapsing if they have not already folded.

It is time for our political and military leadership to understand that this war is going nowhere.

Both Bibi and the IDF failed on October 7th. Bibi’s image as “Mr. Security” was shattered, and our army was caught with its pants down. Both of them, therefore, have a vested interest in trying to win this war, but it is unwinnable.

As all of us know, both Hamas and Hizballah are Iranian proxies, and Iran is committed to wiping Israel off the map. Indeed, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards just described the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for Netanyahu and former defense minister Gallant as the “end and political death” of Israel.

Israel isn’t about to go to war with Iran. It could do so, but it would probably lead to a Third World War, and nobody wants to go there. Given that fact, the current war is a stalemate, and the faster Bibi realizes that the better.

However, he has coalition partners who have a different view of things. They want the Gaza Strip to remain under Israeli military control. They want to return to the days of Gush Katif when there was a bloc of 17 Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza Strip until Arik Sharon dismantled them in August 2005.

Furthermore, Bibi realizes that, were this war to end, his coalition would collapse, and he would have to face a Commission of Inquiry that would investigate who was responsible for the pogrom that took place on October 7th. He also doesn’t want to face the charges against him of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. Therefore, he has every reason to want this war to continue.

Until Bibi and the IDF back down, or the United States forces Israel to end this bloody war, we shall see more of our soldiers killed, and innocent civilians on both sides of the conflict will continue to die.

As if that were not enough, Israel is unjustifiably being portrayed in the international community as the neighbourhood bully, and Jewish communities throughout the world are facing a level of animosity that they have never witnessed before.

It is time for this war to end, and the sooner the better!